Month: August 2014

Uncategorized Published - 19 August, 2014    By - Dr. Clemens
Tele-Care Intervention Improves Chronic Pain

A telephone-delivered intervention, which included automated symptom monitoring, produced clinically meaningful improvements in chronic musculoskeletal pain compared with usual care, according to a study published in the July 16 issue of JAMA. Kurt Kroenke, MD, Roudebush VA Medical Center, Indiana University School of Medicine, and the Regenstrief Institute, Indianapolis, Indiana, and colleagues randomised 250 patients […]

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Uncategorized Published - 19 August, 2014    By - Dr. Clemens
Maximising Pain Control During Labour May Reduce Risk of Postpartum Depression

Controlling pain during childbirth and post delivery may reduce the risk of postpartum depression, according to an editorial published in the journal Anesthesia & Analgesia. The editorial is based on a new Chinese study that found women who had pain control with epidural anaesthesia during a vaginal delivery had a much lower risk for postpartum […]

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Uncategorized Published - 19 August, 2014    By - Dr. Clemens
General Anesthesia Linked to Mortality in Stroke Patients

Although general anesthesia and conscious sedation seem to equally affect functional independence at discharge in patients with acute ischemic stroke undergoing endovascular intervention therapy, patients who received general anesthesia experienced significantly greater mortality than their counterparts, researchers have found. Whether this difference is directly attributable to anesthesia type, however, is unclear, as the duration of […]

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Uncategorized Published - 19 August, 2014    By - Dr. Clemens
Steroids Fail Another Test in Bypass Surgery

Giving steroids to reduce inflammation during cardiopulmonary bypass has no benefit, and may in fact harm patients who receive the drugs, new research shows. An international study of more than 7,500 patients, the largest of its kind to date, is the latest to find that the prophylactic administration of IV steroids during bypass procedures does […]

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Uncategorized Published - 19 August, 2014    By - Dr. Clemens
Nerve Blocks Linked to Improved Tissue Oxygenation

Muscle oxygenation in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty may be positively affected by neuraxial blockade, a phenomenon that may confer s everal long-term benefits, researchers have found. The pilot study, by a team of American and Austrian researchers, showed that muscle oxygenation decreased more in the upper than the lower extremity, which may be the […]

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Uncategorized Published - 19 August, 2014    By - Dr. Clemens
Weather May Not Affect Low Back Pain

Weather factors such as temperature, relative humidity, air pressure, and precipitation did not increase the risk for a low back pain episode, and higher wind and wind gust speed had a minimal effect, according to an Australian case-crossover study on July 10 in Arthritis Care & Research. “Many patients believe that weather impacts their pain […]

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Uncategorized Published - 19 August, 2014    By - Dr. Clemens
OR Briefings Reduce Surgical Errors, Improve Outcomes

A preoperative briefing lasting 2 minutes or less improves safety and communication in the operating room (OR) and reduces delays by more than 80%, say the authors of a new review. Briefings and debriefings can improve teamwork in the OR, lead author Caitlin W. Hicks, MD, and colleagues write in an article published in July […]

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Uncategorized Published - 18 August, 2014    By - Dr. Clemens
No Correlation Between Minimal Electrical Charge at the Tip of the Stimulating Catheter and the Efficacy of the Peripheral Nerve Block Catheter for Brachial Plexus Block

A Prospective Blinded Cohort Study Authors: Karin PW Schoenmakers, Petra JC Heesterbeek, Nigel TM Jack, Rudolf Stienstra Published in BMC Anesthesiol. 2014;14(26) Background. Stimulating catheters offer the possibility of delivering an electrical charge via the tip of the catheter. This may be advantageous as it allows verifying if the catheter tip is in close proximity […]

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Uncategorized Published - 18 August, 2014    By - Dr. Clemens
Minimally Invasive Surgery Use Varies Widely

Minimally invasive surgical procedures can halve the risk for postoperative complications compared with open procedures, but they are still being used infrequently in many US hospitals, results of a retrospective study suggest. The use of minimally invasive procedures varies widely among US hospitals, with urban hospitals being more than 4 times as likely as rural […]

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Uncategorized Published - 18 August, 2014    By - Dr. Clemens
Are a Third of Knee Replacements ‘Inappropriate?’

One third of total knee replacement surgeries in the United States may be “inappropriate,” according to an article published June 30 in Arthritis & Rheumatism. The findings point to the need for the development of consensus patient selection criteria for the surgery, the authors write. Daniel L. Riddle, PT, PhD, from the Department of Physical […]

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