Author: MYLES GART, MD After years of exaggeration, misinformation and a national epidemic of opioid and heroin abuse, the nation is finally coming to terms with the fact that pain is not the fifth vital sign. This heresy, as I understand it, has existed for close to three decades and, in my opinion, has been […]
Read MoreThe FDA has updated the indication of naloxegol (Movantik, AstraZeneca) tablets for the treatment of opioid-induced constipation (OIC) in adult patients with chronic noncancer pain to include patients with chronic pain related to prior cancer or its treatment who do not require frequent (e.g., weekly) opioid dosage escalation. This label update follows initial FDA approval for naloxegol in 2014 […]
Read MoreThe best approach to balancing analgesia, opioid use and passive range of motion after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is to block multiple nerves rather than any single nerve, according to a sophisticated network meta-analysis. This approach proved better than periarticular local anesthetic infiltration and epidural analgesia. “Based on available evidence, we found that combinations of […]
Read MoreAUTHORS: Yoshikawa, Yusuke MD et al Anesthesia & Analgesia: February 2018 – Volume 126 – Issue 2 – p 443–452 BACKGROUND: Dexmedetomidine (DEX) has a direct cardioprotective effect against ischemia/reperfusion injury through endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) phosphorylation via α2-adrenoreceptor (α2-AR). By using spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) and Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rat models, the cardioprotective effect of DEX […]
Read MoreAUTHORS: Kawakami, Hiromasa MD et al Anesthesia & Analgesia: December 2017 – Volume 125 – Issue 6 – p 2072–2080 BACKGROUND: Caudal anesthesia has been used for postoperative pain control in pediatric surgical patients, but the duration of the analgesic effect is occasionally unsatisfactory. Intravenous steroids have been shown to be effective for postsurgical pain management after […]
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