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 […]
Read MoreWeather 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 […]
Read MoreA 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 […]
Read MoreA 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 […]
Read MoreMinimally 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 […]
Read MoreOne 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 […]
Read MoreThere is growing anticipation in the headache community about the arrival of a variety of monoclonal antibodies that target the calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) pathway to prevent migraine headaches. CGRP is involved in the pathophysiology of migraine. Levels of CGRP are elevated during migraine attacks and decrease with resolution of the attacks. Several pharmaceutical companies […]
Read MoreA total knee replacement is a very common operation and more than 700,000 of them are performed each year in the United States. With a mean cost of about $16,000 each, in 2011 we spent over eleven billion dollars paying for knee replacements. Projections are that, by 2030, we’ll be doing 3.5 million per year. […]
Read MorePublished in Int J Urol. 2014 Jun 26. Authors: Lunacek A et al OBJECTIVE: To assess the most effective local analgesia during transrectal ultrasound-guided prostate biopsy. METHODS: A total of 123 consecutive patients undergoing transrectal ultrasound-guided prostate biopsy for elevated prostate-specific antigen levels and/or a suspicious digital rectal examination were randomized to three groups. Patients […]
Read MorePublished in Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol. 2014 Jul;78(7):1090-4 Authors: Dewhirst E et al PURPOSE: Despite the brevity of the procedure, bilateral myringotomy and tympanostomy tube placement (BMT) can result in significant postoperative pain and discomfort. As the procedure is frequently performed without intravenous access, non-parenteral routes of administration are frequently used for analgesia. The current […]
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