Objectives Although a great variety of surgical procedures are performed on an ambulatory basis, little is known about postoperative pain experience at home after ambulatory surgery. This study was performed to assess the prevalence and course of postoperative pain in the early postoperative period after ambulatory surgery. Methods Over a period of 4 months, 648 patients who underwent day-case surgery were included in our study. Data were collected with interviews and questionnaires. Pain intensity was measured using a visual analog scale (VAS) during 4 days after surgery. Side effects of anesthesia and analgesia techniques were also recorded. Results On the day of the operation, 26% of the patients had moderate to severe pain (defined as mean VAS >40 mm). Mean VAS-scores were greater than 40 mm in 21% on postoperative day (POD) 1, in 13% on POD 2, in 10% on POD 3, and in 9% on POD 4. Operations of nose and pharynx, abdominal operations, plastic surgery of the breasts, and orthopedic operations were the most painful procedures during the first 48 hours. Discussion This study showed that an important number of patients still experience moderate to severe pain in the postoperative period after day-case surgery even after a 4-day period. Furthermore, the type of operation should be considered when planning postoperative analgesia for ambulatory surgery.
To determine postoperative pain in different types of ear, nose, and throat (ENT) surgery and their psychological preoperative predictors.Prospective cohort study.Academic hospital.A total of 217 patients undergoing ENT surgery.All ENT, neck, and salivary gland surgery.Postoperative pain and predictors for postoperative pain.Fifty percent of the patients undergoing surgery on the oral, pharyngeal, and laryngeal region and on the neck and salivary gland region had a visual analog scale score higher than 40 mm on day 1. In the patients who underwent oropharyngeal region operations the VAS score remained high on all 4 days. A VAS pain score higher than 40 mm was found in less than 30% of patients after endoscopic procedures and less than 20% after ear and nose surgery. After bivariate analysis, 6 variables--age, sex, preoperative pain, expected pain, short-term fear, and pain catastrophizing--had a predictive value. Multivariate analysis showed only preoperative pain, pain catastrophizing, and anatomical site of operation as independent predictors.Differences exist in the prevalence of unacceptable postoperative pain between ENT operations performed on different anatomical sites. A limited set of variables can be used to predict the occurrence of unacceptable postoperative pain after ENT surgery.
I want a new drug dose: External on-demand laser triggering is used in a drug-delivery concept, with on/off ratios in excess of 1000/1. The switching mechanism involves the glass transition of hydrophobic polymers with a large change in diffusivity. Formation of a glassy surface layer of the implant in the off state plays a key role, resulting in negligible off-release. (Picture: data points indicate ibuprofen concentration).
Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) or total hip arthroplasty (THA) regularly results in postoperative requirement of blood transfusion. Because of the disadvantages of allogeneic blood transfusion (ABT) such as the risk of transfusion-associated infections, incompatibility-related transfusion fatalities, or immunomodulatory effects, a continuing effort to reduce allogeneic blood transfusion is important. For this purpose, the effect of reinfusion of drain blood, via a postoperative wound drainage and reinfusion system, on the need for allogeneic blood transfusion was evaluated.Using a prospective observational quality assessment design, we compared 135 patients scheduled for TKA or THA with a historic group of 96 patients. In the study group the Bellovac ABT autotransfusion system was used. The shed blood was returned either when 500 mL were collected or at most 6 hours after surgery. Compared were the preoperative, postoperative, and discharge hemoglobin, as well as the number of allogeneic blood transfusions.There were no statistical differences between preoperative, postoperative, and discharge hemoglobin levels. Autologous transfusion reduced the number of patients receiving ABT overall from 35 percent (control) to 22 percent (study). The decrease of allogeneic transfusion requirement was most significant after TKA: from 18 percent to 6 percent (p < 0.001).We conclude that the Bellovac ABT device reduces allogeneic blood transfusions in TKA and THA.
Third ventricular colloid cysts are benign but may cause acute hydrocephalus, raised intracranial pressure, decreased consciousness level, and sudden death. These ventricular colloid cysts associated with stunned myocardium are rarely reported in the literature. This study reported a case of a third ventricular colloid cyst presented as acute hydrocephalus complicated with severe neurogenic pulmonary edema, stunned myocardium, and heart failure, which survived at the end.A 29-year-old woman presented to the emergency department with one day history of headache, vomiting, and altered consciousness level. Early brain imaging showed a cyst in the third ventricle. The patient rapidly deteriorated neurologically and developed severe pulmonary edema and heart failure requiring immediate external ventricular drain and heart failure management. Once stabilized, she underwent endoscopic excision of the ventricular cyst. Histopathology confirmed the diagnosis of colloidal cyst. She survived all these acute life-threatening events, improved, and stabilized, and was discharged home. She was followed up in outpatient clinics after 6 months of discharge with no symptoms or neurological deficit.A third ventricular colloid cyst can cause acute hydrocephalus leading to stunned myocardium requiring immediate surgical intervention, advanced hemodynamic monitoring, and acute heart failure management.
Refined techniques and skills have enabled sophisticated prenatal diagnosis in utero and resulted in the newly evolving specialty of fetal surgery in a few centres worldwide. Most of the procedures performed today have been preceded by extensive experimental research in animals, whereas fetal anaesthesia is mainly based on clinical experience and a few studies performed in pregnant sheep.Major limitations of fetal surgery include the high frequency of preterm labour and delivery which may offset any fetal benefit of the surgical procedure. The development of more potent tocolytic drugs than the drugs currently available may thus be compared to the meaning of potent immunosuppressive agents in organ transplantation. Fetal mortality and maternal morbidity consequently lead to a more cautious way of treatment, as with the development of endoscopic fetal surgery.The invasive fetal surgery is still considered as being in a research stage in most cases. Therefore most procedures are performed as minimally invasive, avoiding substantial risks by accessing the uterus through minimal openings. Some new devices are under investigation for monitoring the myometrial electrical activity and mechanical contractility and the fetal electroencephalogram, the continuous monitoring of the fetal arterial oxygen saturation, PO2 and PCO2, and for monitoring fetal cerebral oxygenation, blood volume and blood flow by near infrared spectroscopy.
In Brief Obstetric endoscopy procedures are routinely performed at our institution to treat selected complications of monochorionic twin gestation. We perform these procedures under combined spinal epidural anesthesia plus maternal sedation. In the absence of general anesthesia, fetal immobilization is not achieved. We hypothesized that remifentanil would induce adequate maternal sedation and provide fetal immobilization, which is equal or superior to that induced by diazepam. Fifty-four second trimester pregnant women were included in this randomized, double-blind trial. After combined spinal epidural anesthesia, maternal sedation was initiated using either incremental doses of diazepam or a continuous infusion of remifentanil. Maternal sedation, hemodynamics, side effects, and fetal hemodynamics and immobilization were evaluated before, during, and for 60 min after surgery. Remifentanil produced adequate maternal sedation with mild but clinically irrelevant respiratory depression (respiratory rate 13 ± 4 breaths/min and Pco2 38.6 ± 4 mm Hg at 40 min of surgery), whereas diazepam resulted in a more pronounced maternal sedation but no respiratory depression (respiratory rate 18 ± 3 breaths/min and Pco2 32.7 ± 3 mm Hg at 40 min of surgery). Compared with diazepam, fetal immobilization with remifentanil occurred faster and was more pronounced, resulting in improved surgical conditions; the number of gross body and limb movements was 12 ± 4 (diazepam) versus 2 ± 1 (remifentanil) at 40 min of surgery. Because of this, the mean (range) duration of surgery was significantly shorter in the remifentanil-treated patients, 60 (54–71) min versus 80 (60–90) min in the diazepam group. We conclude that remifentanil produces improved fetal immobilization with good maternal sedation and only minimal effects on maternal respiration. IMPLICATIONS: This trial tested the use of remifentanil for maternal sedation and fetal immobilization during endoscopic intrauterine surgery on the cord and placenta. Remifentanil was superior to diazepam for inducing adequate sedation and fetal immobilization and also facilitated faster surgery.
A randomized crossover study was designed using the chronically instrumented pregnant sheep preparation to study the possible effects of epidural injection of adrenaline as a single compound on the circulation of mother and fetus. Three consecutive identical doses of adrenaline were administered epidurally with a 30 min interval between treatments. In a randomized crossover fashion two dosages (10 and 15 μg) were tested on different days. The day after the last epidural experiment the same doses of adrenaline were given intravenously (i.v.). Between the two i.v. doses a 30 min interval was allowed for values to return to baseline. Twenty-seven experiments were performed in eight ewes. Epidural administration of adrenaline did not affect maternal mean arterial pressure, maternal heart rate, uterine blood flow, fetal mean arterial pressure, fetal heat rate, or maternal and fetal blood gases and acid-base status. After i.v. administration of adrenaline the uterine blood flow decreased in a dose-dependent fashion, but the other haemodynamic variables were not affected. In conclusion, this study indicates that consecutive epidural injections of adrenaline have no significant effect on maternal and fetal haemodynamic responses, uterine blood flow, blood gases and acid-base status in the gravid ewe. However, an i.v. injection of 10 or 15 μg adrenaline decreases the uterine blood flow and could compromise the fetus.
Structural plasticity within the spinal nociceptive network may be fundamental to the chronic nature of neuropathic pain. In the present study, the spatiotemporal expression of growth-associated protein-43 (GAP-43), a protein which has been traditionally implicated in nerve fiber growth and sprouting, was investigated in relation to mechanical pain hypersensitivity. An L5 spinal nerve transection model was validated by the presence of mechanical pain hypersensitivity and an increase in the early neuronal activation marker cFos within the superficial spinal dorsal horn upon innocuous hindpaw stimulation. Spinal GAP-43 was found to be upregulated in the superficial L5 dorsal horn from 5 up to 10 days after injury. GAP-43 was co-localized with calcitonin-gene related peptide (CGRP), but not vesicular glutamate transporter-1 (VGLUT-1), IB4, or protein kinase-γ (PKC-γ), suggesting the regulation of GAP-43 in peptidergic nociceptive afferents. These GAP-43/CGRP fibers may be indicative of sprouting peptidergic fibers. Fiber sprouting largely depends on growth factors, which are typically associated with neuro-inflammatory processes. The putative role of neuropathy-induced GAP-43 expression in the development of mechanical pain hypersensitivity was investigated using the immune modulator propentofylline. Propentofylline treatment strongly attenuated the development of mechanical pain hypersensitivity and glial responses to nerve injury as measured by microglial and astroglial markers, but did not affect neuropathy-induced levels of spinal GAP-43 or GAP-43 regulation in CGRP fibers. We conclude that nerve injury induces structural plasticity in fibers expressing CGRP, which is regarded as a main player in central sensitization. Our data do not, however, support a major role of these structural changes in the onset of mechanical pain hypersensitivity.
