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Optimal analgesia for circumcision is still debated. The dorsal penile nerve block has been shown to be superior to topical and caudal analgesia. Recently, the ultrasound-guided pudendal nerve block (group pudendal) has been popularized. This randomized, blinded clinical trial compared group pudendal with ultrasound-guided dorsal penile nerve block (group penile) under general anesthesia for pediatric circumcision.

Screening for depressive symptoms is often the first step to understanding risk for thoughts of harm among patients with pain. Pain characteristics and history of abuse are also associated with thoughts of harm; however, little is known about these associations after accounting for depressive symptoms. This study examined the association between pain characteristics and history of abuse with thoughts of harm among pain patients with moderate to severe and low to mild depressive symptoms.

Although abdominal bloating is a common symptom, comparatively little is known about its prevalence in the community. This study aimed to examine the prevalence of bloating and assess related healthcare seeking using survey data from a nationally-representative sample of nearly 89,000 Americans.

Opioids are commonly prescribed for chronic pain prior to spinal surgery and research has shown an increased rate of post-operative adverse events in these patients.

Neuromobilization exercises (NE) could be a useful therapeutic tool to induce analgesia and increase function and range of motion (ROM) in patients with musculoskeletal pathologies with neuropathic components; however, the effectiveness of this intervention in patients with cervical radiculopathy (CR) is unknown.

Hyperacusis is a debilitating loudness intolerance disorder that can evoke annoyance, fear and aural facial pain. Although the auditory system seems to be the "central" player, hyperacusis is linked to more than twenty non-auditory medical disorders such as Williams syndrome, autism spectrum disorder, fibromyalgia, migraine, head trauma, lupus and acoustic shock syndrome. Neural models suggest that some forms of hyperacusis may result from enhanced central gain, a process by which neural signals from a damaged cochlea are progressively amplified as activity ascends rostrally through the classical auditory pathway as well as other non-auditory regions of the brain involved in emotions, memory and stress. Imaging studies have begun to reveal the extended neural networks and patterns of functional connectivity in the brain that enrich sounds with negative attributes that can make listening unbearable and even painful. The development of animal models of hyperacusis have enabled researcher to begin to critically evaluate the biological bases of hyperacusis, identify therapies to ameliorate the symptoms and gain a better understanding of the neural mechanisms involved in loudness coding in normal and hearing impaired subjects.

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) signficantly affect day to day activities contributing to signficant disability. Patients with AS often report to have psychological problems and poor quality of life (QoL). This study investigates the effect of a three-month tele-yogic intervention on disease activity, functional index, inflammatory markers, quality of life and mental health measures in patients with AS.

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin available from food and sun exposure. Vitamin D receptors are present in cells throughout the body and cause it to act like a hormone. Observational studies document the association of low vitamin D levels with multiple health conditions. This article reviews the evidence for vitamin D in prevention and treatment in primary care.

The incidence of anastomotic leakage, a common and serious postoperative complication of low rectal cancer, remains high. Clarifying the risk factors for anastomotic leakage in patients with low rectal cancer after surgery can help guide clinical treatment and help patients improve their prognosis. The current literature suggests that the risk factors affecting the occurrence of anastomotic leakage after low rectal cancer include three aspects: (1) individual factors: male gender, high body mass index, malnutrition, smoking, alcoholism, and metabolic diseases; (2) tumor factors: the lower margin of tumor <5 cm from the anal verge, tumor diameter >2.5 cm, late tumor stage, high level of tumor markers and preoperative intestinal obstruction; (3) surgical factors: long operative time (>180 min), intraoperative bleeding (≥70 ml), more than 2 cartridges of stapling for anastomosis, contamination of the operative field, epidural analgesia and intraoperative hypothermia. Notably, the surgical approach (laparoscopic, open and hand-assisted laparoscopic surgery) was not a factor influencing the occurrence of postoperative anastomotic leakage in low rectal cancer. The findings on the effects of receiving neoadjuvant therapy, gut microbiota,intestinal bowel preparation, insufficient time for preoperative antibiotic prophylaxis, left colonic artery dissection, intraoperative blood transfusion, pelvic drainage, transanal drainage and combined organ resection, and postoperative diarrhea on postoperative anastomotic leakage in low rectal cancer are controversial. However, clinical workers can still take measures to reduce the risk of anastomotic leakage according to the above risk factors by making a good assessment before surgery, actively avoiding them during and after surgery, and taking measures for each step, so as to bring maximum benefits to patients.