Rejected

The placebo effect is important in determining the outcome of the treatment of pain for which expectancy and context are the main contributors. The variable success of thermal neurotomy spinal pain procedures is often seen as evidence of the placebo effect. Conversely proponents of pain procedures explain poorer outcomes on technical procedure deficiencies including inadequate diagnosis.This cohort study set out to determine if patient expectancy is a contributing factor in the outcome of thermal neurotomy to cervical, thoracic, and lumbar zygapophysial and sacroiliac joints.

Published reports of uvular necrosis are uncommon and it is possibly an under-reported complication of oropharyngeal manipulation. Uvular necrosis is thought to develop due to ischaemia secondary to mechanical compression of the uvula from oropharyngeal devices. Patients typically present with symptoms of a sore throat within 48 hours postoperatively. It is unclear whether there are any preventable factors, or any specific management strategies that might reduce this complication. Treatment is most commonly conservative management, including observation and simple analgesia. We present 13 cases of uvular injury that were reported to a web-based anaesthesia incident reporting system (webAIRS), a voluntary de-identified anaesthesia incident reporting system in Australia and New Zealand. While the postoperative findings varied, sore throat was the most frequent symptom. Most of the cases resolved spontaneously; the remainder with supportive treatment only. The findings suggest that patients who sustain a uvular injury can be reassured, but they should be advised to seek review early if sore throat persists or any difficulty with breathing develops.

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a demonstrated safe and effective treatment for chronic low back pain. RFA delivers high density electrical current near lumbar medial branch nerve. The success of RFA is contingent upon creating a lesion that overlaps the sensory nerve supplying the affected facet joint(s). Both bipolar-RFA and V-shaped active tip cannulas increase lesion size in experimental models. We describe successful application of concomitant bipolar and V-shaped lesions in a single patient with chronic low back pain caused by lumbar spondylosis.

Acotiamide, is the world's first-in-class, prokinetic drug and world's first approved treatment for postprandial distress syndrome (PDS) symptoms of functional dyspepsia (FD). An extended-release (ER) formulation of this drug product, developed first-time in the world has been evaluated in phase 3, a comparative trial to explore the efficacy and safety in patients with FD-PDS.

Although acetaminophen is commonly used in pregnancy, it can deplete glutathione concentrations and cause accumulation of 5-oxoproline, with subsequent metabolic acidosis.

Verapamil is the first-line preventive medication for cluster headache, an excruciating disorder with strong circadian features. Whereas second- and third-line preventives include known circadian modulators, such as melatonin, corticosteroids, and lithium, the circadian effects of verapamil are poorly understood. Here, we characterize the circadian features of verapamil using both in vitro and in vivo models. In reporter fibroblasts, treatment with verapamil (0.03-10 µM) showed a dose-dependent period shortening of the reporter rhythm which reached a nadir at 1 µM, and altered core clock gene expression at 10 µM. Mouse wheel-running activity with verapamil (1 mg/mL added to the drinking water) also resulted in significant period shortening and activity reduction in both male and female free-running wild-type C57BL6/J mice. The temporal patterns of activity reduction, however, differ between the two sexes. Importantly, piezo sleep recording revealed sexual dimorphism in the effects of verapamil on sleep timing and bout duration, with more pronounced adverse effects in female mice. We also found altered circadian clock gene expression in the cerebellum, hypothalamus, and trigeminal ganglion of verapamil-treated mice. Verapamil did not affect reporter rhythms in ex vivo suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) slices from reporter mice, perhaps due to the exceptionally tight coupling in the SCN. Thus, verapamil affects both peripheral (trigeminal ganglion) and central (hypothalamus and cerebellum) nervous system structures involved in cluster headache pathophysiology, possibly with network effects instead of isolated SCN effects. These studies suggest that verapamil is a circadian modulator in laboratory models at both molecular and behavioral levels, and sex is an important biological variable for cluster headache medications. These observations highlight the circadian system as a potential convergent target for cluster headache medications with different primary mechanisms of action.

Urogenital tuberculosis (UGTB) has traditionally being a diagnosis of adulthood and is supposed to be rare in children, as it is believed that the symptoms of renal tuberculosis do not appear for 10 or more years after the primary infection. While this may be true in developed countries, where childhood pulmonary tuberculosis is a rarity nowadays. In developing countries, childhood pulmonary tuberculosis is still a major issue and hence, UGTB is not an uncommon diagnosis in younger children and adolescents in these countries. Considering this dearth of data on childhood UGTB, we retrospectively evaluated our series of children with this disease, with special emphasis on the role of surgery.

To examine the prevalence of contraindications to hormonal contraception among postpartum women.

Tweetable abstract As vaginoplasties become increasingly prevalent, it is imperative to develop efficient techniques to achieve adequate postoperative pain control. Currently available pain management methods following vaginoplasties are briefly discussed.

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection leads to 5% to 16% hospitalization in intensive care units (ICU) and is associated with 23% to 75% of kidney impairments, including acute kidney injury (AKI). The current work aims to precisely characterize the renal impairment associated to SARS-CoV-2 in ICU patients. Forty-two patients consecutively admitted to the ICU of a French university hospital who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 between 25 March 2020, and 29 April 2020, were included and classified in categories according to their renal function. Complete renal profiles and evolution during ICU stay were fully characterized in 34 patients. Univariate analyses were performed to determine risk factors associated with AKI. In a second step, we conducted a logistic regression model with inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) analyses to assess major comorbidities as predictors of AKI. Thirty-two patients (94.1%) met diagnostic criteria for intrinsic renal injury with a mixed pattern of tubular and glomerular injuries within the first week of ICU admission, which lasted upon discharge. During their ICU stay, 24 patients (57.1%) presented AKI which was associated with increased mortality ( = 0.007), hemodynamic failure ( = 0.022), and more altered clearance at hospital discharge ( = 0.001). AKI occurrence was associated with lower pH ( = 0.024), higher PaCO (CO partial pressure in the arterial blood) ( = 0.027), PEEP (positive end-expiratory pressure) ( = 0.027), procalcitonin ( = 0.015), and CRP (C-reactive protein) ( = 0.045) on ICU admission. AKI was found to be independently associated with chronic kidney disease (adjusted OR (odd ratio) 5.97 (2.1-19.69), = 0.00149). Critical SARS-CoV-2 infection is associated with persistent intrinsic renal injury and AKI, which is a risk factor of mortality. Mechanical ventilation settings seem to be a critical factor of kidney impairment.