Rejected

To describe opioid use after ICU admission, identify factors associated with chronic opioid use after critical care, and determine if chronic opioid use is associated with an increased risk of death.

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors are routinely used in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring EGFR mutations. However, their use is associated with gastrointestinal and cutaneous toxicities, including acneiform eruptions, pruritus, xerosis, nail and hair changes. Aside from reducing patients' quality of life, such cutaneous reactions have a considerable impact on the oncologic treatment given that dose reduction or even drug discontinuation may be necessary, especially for the severe forms.

Idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM) are systemic autoimmune connective tissue diseases. The safety and effectiveness of exercise for patients with IIM remains unclear. This study aimed to systematically review the evidence for physical exercise among patients with IIM. Relevant experimental studies were identified through searching PubMed®, Cochrane, Embase, Scopus, and CINAHL databases, and studies involving any type of physical exercise for ≥1 month were considered. The primary outcome was muscle strength, and the secondary outcomes included aerobic fitness, functional performance, health status, quality of life, activities of daily living, pain, and fatigue. Eight randomized controlled trails and thirteen nonrandomized uncontrolled trials were reviewed. Physical exercise appeared safe, with several positive effects. However, selection or allocation biases and small sample sizes affected the certainty of the evidence. While physical exercise appeared safe for patients with IIM with several positive effects, studies of a higher methodological quality and involving patients with active disease are needed. Furthermore, to design optimal exercise programs, consistent and sensitive outcome measures are needed to facilitate comparisons of results from different studies.

Pyoderma gangrenosum is an ulcerating inflammatory condition defined pathologically by an abundance of neutrophils in the absence of infection. Often, hospital admission is necessary for rapidly progressing PG for wound care and adequate pain control. However, few large-scaled controlled studies exist examining hospitalizations for PG in the pediatric populations and the associated comorbidities. We sought to determine the prevalence, length of stay (LOS), cost of care, and any risk factors for admission and associated comorbidities in children hospitalized for PG in the U.S. Data were analyzed from the 2002 to 2012 National Inpatient Sample, including a 20% representative sample of all hospitalizations in the United States. The prevalence of hospitalization between 2002 and 2012 ranged from 2 to 11 per million hospitalized children. Hospitalization for PG was associated with older age, female gender, black race/ethnicity, the third quartile for household income, having 2-5 chronic conditions, being admitted to a micropolitan or a non-metro/micropolitan hospital and to a teaching hospital. Hospitalization with vs. without a primary diagnosis of PG was associated with significantly prolonged LOS. The total inflation-adjusted cost of care for hospitalization with a primary diagnosis of PG was $2,202,576; $200,234 per year). The geometric-mean cost of hospitalization was significantly higher in children with vs. without a primary diagnosis of PG. Children hospitalized for PG were found to have higher odds of thyroid disease, inflammatory bowel disease, hematologic malignancy, and other autoimmune disorders. While children are rarely hospitalized for PG, they have prolonged hospitalization, and clinical interventions need to be developed to prevent hospitalization for PG. Further, concomitant workup for other systemic comorbidities is also warranted at the time of diagnosis and throughout disease course.

Diagnosing atopic dermatitis (AD) in infants is challenging.

Congenital hip dysplasia (CHD) defines a spectrum of pathologies in which the acetabulum and proximal femur of babies and children abnormally develop. Open surgery in congenital hip dysplasia leads to severe postoperative pain. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of ultrasound-guided quadratus lumborum block (QLB) in pediatric patients undergoing surgery for congenital hip dysplasia.

Pain and cartilage destruction caused by osteoarthritis (OA) is a major challenge in clinical treatment. Traditional intra-articular injection of hyaluronic acid (HA) can relieve the disease, but limited by the difficulty of long-term maintenance of efficacy.

microRNAs (miRNAs) play critical roles in embryogenesis, cell differentiation and the pathogenesis of several human diseases, including systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are also known to exert crucial functions in the immune response activation occurring in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases like SLE. Herein, the current study aimed to explore the potential role of miR-152-3p in TLR-mediated inflammatory response in SLE.

Procedural sedation and analgesia outside the operating theater have become standard care in managing pain and anxiety in children undergoing diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. The objectives of this study are to describe the current pediatric procedural sedation and analgesia practice patterns in European emergency departments, to perform a needs assessment-like analysis, and to identify barriers to implementation. A survey study of European emergency departments treating children was conducted. Through a lead research coordinator identified through the Research in European Pediatric Emergency Medicine (REPEM) network for each of the participating countries, a 30-question questionnaire was sent, targeting senior physicians at each site. Descriptive statistics were performed. One hundred and seventy-one sites participated, treating approximately 5 million children/year and representing 19 countries, with a response rate of 89%. Of the procedural sedation and analgesia medications, midazolam (100%) and ketamine (91%) were available to most children, whereas propofol (67%), nitrous oxide (56%), intranasal fentanyl (47%), and chloral hydrate (42%) were less frequent. Children were sedated by general pediatricians in 82% of cases. Safety and monitoring guidelines were common (74%), but pre-procedural checklists (51%) and capnography (46%) less available. In 37% of the sites, the entire staff performing procedural sedation and analgesia were certified in pediatric advanced life support. Pediatric emergency medicine was a board-certified specialty in 3/19 countries. Physician (73%) and nursing (72%) shortages and lack of physical space (69%) were commonly reported as barriers to procedural sedation and analgesia. Nurse-directed triage protocols were in place in 52% of the sites, mostly for paracetamol (99%) and ibuprofen (91%). Tissue adhesive for laceration repair was available to 91% of children, while topical anesthetics for intravenous catheterization was available to 55%. Access to child life specialists (13%) and hypnosis (12%) was rare.Conclusion: Procedural sedation and analgesia are prevalent in European emergency departments, but some sedation agents and topical anesthetics are not widely available. Guidelines are common but further safety nets, nurse-directed triage analgesia, and nonpharmacologic support to procedural sedation and analgesia are lacking. Barriers to implementation include availability of sedation agents, staff shortage, and lack of space. What is Known: • Effective and prompt analgesia, anxiolysis, and sedation (PSA) outside the operating theatre have become standard in managing pain and anxiety in children undergoing painful or anxiogenic diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. • We searched PubMed up to September 15, 2020, without any date limits or language restrictions, using different combinations of the MeSH terms "pediatrics," "hypnotics and sedatives," "conscious sedation," and "ambulatory surgical procedures" and the non-MeSH term "procedural sedation" and found no reports describing the current practice of pediatric PSA in Europe. What is New: • This study is, to the best of our knowledge, the first to shed light on the pediatric PSA practice in European EDs and uncovers important gaps in several domains, notably availability of sedation medications and topical anesthetics, safety aspects such as PSA provider training, availability of nonpharmacologic support to PSA, and high impact interventions such as nurse-directed triage analgesia. • Other identified barriers to PSA implementation include staff shortage, control of sedation medications by specialists outside the emergency department, and lack of space.

In erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP), an inherited disorder of heme biosynthesis, accumulation of protoporphyrin IX results in acute phototoxicity. EPP patients experience severe burning pain after light exposure, which results in a markedly reduced quality of life (QoL). Afamelanotide is the first effective approved medical treatment for EPP, acting on melanocortin-1 receptors. This article aims to review afamelanotide.