Rejected

Optimal postoperative pain control is critical after spinal fusion surgery. There remains significant variability in the use of postoperative intravenous opioid patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) and few data evaluating its utility compared with nurse-controlled analgesia (NCA) among patients with lumbar fusion.

This pilot study investigated the effect of sufentanil titration by 3 different analgesia monitoring devices or clinical signs during general anesthesia.

In a paediatric chronic pain population, to determine whether higher body mass was associated with poorer functioning, mood or treatment outcome.

Ossification of the pterygospinous and pterygoalar ligaments has been well documented forming pterygospinous and pterygoalar bars. However, the actual ligaments have been rarely shown in the existing literature. Therefore, this study aimed to reveal the anatomy of the pterygoalar ligament/bar and pterygospinous ligament/bar, and its relationship with the branches of the mandibular nerve.

Excessive daytime sleepiness is a common disabling symptom in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of pitolisant, a selective histamine H3-receptor antagonist with wake-promoting effects, for treatment of daytime sleepiness in patients with moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea refusing continuous positive airway pressure treatment.

 Objective: To explore the effects of programmed intermittent epidural bolus (PIEB) combined with patient-controlled epidural analgesia (PCEA) at different intervals on body temperature and serum CRP, TNF-α, IL-6 levels in parturient women receiving analgesia.

Elderly patients with femoral fractures are anticipated to endure the most pain caused by positional changes required for spinal anesthesia. To improve pain relief, we compared the analgesic effects of intravenous dexmedetomidine-ketamine and dexmedetomidine-fentanyl combinations to facilitate patient positioning for spinal anesthesia in elderly patients with proximal femoral fractures. Forty-six patients were randomly assigned to two groups and received either 1 mg/kg of intravenous ketamine (group K) or 1 μg/kg of intravenous fentanyl (group F) concomitant with a loading dose of dexmedetomidine 1 μg/kg over 10 minutes, then dexmedetomidine infusion only was continued at 0.6 μg/kg/h for following 20 minutes, and titrated at a rate of 0.2 to 0.6 μg/kg/h until the end of surgery. After completion of the infusion of either ketamine or fentanyl, the patients were placed in the lateral position with the fracture site up. The pain score (0 = calm, 1 = facial grimacing, 2 = moaning, 3 = screaming, and 4 = unable to proceed because of restlessness or agitation) was used to describe the pain intensity in each step during the procedure (lateral positioning, hip flexion, and lumbar puncture), and quality score (0 = poor hip flexion, 1 = satisfactory hip flexion, 2 = good hip flexion, and 3 = optimal hip flexion) was used to describe the quality of posture. Group K showed a median pain score of 0 (0-1), 0 (0-0) and 0 (0-0) in lateral positioning, hip flexion and lumbar puncture, respectively, while group F showed a score of 3 (2.75-3), 3 (2-3) and 0 (0-1), respectively. The pain score in lateral positioning (P < .0001) and hip flexion (P < .0001) was significantly lower in group K than group F. Group K showed the significantly higher quality scores of spinal anesthesia positioning (P = .0044) than group F. Hemodynamic adverse effects, such as bradycardia, hypotension, and desaturation, were not significantly different between the groups. The administration of dexmedetomidine-ketamine showed a greater advantage in reducing pain intensity and increasing the quality with patient positioning during spinal anesthesia in elderly patients with proximal femoral fractures, without any serious adverse effects.

We present the case of a man who presented with severe left lower back pain radiating to the anterior aspect of left thigh. He also had fever and headache. Due to the exquisite tenderness along the inguinal region, the possibility of a psoas abscess was considered. Magnetic resonance imaging of the spine and thigh were performed. These revealed left psoas muscle abnormalities suggestive of an evolving myositis or abscess. However, the next day, he displayed florid rashes in the left L2-L3 dermatomes consistent with herpes zoster. The clinical manifestations of herpes zoster include neuralgic pain and dermatomal skin rashes. It also presents with a prodrome of fever, headache, myalgia, myositis and Guillain-Barré syndrome. In a developing embryo, somites split to form dermatomes, myotomes (skeletal muscles), syndetomes (tendons and cartilage) and sclerotomes (bones). Our case illustrates that herpes zoster can involve the so called 'dermomyotome', a combination of the dermatome and myotome and result in a localised dermatomyositis.