Rejected

We conducted a randomized, controlled, noninferiority trial to investigate if intravenous, multimodal, patient-controlled analgesia (IV-PCA) could be noninferior to multimodal thoracic epidural analgesia (TEA) in patients undergoing open liver surgery.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most prevalent musculoskeletal disease and a major cause of negative relevant outcomes, associated with an ever-increasing societal burden. Pharmaceutical-grade chondroitin sulfate (CS) was repeatedly reported to reduce pain and improve function in patients with knee OA. This treatment was also shown to be cost-effective, compared to placebo, up to 24 months. However, controversies still persist regarding the usefulness of CS for patients with knee OA, mainly due to inconsistent reports from various clinical trials. In this literature review, we aimed to summarize the main most recent findings on the efficacy and safety of CS in OA. Based on the results of studies presenting a low risk of bias, the most recent meta-analysis shows that only the pharmaceutical-grade CS may be considered as an appropriate background treatment for the management of knee OA. Evidence from another recent meta-analysis, using data from full safety reports, confirms the good safety profile of CS in OA. This new evidence on efficacy and safety suggests that recommendations for the use of CS in patients with knee OA cannot be extrapolated to other low-grade preparations as generics, nutraceutical-grade or over-the-counter preparations.

The aim of the study is to investigate the relation between paranasal sinus volumes and headache in patients with no other rhinologic causes.

Complications associated with imperforate hymen include cyclical abdominal pain, acute urinary retention, endometriosis, and even iatrogenic infections.

To evaluate the effect of triple puncture on primary trigeminal neuralgia (pTN), 64 patients with pTN were randomly assigned to two groups: treatment group and control group. The participants in the treatment group received triple puncture treatment of 6 times per week for 4 weeks, and those in control group were given carbamazepine (300-600 mg per day) for at least 1 month. Before and after treatment, the primary outcomes including the total efficiency rate and the VAS pain scores, and the secondary outcomes including the frequency of pain attack and adverse events were observed. Sixty-two participants finished the study (33 in treatment group and 29 in control group individually). After treatment, the symptoms (mainly pain) of the two groups were alleviated. The total efficiency rate in the treatment group and control group was 90.9% and 75.9% respectively. The VAS pain scores and frequency of pain attack were significantly reduced in the treatment group as compared with the control group (P<0.05). The incidence of adverse events in the treatment group and control group was 9.1% and 24.1% respectively. It can be inferred that triple puncture can effectively improve the quality of life of patients with pTN and has less side effects.

In patients presenting with hip and groin symptoms, evaluation and treatment of the thoracolumbar junction (TLJ) may be underutilized. The TLJ is less recognized as a source of pain referral in these regions. The purpose of this case series was to describe the management of 3 patients with primary hip and groin pain who were treated with interventions targeting the TLJ.

Randomised clinical trials are considered to be the most reliable study design for assessing the efficacy and safety of health interventions.

Oxaliplatin (L-OHP) is known to induce adverse reactions at the injection site, including vascular pain, but the underlying mechanisms have not been clarified. Vascular pain during intravenous L-OHP administration can be inhibited by taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). In this study, we investigated the involvement of the arachidonic acid cascade and prostaglandin (PG) E and 15d-PGJ in vascular pain sensation during intravenous delivery of L-OHP.

The accurate measurement of quality of life (QoL) among people with chronic and incurable illnesses is essential for evaluating service delivery, understanding the impact of illness and treatment effects, and testing intervention effectiveness. Palliative care interventions are relatively new in Turkey, therefore it is important that reliable and valid QoL instruments are available to evaluate palliative care effectiveness in Turkish speakers.