Rejected

During March 2020 in the United States, demand for sedatives increased by 91%, that for analgesics rose by 79%, and demand for neuromuscular blockers increased by 105%, all owing to the number of COVID-19 cases requiring invasive mechanical ventilation (MV). We hypothesize that analgesic and sedative requirements decrease following tracheotomy in this patient population.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients have a lowered immune response to infection, potentially due to the use of corticosteroids and immunosuppressive drugs. Predictors of severe COVID-19 outcomes within the RA population have not yet been explored in a real-world setting.

To explore the prevalence of acute neck pain in high school athletes following sports-related concussion (SRC) and to examine the role of acute neck pain in modifying or amplifying concurrent concussive symptoms.

To reduce postpartum morbidity and mortality, optimizing routine outpatient postpartum care has become a focus of national attention and a healthcare priority.

In this article we will do an overview of the general and specific complications that occur after the most common wrist and hand surgeries. Knowledge of the different surgical techniques is essential for postoperative imaging evaluation. General complications include infection, complex regional pain syndrome, problems related with the surgical approach (open or arthroscopic) and bone healing problems. The most frequent fractures of the wrist with specific complications are distal radius fractures and scaphoid fractures as associated with tendon ruptures secondary to friction, nonunion or secondary malignment. We will briefly review the different approaches for triangular fibrocartilage injuries, including acute and degenerative lesions. Scapholunate instability is the most common instability and an important indication for surgery with pin fixation in the acute setting and arthroplasty or arthrodesis in the chronic irreparable injuries. One of the most common surgeries of the wrist is carpal tunnel release, although complications are uncommon, radiologists should be familiar with the normal appearance and pathological changes after surgery. Trapeziometacarpal joint osteoarthritis is frequent especially in postmenopausal women and has several treatment options depending on the stage.

To assess the incidence and causes of persistent thigh pain and peri-implant fractures after union in patients of intertrochanteric fractures treated with short cephalo-medullary nails.

Background and objective In the last decade, there has been significant evolution in thoracic surgery with the advent of robotic surgery. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the incidence of postoperative chronic pain (for six months and beyond) in robotic and video-assisted approaches to analyze the long-term effects of the two different techniques. Methods This was a retrospective study involving 92 patients who underwent various thoracic operations between six months and two years preceding the study. Patients were classified into two groups based on the type of surgery: video-assisted (VATS) (n=51), and robotic-assisted (RATS) (n=41) thoracoscopic Surgery. We employed the EuroQol (EQ-5D-5L) questionnaire to assess the utility values in terms of five quality-of-life measures (self-care, pain/discomfort, mobility, anxiety/depression, and usual activities). Results In the VATS group, the median age was 68 years while it was 57 years in the RATS group (p=0.001). A higher proportion of patients in the VATS group had anatomical lung resection (lobectomy) compared to the RATS group: 61.2 vs. 41.6% respectively (p=0.005). However, the groups were well-matched on other patient characteristics such as relevant past medical history, underlying disease pathology, and final disease staging (if malignant), with no significant differences between groups observed regarding these traits. In the VATS group, 62.7% of patients were pain-free at the time of the questionnaire-based evaluation compared to 51.2% in the RATS group. Additionally, 25.5% vs. 39% of patients had mild pain in the VATS and RATS groups respectively. Neither of these differences was statistically significant. Conclusion Patients who undergo RATS are known to have better recovery and less pain compared to those who have VATS in the immediate postoperative period. However, our results did not find RATS to be superior to VATS in terms of long-term pain. Additionally, robotic surgery is associated with higher hospital costs. In light of these findings, further comparative studies between the two approaches are recommended, while strategies to reduce postoperative pain and financial cost should continue to be explored.

Multimodal analgesia that combines around-the-clock medications and regional techniques can be especially effective for postoperative pain control. We describe a pediatric patient who underwent vertebral body tethering via an open thoracolumbar approach to treat juvenile idiopathic scoliosis. Erector spinae plane blocks (ESPBs), cryoablation to the intercostal nerves, and multimodal medications helped control our patient's pain well enough for her to be discharged home on postoperative day 2. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of this combination of regional techniques used for vertebral body tethering (VBT).

: Long-term treatment-free remission (TFR) represents a new goal for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Optimizing dose of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in the CML treatment maybe a new challenge to maintain effective and improving patients' quality of life. We hypothesized that administration of low-dose TKIs does not compromise major molecular response (MMR) in patients with CML who have a deep molecular response (DMR). : We did an open-label, randomized trial at eight hospitals in China. Eligible CML-CP patients (aged 18-70 years) had shown continuous response to TKI more than 5 years and maintained MR4.5 (BCR-ABLIS ≤ 0.0032%) in recent 18 months. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to the TKI de-escalation group or the discontinuation group. Randomization was done with permuted blocks (block size four) and implemented through an interactive web-based randomization system. Recurrence was defined as the single sample with real time Quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) measurement greater than 0.1% (MMR). The primary endpoint was 12-month MMR rate in patients who received de-escalation or discontinuation of TKIs. This study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04143087). : Around 125 patients were enrolled between October 23, 2019 and October 31, 2020, 62 patients received dose de-escalation of TKIs, while 63 patients in the discontinuation group. In the de-escalation group, molecular recurrence-free survival at 12 months was 88.32% (95% CI 79%-98%), whereas molecular recurrence-free survival in the discontinuation group at 12 months was 59.98% (95% CI 47-73). No progressions occurred at the data cut-off date. All 29 recurrence cases restart TKI treatment returned to MMR. Cytolytic NK cells as a proportion of lymphocyte cells were significantly increased from baseline after 6 months whether in the de-escalation or TKIs cessation group ( = 0.048, 0.001, respectively); compared with the relapsing patients, Tregs proportion was decreased ( = 0.003), and higher proportion of NK cells were found in non-relapsing patients whether in TKI de-escalation or discontinuation group ( = 0.011, 0.007, respectively). We also found that the de-escalation group showed better disease-specific HRQOL in regards to its impact on emotional functioning, fatigue, pain, and financial difficulties. : With 88.32% MMR in 12-months follow-up after de-escalation TKIs' treatment, dose-halving could become a new treatment paradigm for CML patients who with DMR under continuing maintenance therapy with TKIs.

Here, we reported two cases with hyperthyroidism who complained of myalgia and muscle cramps during treatment with methimazole tablets (or Thyrozol, the brand name). One case experienced muscle cramps after taking Thyrozol for 6 months, and by this time the patient's thyroid function had returned to normal. In the other case, pain caused by muscular cramps began after the patient took Thyrozol for two weeks and the patient's thyroid function had not returned to normal yet at the time. In both cases, pain caused by muscle cramps appeared while the patients were taking Thyrozol. The myalgia persisted in spite of a reduction in the Thyrozol dose, but was significantly relieved with the discontinuation of Thyrozol. Myalgia and muscle cramps did not recur after the patients were switched to methimazole ointment. There was a strong temporal association between oral administration of Thyrozol and pain caused by muscle cramps, which may indicate that myalgia and muscle cramps are adverse reactions of Thyrozol. Looking into the relevant literature on the topic, we explored in this report the possible mechanisms of the onset of muscle cramps associated with Thyrozol, and compared the adverse reactions of two different formulations of methimazole, intending to provide more clinical experience for the treatment of hyperthyroidism and the management of rare adverse reactions related to antithyroid drugs.