Rejected

Few studies examine the impact of abdominoplasty on chronic back pain.

To investigate the clinical features and imaging characteristics of mitochondrial encephalopathy, lactic acidosis, and stroke-like episodes (MELAS). Seventeen patients with MELAS diagnosed in the Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University from July 2014 to August 2018 were enrolled in this study and their clinical manifestations, imaging and histopathological features were retrospectively analysed. We also discussed and summarised the related literature. All of the 12 patients had seizures; stroke-like episodes in 12 cases; audio-visual impairment in 12 cases; headache in six cases; dysplasia in four cases; mental retardation in three cases; ataxia in two cases. On cranial magnetic resonance (MR) scans, the most common manifestations were in temporal-occipital-parietal lobe, cortical or subcortical areas as well as frontal lobe, thalamus, and basal ganglia showing long or equal T1 signals, long T2 signals, and hyperintense or iso-intense diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) signals accompanied by ventricular enlargement and brain atrophy. MR spectroscopy showed that lactic acid peaks could be found in lesion sites, normal brain tissues, and cerebrospinal fluid. Muscle biopsy and genetic testing are the gold standard for diagnosing MELAS, muscle biopsy revealed COX-negative muscle fibres and SDH-stained red ragged fibres (RRF) under the sarcolemma. Mutations of mtDNA A3243G locus were common on gene testing. Improvement of mitochondrial function was observed after symptomatic and supportive treatment. MELAS should be considered for patients with epileptic seizures, headache, stroke-like episodes, extraocular palsy, cognitive decline and other clinical manifestations with the lesion located in the temporal-occipital-parietal lobe regardless of the distribution of blood vessels, and further examinations including muscle biopsy and gene testing should be performed to confirm the diagnosis.

Total knee arthroplasty is associated with intense pain postoperatively. Thus, adequate pain relief is essential in the immediate postoperative period to enable ambulation, initiation of physiotherapy, and prevention of postoperative complications. The objective of this study was to compare the effectiveness and early outcomes of adductor canal blockade (ACB) and continuous epidural analgesia (CEA) in patients who underwent a unilateral total knee replacement (TKR).

To identify the most effective analgesia for women undergoing office hysteroscopy.

A brachial plexus block provides anesthesia and analgesia with limited duration. Various opioids have been used as adjuvants of local anesthetics to improve the effects.

Splenectomy performed with a curved incision results in severe postoperative pain. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of transversus abdominis plane block and rectus sheath block on postoperative pain relief and recovery.

Sacroiliac (SI) joint involvement (sacroiliitis) is considered as major criteria for diagnosing Spondyloarthropathy (SpA), although involvement of spine and hip can also occur. The aim of our study was to assess the utility of including sagittal short-tau inversion recovery (STIR) sequence of dorsolumbar spine and coronal STIR/proton density (PD) fat saturated sequence through both hips, to routine SI joint magnetic resonance (MR) imaging protocol, in patients clinically suspected to have SpA.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is an extremely common form of chronic joint disease which can affect the knees and other joints of older adults, leading to debilitating disability in the knee and consequent reduction in quality of life. Intra-articular platelet-rich plasma (PRP) or hyaluronic acid (HA) injections are effective for maintaining long-term beneficial effects without increasing the risk of intra-articular infection. However, few studies have compared the relative value of HA and PRP for OA treatment. PRP is more effective than HA for OA treatment in recent studies of this topic. We systematically searched Medline, SpringerLink, Embase, Pubmed, Clinical Trials.gov, the Cochrane Library, and OVID for all articles published through May 2018. Any study was included that compared the effect of HA and PRP (consistent treatment cycle and frequency of injection) on patient's pain levels and functionality improvements. Review Manager 5.3 was used to analyze data regarding these two primary outcomes. We included 10 total studies in the present meta-analysis. International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC; MD: 10.37, 95% confidence interval (CI): 9.13 to 11.62, < 0.00001), Western Ontario and MacMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC; MD: -20.69, 95% CI: -24.50 to -16.89, < 0.00001, = 94%), and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS; MD: -1.50, 95% CI: -1.61 to -1.38, < 0.00001, = 90%) differed significantly between the PRP and HA groups. Knee Osteoarthritis Outcome Scores (KOOSs) did not differ significantly ( = 23.53, = 41%, = 0.11). Our hypothesis appears not to be confirmed because PRP and HA did not differ significantly with respect to KOOS score. However, the IKDC, WOMAC, and VAS scores differed significantly. Thus, based on the current evidence, PRP appears to be better than HA at achieving pain relief and self-reported functional improvement. Ia, meta-analyses of randomized clinical trials.

Kratom (Mitragyna speciosa), an herbal plant gaining popularity as a treatment for chronic pain and opioid withdrawal symptoms, continues to be marketed and sold in the United States in an unregulated fashion. We present a patient with a history of opioid use disorder and taking kratom for chronic pain, who presented for an elective total knee replacement. We experienced challenges as well as successes with using buprenorphine as the primary medication to treat his post-operative pain, adding to the growing body of evidence to consider the use of buprenorphine both for kratom withdrawal and in the perioperative period.