The effect of massage therapy on pain after surgery: A comprehensive meta-analysis

BackgroundFindings on the usefulness of massage therapy (MT) in postoperative pain management are often inconsistent among studies.ObjectivesThis study’s aim is to conduct a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCT) to clarify the effects of massage therapy in the treatment of postoperative pain.MethodsThree databases (PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials) were searched for RCTs published from database inception through January 26, 2021. The primary outcome was pain relief. The quality of RCTs was appraised with the Cochrane Collaboration risk of bias tool. The random-effect model was used to calculate the effect sizes and standardized mean difference (SMD) with 95 % confidential intervals (CIs) as a summary effect. The heterogeneity test was conducted through I². Subgroup and sensitivity analyses were used to explore the source of heterogeneity. Possible publication bias was assessed using visual inspection of funnel plot asymmetry.ResultsThe analysis included 33 RCTs and showed that MT is effective in reducing postoperative pain (SMD, −1.32; 95 % CI, −2.01 to −0.63; p = 0.0002; I² = 98.67 %). A similar significant effect was found for both short (immediate assessment) and long terms (assessment performed 4–6 weeks after the MT). Remarkably, we found neither the duration per session nor the dose had an impact on the effect of MT and there seemed to be no difference in the effects of different MT types. In addition, MT seemed to be more effective for adults. Furthermore, MT had better analgesic effects on cesarean section and heart surgery than orthopedic surgery.LimitationsPublication bias is possible due to the inclusion of studies in English only. Additionally, the included studies were extremely heterogeneous. Double-blind research on MT is difficult to implement, and none of the included studies is double-blind. There was some heterogeneity and publication bias in the included studies. In addition, there is no uniform evaluation standard for the operation level of massage practitioners, which may lead to research implementation bias.ConclusionsMT is effective in reducing postoperative pain in both short and long terms.     

Atrial fibrillation after cardiac surgery: A systematic review and meta-analysis

ObjectiveNew-onset postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) after cardiac surgery is common, with rates up to 60%. POAF has been associated with early and late stroke, but its association with other cardiovascular outcomes is less known. The objective was to perform a meta-analysis of the studies reporting the association of POAF with perioperative and long-term outcomes in patients with cardiac surgery.MethodsWe performed a systematic review and a meta-analysis of studies that presented outcomes for cardiac surgery on the basis of the presence or absence of POAF. MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library were assessed; 57 studies (246,340 patients) were selected. Perioperative mortality was the primary outcome. Inverse variance method and random model were performed. Leave-one-out analysis, subgroup analyses, and metaregression were conducted.ResultsPOAF was associated with perioperative mortality (odds ratio [OR], 1.92; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.58-2.33), perioperative stroke (OR, 2.17; 95% CI, 1.90-2.49), perioperative myocardial infarction (OR, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.06-1.54), perioperative acute renal failure (OR, 2.74; 95% CI, 2.42-3.11), hospital (standardized mean difference, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.53-1.07) and intensive care unit stay (standardized mean difference, 0.55; 95% CI, 0.24-0.86), long-term mortality (incidence rate ratio [IRR], 1.54; 95% CI, 1.40-1.69), long-term stroke (IRR, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.21-1.46), and longstanding persistent atrial fibrillation (IRR, 4.73; 95% CI, 3.36-6.66).ConclusionsThe results suggest that POAF after cardiac surgery is associated with an increased occurrence of most short- and long-term cardiovascular adverse events. However, the causality of this association remains to be established.     

浅谈不同年龄结节性甲状腺肿合并甲状腺癌患者甲状腺超声特征的临床比较

目的:给予不同年龄结节性甲状腺肿合并甲状腺癌患者实施甲状腺超声检查,对相应的超声检查特征展开分析。方法:选择2018年6月~2019年6月的114例患者为对象,所有患者均被确诊为结节性甲状腺肿合并甲状腺癌,并且利用甲状腺二维超声及多普勒超声对患者进行检查,依据患者年龄阶段均分为两组,每组中各纳入57例患者,年龄超过60岁以上的患者为老年组;年龄在60岁以下的患者为中青年组,对比两组患者的血流相关指标与钙化情况数据。结果:老年组中的平均收缩期流速、阻力指数等数据明显低于中青年组,且比较后P<0.05,具有临床可比较意义。老年组中钙化的总例数为21例,总钙化率占比为36.84%,中青年组中钙化的总例数为38例,总钙化率占比为66.67%,前者数据显著低于后者钙化率,P<0.05。结论:在对结节性甲状腺肿合并甲状腺癌患者实施超声检查后,中青年组患者的病灶呈现低回声、高回声以及伴微小钙化、血流分布以内部血流为主、血流阻力大的特点明显高于老年组,能够显著提升诊断效果,为日后的临床治疗提供了图像依据。     

Minimally Invasive Treatments for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia: Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis

PurposeTo review and to compare indirectly the outcomes of minimally invasive therapies for the treatment of lower urinary tract symptoms secondary to benign prostatic hyperplasia.Materials and MethodsA literature search via Medline and Cochrane Central databases was completed for randomized control studies published between January 2000 to April 2020 for the following therapies: Rezum, Urolift, Aquablation, and prostatic artery embolization (PAE). Data on the following variables were included: International prostate symptom score (IPSS), maximum urinary flow rate, quality of life, and postvoid residual (PVR). Standard mean differences between treatments were compared through a meta-analysis using transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) to assess differences in treatment effect.ResultsThere was no significant difference in outcomes between therapies for IPSS at the 3, 6, and 12-month follow ups. Although outcomes for Rezum were only available out to 3 months, there were no consistently significant differences in outcomes when comparing Aquablation versus PAE versus Rezum. TURP PVR was significantly better than Urolift at 3, 6, and 12 months. No significant differences in minor or major adverse events were noted.ConclusionAlthough significant differences in outcomes were limited, Aquablation and PAE were the most durable at 12 months. PAE has been well studied on multiple randomized control trials with minimal adverse events while Aquablation has limited high quality data and has been associated with bleeding-related complications.     

A High Order Bound Preserving Finite Difference Linear Scheme for Incompressible Flows

We propose a high order finite difference linear scheme combined with a high order bound preserving maximum-principle-preserving (MPP) flux limiter to solve the incompressible flow system. For such problem with highly oscillatory structure but not strong shocks, our approach seems to be less dissipative and much less costly than a WENO type scheme, and has high resolution due to a Hermite reconstruction. Spurious numerical oscillations can be controlled by the weak MPP flux limiter. Numerical tests are performed for the Vlasov-Poisson system, the 2D guiding-center model and the incompressible Euler system. The comparison between the linear and WENO type schemes, with and without the MPP flux limiter, will demonstrate the good performance of our proposed approach.     

The Use of Lipoprotein-Associated Phospholipase A2 in a Chinese Population to Predict Cardiovascular Events

Objective To explore associations between lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2(Lp-PLA2) and the risk of cardiovascular events in a Chinese population, with a long-term follow-up.Methods A random sample of 2,031 participants(73.6% males, mean age = 60.4 years) was derived from the Asymptomatic Polyvascular Abnormalities Community study(APAC) from 2010 to 2011. Serum Lp-PLA2 levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA). The composite endpoint was a combination of first-eve...     

Method’s corner: Allergist’s guide to network meta-analysis

Network meta-analyses (NMAs) simultaneously estimate the effects of multiple possible treatment options for a given clinical presentation. For allergists to benefit optimally from NMAs, they must understand the process and be able to interpret the results. Through a worked example published in Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, we summarize how to identify credible NMAs and interpret them with a focus on recent innovations in the GRADE approach (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation). NMAs build on traditional systematic reviews and meta-analyses that consider only direct paired comparisons by including indirect evidence, thus allowing the simultaneous assessment of the relative effect of all pairs of competing alternatives. Our framework informs clinicians of how to identify credible NMAs and address the certainty of the evidence. Trustworthy NMAs fill a critical gap in providing key inferences using direct and indirect evidence to inform clinical decision making when faced with more than two competing courses of treatment options. This document will help allergists to identify trustworthy NMAs to enhance patient care.     

尿液10项肾损伤标志物检测试剂的性能评价

摘要:目的对尿液 10项肾损伤标志物检测试剂进行性能评价,并评估其临床适用性。方法对北京利德曼公司尿液a1 微球蛋白(u-a|MG)、总蛋白(u-TP)、免疫球蛋白G(u-IgG) 、微量清蛋白(u-Alb)、中性粒细胞明胶酶相关脂质运载蛋白(u-NGAL)、半胱氨酸蛋白酶抑制剂C(u-CysC).视黄醇结合蛋白(u-RBP)、β2微球蛋白(u-β2MG)、N-乙酰-β-D-氨基葡萄糖苷酶(u-NAG).、转铁蛋白(u-Trf)检测试剂盒进行性能评价。正确度和精密度验证参考美国临床和实验室标准协会(CLSI)EP15-A3,验证物质采用ERM-DA470k、ERM-DA471、B2M-NIBSC等参考物质及纯度物质;线性验证参考CLSI EP06;抗干扰能力参考CISI EP07;不同检测系统间比对参考CISI EP09。结果正确度方面,10 项标志物检测试剂测定标准物质在低值、中值、高值的偏倚分别为-2.69% ~4.67%、-3.60% ~3.33% .-2.38% ~3.02%;不精密度方面,重复性以不精密度表示,在低值和高值处分别为1.90%~5.43%、0.63% ~2.42%,室内不精密度为2.27%~5.63%、1.09%~3.41%,均满足临床要求;10项尿液标志物线性范围在0.06~4.40 mg/L至21.83~2 146.77 mg/L之间。抗干扰方面,u-1 MG、u-Alb、u-β2MG、u-Trf 、u-CysC、u-NAG分别在血红蛋白终浓度≤8 g/L、≤8 g/L、≤4 g/L、≤4 g/L、≤2g/L、≤1 g/L时,未受到明显干扰(百分偏差≤+ 10%) ,而u-TP、u-IgG、 u-RBP、u-NGAL在血红蛋白终浓度≥0.125 g/L时即受干扰。不同检测系统间偏差超出临床允许范围。结论尿液 10项肾损伤标志物的正确度、精密度、线性范围和抗血红蛋白干扰能力满足临床需要,不同检测系统间标志物测量结果可比性欠佳。     

Numerical Integrators for Dispersion-Managed KdV Equation

In this paper, we consider the numerics of the dispersion-managed Korteweg-de Vries (DM-KdV) equation for describing wave propagations in inhomogeneous media. The DM-KdV equation contains a variable dispersion map with discontinuity, which makes the solution non-smooth in time. We formally analyze the convergence order reduction problems of some popular numerical methods including finite difference and time-splitting for solving the DM-KdV equation, where a necessary constraint on the time step has been identified. Then, two exponential-type dispersion-map integrators up to second order accuracy are derived, which are efficiently incorporated with the Fourier pseudospectral discretization in space, and they can converge regardless of the discontinuity and the step size. Numerical comparisons show the advantage of the proposed methods with the application to solitary wave dynamics and extension to the fast & strong dispersion-management regime.