The Importance of Quality Perioperative Patient Education

Surgical patients, both inpatient and outpatient, need perioperative education in order to know how to prepare for surgery and what they can expect in the days following their surgical procedure. Quality perioperative patient education not only improves postoperative patient outcomes, but contributes as well to high patient satisfaction scores, which are currently tied to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reimbursements. This paper will demonstrate the importance of patient education and describe some perioperative Internet-based resources.     

Portrait of an Exhibitionist

Psychiatric Quarterly - Exhibitionism has been viewed through many lenses, from the perspectives of sexual deviance, forensic psychiatry, psychopathology, psychological dynamics, feminism,...     

Testosterone levels increase in association with recovery from acute fracture in men

Summary

In this longitudinal case–control study, acute fracture was associated with low serum testosterone, which was transient in 43 % of men. While assessment of gonadal status is part of the assessment of bone fragility, measurement of testosterone in the early period after fracture may overestimate the prevalence of androgen deficiency.

Introduction

Measurement of circulating testosterone is recommended in the evaluation of bone fragility in men. Since acute illness can transiently decrease circulating testosterone, we quantified the association of acute fracture and serum testosterone levels.

Methods

A case–control study was conducted involving 240 men with a radiologically confirmed minimal trauma fracture presenting to a tertiary referral hospital and 89 age-matched men without a history of minimal trauma fracture serving as controls. Follow-up testosterone levels 6 months after baseline were available for 98 cases and 27 controls. Results were expressed as the median and interquartile (IQR) range.

Results

Compared to controls, cases had lower total testosterone [TT, 7.2 (3.5, 10.8) vs 13.6 (10.9, 17.1) nmol/L, p?<?0.001]. The 143 cases treated as inpatients had lower testosterone levels than the 97 cases treated as outpatients [TT 4.7 (2.3, 8.1) vs 10.3 (7.5, 12.7) nmol/L, p?<?0.001]. Group differences in calculated free testosterone (cFT) were comparable to the group differences in TT. At follow-up, in 98 cases, median TT increased from 6.5 nmol/L (3.2, 8.5) to 9.6 nmol/L (6.9, 12.0) p?<?0.0001, and SHBG remained unchanged. Of cases with low testosterone, 43 % with TT <10 nmol/L and/or cFT <230 pmol/L at presentation were reclassified as androgen sufficient at follow-up. TT was unchanged in the controls.

Conclusions

Low testosterone levels in men presenting with an acute fracture may, at least in part, be due to an acute, fracture-associated, stress response. To avoid over diagnosis, evaluation for testosterone deficiency should be deferred until recovery from the acute event.     

The Effect of Acute Exercise on Undercarboxylated Osteocalcin and Insulin Sensitivity in Obese Men

Acute exercise improves insulin sensitivity for hours after the exercise is ceased. The skeleton contributes to glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity via osteocalcin (OC) in its undercarboxylated (ucOC) form in mice. We tested the hypothesis that insulin sensitivity over the hours after exercise is associated with circulating levels of ucOC. Eleven middle‐aged (58.1 ± 2.2 years mean ± SEM), obese (body mass index [BMI] = 33.1 ± 1.4 kg/m²) nondiabetic men completed a euglycemic‐hyperinsulinemic clamp at rest (rest‐control) and at 60 minutes after exercise (4 × 4 minutes of cycling at 95% of HR_peak). Insulin sensitivity was determined by glucose infusion rate relative to body mass (GIR, mL/kg/min) as well as GIR per unit of insulin (M‐value). Blood samples and five muscle biopsies were obtained; two at the resting‐control session, one before and one after clamping, and three in the exercise session, at rest, 60 minutes after exercise, and after the clamp. Exercise increased serum ucOC (6.4 ± 2.1%, p = 0.013) but not total OC (p > 0.05). Blood glucose was ～6% lower and insulin sensitivity was ～35% higher after exercise compared with control (both p < 0.05). Phosphorylated (P)‐AKT (Ak thymoma) was higher after exercise and insulin compared with exercise alone (no insulin) and insulin alone (no exercise, all p < 0.05). In a multiple‐linear regression including BMI, age, and aerobic fitness, ucOC was associated with whole‐body insulin sensitivity at rest (β = 0.59, p = 0.023) and after exercise (β = 0.66, p = 0.005). Insulin sensitivity, after acute exercise, is associated with circulating levels of ucOC in obese men. Whether ucOC has a direct effect on skeletal muscle insulin sensitivity after exercise is yet to be determined. © 2014 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.     

Insulin Resistance and Bone Strength: Findings From the Study of Midlife in the United States

Although several studies have noted increased fracture risk in individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), the pathophysiologic mechanisms underlying this association are not known. We hypothesize that insulin resistance (the key pathology in T2DM) negatively influences bone remodeling and leads to reduced bone strength. Data for this study came from 717 participants in the Biomarker Project of the Midlife in the United States Study (MIDUS II). The homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA‐IR) was calculated from fasting morning blood glucose and insulin levels. Projected 2D (areal) bone mineral density (BMD) was measured in the lumbar spine and left hip using dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry (DXA). Femoral neck axis length and width were measured from the hip DXA scans, and combined with BMD and body weight and height to create composite indices of femoral neck strength relative to load in three different failure modes: compression, bending, and impact. We used multiple linear regressions to examine the relationship between HOMA‐IR and bone strength, adjusted for age, gender, race/ethnicity, menopausal transition stage (in women), and study site. Greater HOMA‐IR was associated with lower values of all three composite indices of femoral neck strength relative to load, but was not associated with BMD in the femoral neck. Every doubling of HOMA‐IR was associated with a 0.34 to 0.40 SD decrement in the strength indices (p < 0.001). On their own, higher levels of fasting insulin (but not of glucose) were independently associated with lower bone strength. Our study confirms that greater insulin resistance is related to lower femoral neck strength relative to load. Further, we note that hyperinsulinemia, rather than hyperglycemia, underlies this relationship. Although cross‐sectional associations do not prove causality, our findings do suggest that insulin resistance and in particular, hyperinsulinemia, may negatively affect bone strength relative to load. © 2014 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.     

Cortical Porosity Identifies Women With Osteopenia at Increased Risk for Forearm Fractures

Most fragility fractures arise among the many women with osteopenia, not the smaller number with osteoporosis at high risk for fracture. Thus, most women at risk for fracture assessed only by measuring areal bone mineral density (aBMD) will remain untreated. We measured cortical porosity and trabecular bone volume/total volume (BV/TV) of the ultradistal radius (UDR) using high‐resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography, aBMD using densitometry, and 10‐year fracture probability using the country‐specific fracture risk assessment tool (FRAX) in 68 postmenopausal women with forearm fractures and 70 age‐matched community controls in Olmsted County, MN, USA. Women with forearm fractures had 0.4 standard deviations (SD) higher cortical porosity and 0.6 SD lower trabecular BV/TV. Compact‐appearing cortical porosity predicted fracture independent of aBMD; odds ratio (OR) = 1.92 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.10–3.33). In women with osteoporosis at the UDR, cortical porosity did not distinguish those with fractures from those without because high porosity was present in 92% and 86% of each group, respectively. By contrast, in women with osteopenia at the UDR, high porosity of the compact‐appearing cortex conferred an OR for fracture of 4.00 (95% CI 1.15–13.90). In women with osteoporosis, porosity is captured by aBMD, so measuring UDR cortical porosity does not improve diagnostic sensitivity. However, in women with osteopenia, cortical porosity was associated with forearm fractures. © 2014 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.     

Social Support and Strain Across Close Relationships: A Twin Study

Social relationships play a critical role in health and well-being throughout life. We analyzed the genetic and environmental variance co-variance structure for social support and strain across four sets of relationships including with one’s co-twin, spouse/partner, family and friends. The sample included 5288 Norwegian twins aged 40–80. Older people reported less support from their co-twin and friends and less strain from their family and friends. Genetic influences contribute importantly to variation across all the measures, with estimates ranging from 0 to 58%; variance due to shared environmental influences was most important for the twin-relationship, ranging from 0.11 to 0.42%. Social support was negatively correlated with social strain across all sets of relationships. With the exception of the co-twin relationship, these associations were primarily mediated by genetic and non-shared environmental effects.