Sauvè-Kapandji operation for disorders of the distal radioulnar joint

A series of 13 patients is reported in which a Sauvè-Kapandji procedure consisting of arthrodesis of the articulation between the radius and ulna combined with resection of the collum ulnae was used to treat posttraumatic caput ulnae syndrome. Among the nine female and four male patients whose median age was 42 years (range: 23 to 77 years), nine sustained a distal fracture that had healed with shortening of the radius or with subluxation of the caput ulnae. Median postoperative observation time was 16 months (range: six to 27 months). Preoperatively, all patients had persistent medial wrist pain and restricted pronation-supination. At follow-up, ten patients were without symptoms and three others had improved significantly. No patient suffered from pain from the site of the resection. A significant improvement in pronation-supination of 45 degrees and flexion-extension of 25 degrees were found. Hand grip strength improved significantly during rehabilitation. At follow-up, the average hand grip strength on the operated wrists was 69% compared to the uninjured side.     

What is the evidence for the management of urethral amyloidosis? A systematic review of the literature

What's known on the subject? and What does the study add? Urethral amyloidosis is rare and urethrotomy has been proposed as a suitable treatment option. By reviewing the literature and comparing our own experiences, we have shown urethroplasty to have good medium term outcomes in patients with urethral amyloidosis, whereas urethrotomy may lead to recurrence.

OBJECTIVE

• ? Urethral amyloidosis (UA) is a rare condition which may be encountered by an urological surgeon. We reviewed the literature regarding the presentation, investigation and management of UA.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

• ? A systematic review of the English literature on PubMed was conducted and we indentified 39 articles which reported 45 patients. We included our experience with four patients from our tertiary centre.

RESULTS

• ? The majority of patients reported symptoms consistent with a urethral structure. Most patients were treated with urethrotomy, only two patients have been reported to have had a urethroplasty in the literature. Medium and long term outcome data is lacking for urethrotomy and urethroplasty. We found recurrence in our patients after urethromoty and incomplete resection of UA. We describe short (6 month) and medium term (18 month) outcomes in two patients who underwent augmentation urethroplasty.

CONCLUSION

• ? Although urethrotomy and dilatation have been proposed in the past, we found these may still lead to disease progression and therefore urethroplasty may be the most appropriate long term management option.

     

The role of radioisotopes for the palliation of bone pain from bone metastases

Bone metastasis occurs as a result of a complex pathophysiologic process between host and tumor cells leading to cellular invasion, migration adhesion, and stimulation of osteoclastic and osteoblastic activity. Several sequences occur as a result of osseous metastases and resulting bone pain can lead to significant debilitation. Pain associated with osseous metastasis is thought to be distinct from neuropathic or inflammatory pain. Several mechanisms, such as invasion of tumor cells, spinal cord astrogliosis, and sensitization of nervous system, have been postulated to cause pain. Pharmaceutical therapy of bone pain includes nonsteroidal analgesics and opiates. These drugs are associated with side effects, and tolerance to these agents necessitates treatment with other modalities. Bisphosphonates act by inhibiting osteoclast-mediated resorption and have been increasingly used in treatment of painful bone metastasis. While external beam radiation therapy remains the mainstay of pain palliation of solitary lesions, bone-seeking radiopharmaceuticals have entered the therapeutic armamentarium for the treatment of multiple painful osseous lesions. ^32p has been used for over 3 decades in the treatment of multiple osseous metastases. The myelosuppression caused by this agent has led to the development of other bone-seeking radiopharmaceuticals, including ^89SrCl, and ^153Sm-ethylenediaminetetramethylene phosphonic acid （^153Sm-EDTMP）. ^89Sr is a bone-seeking radionuclide, whereas ^153Sm-EDTMP is a bone-seeking tetraphosphonate; both have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of painful osseous metastases. While both agents have been shown to have efficacy in the treatment of painful osseous metastases from prostate cancer, they may also have utility in the treatment of painful osseous metastases from breast cancer and perhaps from non-small cell lung cancer. This article illustrates the salient features of these radiopharmaceuticals, including the approved dose, method of administration, and indications for use.     

The role of radioisotopes for the palliation of bone pain flrOm bone metastases

~~The role of radioisotopes for the palliation of bone pain flrOm bone metastases[1]Neeta PT，Maria Batraki BS，Chaitanya RD．Radiopharmaceuticaltherapy for palliation of bone pain from osseous nK[astases Jotlr-nal of Nuclear Medicine．2004．45：l 358-136     

Validation of a questionnaire for the assessment of pain following ventral hernia repair—the VHPQ

Purpose

The aim of this study was to create and evaluate the validity and reliability of a novel ventral hernia pain questionnaire (VHPQ) to assess pain following surgery for ventral hernia.

Methods

The questionnaire was constructed using focus groups and patient interviews. Validity was tested on 51 patients who responded to the VHPQ and brief pain inventory (BPI) 1 and 4?weeks following surgery. Reliability and internal consistency was tested on 74 patients who had surgery 3?years earlier and received the VHPQ and BPI on two separate occasions. Pain not related to surgery was examined on one occasion using the VHPQ on 100 non-operated people.

Results

For pain intensity items, a significant decrease was seen from week 1 to week 4 postoperative (p?<?0.05). Spearman rank correlations were significant between the pain intensity items of the VHPQ and the BPI, tested 1?week postoperative (p?<?0.05). Kappa levels for test?Cretest of items for interference with daily activities were higher than 0.5 for all items except one. Intra-class correlation was significant for pain intensity items (p?<?0.05) in the test?Cretest group. Three years after surgery, the operated group stated more pain in the pain intensity items (p?<?0.05) and more interference with daily activities (p?<?0.05) than a non-operated group from the general population.

Conclusion

The validity and reliability of the VHPQ make it a useful tool in assessing postoperative pain and patient satisfaction.     

Gabapentin for the treatment of pain in guillain-barré syndrome: a double-blinded,placebo-controlled,crossover study

Pain syndromes of Guillain-Barré are neuropathic as well as nociceptive in origin. We aimed to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of gabapentin in relieving the bimodal nature of pain in Guillain-Barré syndrome in a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, crossover study in 18 patients admitted to the intensive care unit for ventilatory support. Patients were assigned to receive either gabapentin (15 mg. kg(-1). d(-1) in 3 divided doses) or matching placebo as initial medication for 7 days. After a 2-day washout period, those who previously received gabapentin received placebo, and those previously receiving placebo received gabapentin as in the initial phase. Fentanyl 2 micro g/kg was used as a rescue analgesic on patient demand or when the pain score was >5 on a numeric rating scale of 0-10. The numeric rating score, sedation score, consumption of fentanyl, and adverse effects were noted, and these observed variables were compared. The numeric pain score decreased from 7.22 +/- 0.83 to 2.33 +/- 1.67 on the second day after initiation of gabapentin therapy and remained low during the period of gabapentin therapy (2.06 +/- 0.63) (P < 0.001). There was a significant decrease in the need for fentanyl from Day 1 to Day 7 during the gabapentin therapy period (211.11 +/- 21.39 to 65.53 +/- 16.17 [ micro g]) in comparison to the placebo therapy period (319.44 +/- 25.08 to 316.67 +/- 24.25 [ micro g]) (P < 0.001). IMPLICATIONS: Gabapentin, an antiepileptic drug, has been used effectively for different types of pain management. This study demonstrates that gabapentin has minimal side effects and is an alternative to opioids and nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs for management of the bimodal nature of pain of Guillain-Barré Syndrome patients.     

Do we need preemptive analgesia for the treatment of postoperative pain?

Preemptive analgesia means that an analgesic intervention is started before the noxious stimulus arises in order to block peripheral and central nociception. This afferent blockade of nociceptive impulses is maintained throughout the intra-operative and post-operative period. The goals of preemptive analgesia are, first, to decrease acute pain after tissue injury, second, to prevent pain-related pathologic modulation of the central nervous system, and third, to inhibit the persistence of postoperative pain and the development of chronic pain. So far, the promising results from animal models have not been translated into clinical practice. Therefore, clinicians should rely on conventional anaesthetic and analgesic methods with proven efficacy, i.e. a multimodal approach including the combination of strong opioids, non-opioid analgesics, and peripheral or neuraxial local anaesthetics that act at different sites of the pain pathways.     

The Sauvé-Kapandji procedure for posttraumatic disorders of the distal radioulnar joint

The authors report their experience with the Sauvé-Kapandji procedure for the management of posttraumatic disorders of the distal radioulnar joint in 20 patients. The mean age was 39 years (range, 19 to 62 years), the mean duration of follow-up was 76 months (range, 60-97 months) and the mean time interval between initial injury and the Sauvé-Kapandji procedure was 24 months (range, 6-120 months). Postoperatively all patients experienced relief of pain. Rotation of the forearm increased to near normal values. The patients scored an average of 77 points on the Modified Mayo Wrist Score (range, 65-95 points). Three patients had an excellent result, six had a good result, seven had a fair result and one had a poor result. There were no major complications. Fifteen of seventeen employed patients had returned to work. Eighteen of nineteen patients were very satisfied or satisfied by the result of surgery. The procedure performed satisfactorily in addressing posttraumatic problems of the distal radioulnar joint, but must still be considered a salvage procedure.     

Is pregnancy related pelvic girdle pain associated with altered kinematic, kinetic and motor control of the pelvis? A systematic review

Purpose

To determine the level of evidence for altered mechanical and motor control of the pelvis being associated with pregnancy-related pelvic girdle pain (PPGP).

Methods

This systematic review was undertaken by following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Six different databases were used for the electronic search. Observational cohorts, cross sectional or case–control studies focused on the association between altered kinematic/kinetic and motor control of the pelvis and PPGP during pregnancy were included. Study selection was conducted by two reviewers who firstly screened for titles, then for abstracts and finally for full articles. The Newcastle–Ottawa scale and the guidelines proposed by the Cochrane back review group were used to assess risk of bias and quality of evidence, respectively.

Results

354 references were identified, and after excluding unwanted articles, 10 studies met the final inclusion criteria. Studies not related to motor control or pelvic mobility were the main reason for exclusion. Seven studies were case–control and three were prospective cohort studies. Seven studies were ranked as high while three were ranked as low quality. Among the high quality studies, six found association between PPGP and altered motor control and mobility of the pelvis.

Conclusions

The level of evidence for an association between PPGP and altered motor control and kinematic or kinetic parameters of the pelvis was found to be moderate.     

Injury to the infrapatellar branch of the saphenous nerve,a possible cause for anterior knee pain after tibial nailing?

The purpose of this study was to determine the long-term incidence of infrapatellar nerve damage after tibial nailing and its relation to anterior knee pain. We retrospectively evaluated 71 patients in whom 72 isolated tibial shaft fractures were treated with an intramedullary nail. The mean follow-up time was 84 months. Twenty-seven patients (38%) complained of chronic anterior knee pain. Infrapatellar nerve damage was found in 43 patients (60%). Of the 27 patients with knee pain, 21 (78%) had sensory deficits in the distribution area of the infrapatellar nerve, compared to 22 of the 45 patients (49%) without knee pain (p=0.025). Patient and fracture characteristics showed no significant differences between the two groups. At time of follow-up a total of 33 nails were removed of which twelve were taken out because of knee pain. The pain persisted in seven of these twelve patients (58%). The incidence of iatrogenic damage to the infrapatellar nerve after tibial nailing is high and lasting. Injury to this nerve appears to be associated with anterior knee pain after tibial nailing.     

Is systematic sextant biopsy suitable for the detection of clinically significant prostate cancer?

BACKGROUND: The optimal extent of the prostate biopsy remains controversial. There is a need to avoid detection of insignificant cancer but not to miss significant and curable tumors. In alternative treatments of prostate cancer, repeated sextant biopsies are used to estimate the response. The aim of this study was to investigate the reliability of a repeated systematic sextant biopsy as the standard biopsy technique in patients with significant tumors which are being considered for curative treatment. METHODS: Systematic sextant biopsy was performed in vitro in 92 radical prostatectomy specimens. Of these patients, 81 (88.0%) had palpable lesions. RESULTS: Of the 92 investigated patients, 70 (76.1%) had potentially curable pT2-3pN0 prostate cancers. In these patients, the cancer was detected only in 72.9% of cases by a repeated in vitro biopsy. In the pT2 tumors, there was a detection rate of only 66.7%. CONCLUSIONS: This study underlines the fact that a considerable number of significant and potentially curable tumors remain undetected by the conventional sextant biopsy. A negative sextant biopsy does not rule out significant prostate cancer.