Perioperative Outcomes of Patients Who Were Not Candidates for Additional Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs in a Multimodal Pain Control Regimen for Total Knee Arthroplasty

BackgroudPostoperative pain following total knee arthroplasty (TKA) may hamper patients from a rapid recovery and increase perioperative blood loss and stress on the cardiovascular system. Therefore, our objective was to assess perioperative outcomes after TKA in patients who were not candidates for the additional nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in a multimodal pain control regimen.MethodsPropensity score matching for age, sex, body mass index, American Society of Anesthesiologists class, and preoperative hemoglobin level was conducted on patients undergoing unilateral TKA, and thereby 52 patients remained in each group. The control group comprised patients who received parenteral parecoxib every 12 hours during the first 48 hours after TKA. The No-NSAIDs group did not receive NSAIDs because of known contraindications. Identical postoperative pain control including intravenous patient-controlled analgesia was applied for all patients. Visual analog scale (VAS) score for pain, knee flexion, blood loss, serum cardiac troponin-T (cTnT), and length of stay (LOS) were determined.ResultsThe No-NSAIDs group had significantly higher VAS scores in 6–96 hours and consumed more morphine at 24 hours and 48 hours after the surgery than the control group. The No-NSAIDs group had significantly less knee flexion at 48 hours (p = 0.045) and tended to have more emesis and longer LOS than the control group. The blood loss of the No-NSAIDs and control group was 552.52 mL and 397.65 mL (p = 0.02), respectively, and blood transfusion rate was 23.1% and 17.3% (p = 0.63), respectively. The cTnT of the No-NSAIDs group rose over the first 48 hours and was significantly higher than that of the control group at 48 hours.ConclusionsPatients who were not candidates for NSAIDs had significantly higher pain scores and consumed more morphine after TKA. They also tended to have greater blood loss and the rising of cardiac biomarkers during the first 48 hours after TKA. Hence, these patients may benefit from supplementary analgesia and appropriate perioperative monitoring.     

Futility-of-care decisions in the treatment of moribund intensive care patients in a developing country

PURPOSE: To analyze the characteristics of moribund patients in a surgical intensive care unit (ICU) and highlight the dilemmas inherent in treating such patients. METHODS: Data on all patients admitted to the surgical ICU during the period of three years from July 1999 to June 2002 were collected prospectively. Data were collected on very ill patients who died, in whom it appeared obvious that treatment could not have improved their condition and whose death could have been anticipated. The case notes were subjected to further analysis to determine the difficulties encountered in managing patients whose therapy was considered to be futile. RESULTS: Of 662 admissions, 100 (15.1%) died and 30 (4.5%) patients were treated aggressively, even after a prognosis which reflected futile treatment. The overall mean length of stay for survivors was 7.5 +/- 9.0 [standard deviation (SD)] days and that for the non-survivors was 12.8 +/- 18.1 (SD; P < 0.001). The cost incurred for the treatment of non-survivors was significantly higher than that for the surviving patients. The factors relating to the decisions to continue futile therapy were age of the patient, legal considerations, family wishes and differing opinions between treating physicians. CONCLUSION: Consideration of futility during end-of-life care did not receive adequate attention in this unit which incurred additional human and material resources.     

Renal transplantation for end-stage renal disease following bone marrow transplantation: A report of six cases, with and without immunosuppression

BACKGROUND. Over 12000 bone marrow transplantations (BMT) are performed in the USA each year. This procedure is associated with significant morbidity including acute and chronic renal failure (CRF). CRF after BMT is usually secondary to radiation nephropathy and,or cyclosporine (CsA) toxicity. Survival on dialysis therapy for patients with radiation nephropathy is poor and renal transplantation may be a preferable form of renal-replacement therapy. METHODS: We report our experience with renal transplantation in 6 patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) following BMT: 4 as a result of radiation nephropathy; one secondary to hemolytic uremic syndrome; and 1 as a result of antitubular basement membrane nephritis. Ages at the time of BMT ranged from 26 to 40 yr. ESRD developed after a mean period of 94 months (range 42-140 months) after BMT. The kidney source was from a living donor in 5 patients, and a cadaveric donor (CAD) in 1 patient. In 3 recipients, the bone marrow and kidney were from the same donor. They are managed without any immunosuppressive therapy. The other 3 were initiated on triple therapy (prednisone, mycophenolate mofetil/azathioprine and cyclosporine/tacrolimus). RESULTS: These patients have been followed for up to 31 months (range 3-30 months) after kidney transplant, and 5 out of 6 are alive with functioning bone marrow and renal transplants. Their plasma creatinines range from 70 to 160 micromol/L (mean 97 micromol/L). One patient died following metastatic squamous cell cancer of the genital tract. CONCLUSIONS: 1) Renal transplant is a feasible alternative for patients with ESRD following BMT: 2) if bone marrow and kidney are from the same donor, the recipient requires little or no maintenance immunosuppression; 3) short-term results show good survival, but long-term follow-up is needed: 4) infections and malignancy post-renal transplantation were seen in recipients who needed immunosuppression; and 5) reduction in immunosuppression may be needed in such post-BMT patients who undergo kidney transplants.     

Metastatic lung cancer in the cerebellopontine angles mimicking bilateral acoustic neuroma.

Bilateral cerebellopontine angle (CPA) tumors identified on MRI are considered bilateral acoustic neuromas, the definitive diagnostic criterion of neurofibromatosis 2 (NF-2). We report the case of a 67-year-old man with progressive bilateral hearing loss, vertigo, and imbalance. MRI revealed bilateral enhancing CPA lesions, which were suggestive of acoustic neuromas and a diagnosis of NF-2. However, autopsy showed metastatic adenocarcinoma of the lung. Therefore, metastatic carcinoma to the CPA can mimic bilateral acoustic neuromas; imaging studies alone may be insufficient to diagnose NF-2.     

Risk-adjusted outcome evaluation in a multidisciplinary intensive care unit

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the outcome of a multidisciplinary Intensive Care Unit (ICU) by applying the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE II) and Paediatric Index of Mortality (PIM)--version-2 scoring systems. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Two-hundred and seventeen patients admitted consecutively to the ICU during a period of one year were included for prospective data collection. Data recorded were demographics, diagnoses at admission, APACHE II score for adults and PIM -2 score for children, the duration of ICU stay and hospital outcome. Predicted mortality and standardized mortality ratios were calculated. Calibration and discriminant function of the systems were done by Hosmer-Lemeshow analysis and Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves. RESULTS: In adults, the mean APACHE II score was 14.3 +/- 8.3; in survivors, it was 8.7 +/- 5.9 (SD) when compared to 21.2 +/- 5.9 (SD) in non-survivors (p < 0.0001). The predicted mortality in adults by APACHE II was 16.5%, the observed mortality being 19.8%. The predicted mortality by the PIM-2 in children was 34.8% with the observed mortality rate being 30%. The overall mean duration of stay was 5.2 +/- 7.5 days. The goodness-of-fit for APACHE II and PIM-2 systems were fair (HL chi-square, p = 0.71, 0.69, respectively). The area under the ROC curve was 0.88 for APACHE II and 0.62 for PIM-2. CONCLUSION: Evaluation of risk-adjusted outcome in multidisciplinary ICUs is challenging because of the need to apply more than one prognostic scoring system.     

Effect of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 on mesangial cell proliferation

We have studied the effect of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25, (OH)2D3) on mesangial cell growth. Previous studies have shown that the monocyte-macrophage is the principal effector cell in immune-mediated nephritis; this cell infiltrates the glomerular mesangium, and its products may have important effects on the physiology of the mesangial cell. One of the substances produced by the activated macrophage is 1,25,(OH)2D3. We have investigated the effect of 1,25,(OH)2D3 on mesangial cell growth and found that this vitamin D metabolite suppresses the proliferation of mouse mesangial cells as assessed by mesangial cell tritiated thymidine uptake and by cell counts; this substance also antagonizes the mitogenic effect of epidermal growth factor on mesangial cell growth. By comparison, the vitamin D metabolite 25 hydroxyvitamin D3 has no significant suppressive effect on the proliferation of mesangial cells. It has also been possible to demonstrate that 1,25,(OH)2D3 could suppress the growth of mesangial cells that had been committed to proliferate by the prior addition of epidermal growth factor. The results of these studies are relevant to our understanding of the pathogenesis of the cellular abnormalities that occur in immune-mediated nephritis, and especially in subjects who have concurrent hypertension, because a segment of subjects with hypertension have demonstrable abnormalities in the levels of circulating 1,25,(OH)2D3.     

Analysis of mortality rates for pancreatic cancer across the world

Introduction. Pancreas cancer is the fourth commonest cause of cancer-related mortality across the world, with incidence equalling mortality. A recent study has suggested that both the incidence and the mortality of pancreatic cancer are falling in the UK. We investigated whether this trend was being seen all over the world. Methods. Age-standardized mortality (world) rates [ASR(W)] for pancreatic cancer were extracted separately for males and females from a database maintained by the International Agency for Research on Cancer for 51 countries across the world (Europe, 33 countries; Americas, 8 countries; and Asia, 10 countries) for the period 1992–2002; log-linear regression analysis was performed to analyse trends in the past decade. Results. In the period 1992–2002, the ASR(W) remained static across most countries for both sexes. The highest mortality rates (for both sexes) were seen in Central Europe [range: men (8–12), women (4.5–7)] with trends towards increasing mortality in Romania (p<0.001), along with Albania, Spain and Croatia (p<0.01). Korea in the Far East, too, demonstrated increasing mortality trends for both sexes (men p<0.001, women p<0.01). Increasing mortality trends were also observed among women in France (p<0.001). In Canada, there was a decline in mortality [men (7.5–6.4), women (5.9–5); p<0.01], while for men there was a downward trend in Ireland, the UK, Switzerland, Austria, and Poland [p<0.05]. Conclusion. The changes perhaps reflect standardization and consolidation of diagnostic tests for pancreatic cancer in the Western world and further in-depth analysis would be required.