Preoperative therapeutic neuroscience education for lumbar radiculopathy: a single-case fMRI report

Abstract

Therapeutic neuroscience education (TNE) has been shown to be effective in the treatment of mainly chronic musculoskeletal pain conditions. This case study aims to describe the changes in brain activation on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning, before and after the application of a newly-designed preoperative TNE program. A 30-year-old female with a current acute episode of low back pain (LBP) and radiculopathy participated in a single preoperative TNE session. She completed pre- and post-education measures including visual analog scale (VAS) for LBP and leg pain; Oswestry Disability Index (ODI); Fear Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire (FABQ); Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS) and a series of Likert-scale questions regarding beliefs and attitudes to lumbar surgery (LS). After a 30-minute TNE session, ODI decreased by 10%, PCS decreased by 10 points and her beliefs and attitudes shifted positively regarding LS. Immediately following TNE straight leg raise increased by 7° and forward flexion by 8?cm. fMRI testing following TNE revealed 3 marked differences compared to pre-education scanning: (1) deactivation of the periaqueductal gray area; (2) deactivation of the cerebellum; and (3) increased activation of the motor cortex. The immediate positive fMRI, psychometric and physical movement changes may indicate a cortical mechanism of TNE for patients scheduled for LS.     

The Cancer Series: An Introduction

A 77-year-old man presented to the emergency department with chest pain. Severe pain had occurred while he was walking, persisted for ten minutes, and was relieved when he took two nitroglycerine tablets. He had experienced intermittent chest pain for the past 11 days, mostly on exertion. The patient had hypertension, an elevated serum cholesterol level, and was a former smoker. His medications included aspirin, pravastatin, isosorbide dinitrate, metoprolol, and nitroglycerine.

The patient was in no apparent distress and without chest pain when he was examined. His blood pressure was 154/88 mm Hg; pulse, 70 bpm; respirations, 18 per min; temperature, 36.8° C; and oxygen saturation, 97% by pulse oximetry. The physical examination was unremarkable. The ECG is shown.     

青年颅内动静脉畸形患者术前焦虑状况及其护理

目的探讨青年颅内动静脉畸形患者术前焦虑状况,并总结其护理干预措施。方法回顾性分析2015年1月至2016年4月新疆医科大学第一附属医院神经外科收治的颅内动静脉畸形青年患者84例的临床资料。所有患者均在全身麻醉下实施动静脉畸形切除术,术前均详细记录其术前焦虑水平,并在常规护理的基础上实施心理护理及健康宣教。结果84例患者在术前均发生不同程度的焦虑(轻、中、重度焦虑分别为39例、32例、13例)。经心理护理后,患者均有不同程度的好转,均能顺利完成手术,手术时间为185~250min,平均(156±21.4)min。所有患者均未发生并发症,住院时间8~12d,平均(7.5±11.5)d。患者术后随访3~12个月,随访期间有1例患者复发;1例患者发生再出血。结论早期对患者进行良好的心理指导和健康宣教,可明显降低青年颅内动静脉畸形患者术前焦虑,有利于患者疾病康复。     

“Choke” vessels between vascular territories of the abdominal wall: Literature review and rare case of Leriche's syndrome

We undertook a review of the anatomical changes of “choke” vessels between the internal thoracic artery (ITA) and deep inferior epigastric artery (DIEA), as highlighted by a case of aortoiliac occlusive disease (Leriche's syndrome), and discuss the physiological concepts observed with regard to surgical delay procedures within the abdominal wall performed prior to abdominal cutaneous free flaps and coronary artery bypass grafting. Computed tomographic angiography (CTA) was undertaken on a patient with a rare case of Leriche's syndrome and a literature review of over 200 references on the anatomy, physiology and clinical uses of choke vessels in the abdominal wall was undertaken. The CTA demonstrated that in patients with Leriche's syndrome, there is a marked dilatation of all ITA‐DIEA pathways and increased flow through choke vessels. If these changes can be surgically replicated in the form of a delay procedure for patients seeking to undergo autologous breast construction, this could improve the outcomes of abdominal cutaneous free flaps and coronary artery bypass grafting. We accordingly propose three surgical methods for augmenting blood flow to the abdominal wall: a) ligation of the DIEA; b) ligation of the distal ITA; and c) creation of an arterio‐venous fistulae in the DIEA. Our review of the literature confirmed the viability of these propositions. The dilatation of choke vessels in response to increased haemodynamic stress may thus be utilised to enhance blood supply to tissues prior to transfer and can be achieved through simple and minimally invasive methods. Clin. Anat. 25:998–1004, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Evaluation,Severity and Prognostic Significance of Silent Myocardial Ischaemia in Vascular Patients

This paper intends to make an update of recent publications and guidelines for evaluation in coronary symptom-free patients undergoing vascular surgery. It emphasizes the role of preoperative clinical evaluation that should identify the most appropriate testing, and treatment strategies to optimize care of the patient and avoid unnecessary testing in this era of cost containment. Selective preoperative coronary artery disease screening and revascularization achieve excellent perioperative and late results after high-risk vascular surgery. Supplemental preoperative evaluation is discussed (exercise ECG, stress echocardiography and stress tomoscintigraphy). Asymptomatic patients with good functional capacity can undergo intermediate-risk surgery without further non-invasive testing. Conversely, further noninvasive testing is often considered for patients with poor functional capacity or moderate functional capacity but higher-risk surgery especially for patients with 2 or more intermediate risk predictors. Additional testing may be considered on an individual basis for patients without clinical markers but with poor functional capacity prior to vascular surgery, particularly those with several minor clinical risk predictors. Because of a higher prevalence of silent myocardial ischaemia in diabetes mellitus, these patients require specific care. Until further data are available, indications for myocardial revascularization in the perioperative setting are similar to those in the ACC/AHA guidelines for use of myocardial revascularization in general. General practioners, cardiologists, angiologists, vascular surgeons and anaes-thesiologists should collaborate and aim to slow down the progression of atherosclerosis by giving their patients an optimum secondary cardiovascular prevention.     

Physiological basis of preoperative cardiopulmonary exercise testing

The use of cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) is gaining popularity as a preoperative functional assessment tool and a useful adjunct to risk stratification before surgery. Determination of the integrated response of multiple body systems (including the cardiorespiratory and peripheral oxygen delivery systems) to exercise stress, adds important prognostic value to pre-surgical assessment, shared-decision making and postoperative management of the surgical patient. Thorough CPET interpretation is complex but may be assisted by an understanding of basic exercise physiology and its application to the preoperative context.     

Discrepancy between preoperative MRI evaluation and intraoperative or postoperative pathological findings for the extent of local invasion in maxillary squamous cell carcinoma

Preoperative radiological evaluation of the extent of local invasion in maxillary squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is very important in planning curative surgery. The aim of this study was to examine the accuracy of preoperative radiological evaluation with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for the extent of local invasion in maxillary SCC. A retrospective study was conducted of 33 patients who underwent a maxillectomy for maxillary SCC. We compared the MRI findings for 18 structures around the maxillary sinus with intraoperative or postoperative pathological findings. Discrepancies were found between preoperative MRI findings and intraoperative or postoperative pathological findings for 22 patients (66.7%). Overall, the specificity, sensitivity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of MRI were 83.4%, 83.0%, 64.5%, and 90.4%, respectively. The receiver operating characteristic curve showed that MRI evaluation of the posterolateral structures including the pterygoid plate, pterygoid muscle, and infratemporal fossa had a lower area under the curve (0.614) and a significantly lower accuracy when compared with the other structures (P = 0.294, 95% confidence interval 0.405–0.822). In conclusion, as the accuracy of preoperative MRI evaluation of the posterolateral structures is low, careful evaluation of local extension to the posterolateral structures is needed when planning curative surgery for maxillary SCC.