Intubating conditions after vecuronium and atracurium given in divided doses (the priming technique)

Intubating conditions have been assessed at 60 s following administration of vecuronium 0.1 mg kg-1 or atracurium 0.5 mg kg-1 given either as a single dose after induction of anaesthesia with thiopentone or in divided doses; vecuronium 0.015 mg kg-1 followed 4 or 6 min later by 0.085 mg kg-1, or atracurium 0.075 mg kg-1 followed 4 or 6 min later by 0.425 mg kg-1. In the divided dose groups the smaller initial (priming) dose was given prior to induction of anaesthesia. Onset and duration of clinical relaxation were assessed using a peripheral nerve stimulator. The intubating conditions at 60 s improved significantly, with the use of relaxants in divided doses being acceptable in 80 and 70% of patients, respectively, with vecuronium and atracurium, but the conditions are not as good as those commonly found using suxamethonium. Priming at 6 min has no advantage over priming at 4 min. The onset of complete block was accelerated with priming, but the difference was not significant. The duration of clinical relaxation of vecuronium was significantly prolonged by giving it in divided doses. Unpleasant awareness of muscle weakness was observed in 15 patients, requiring early induction of anaesthesia in five of them.     

V型斜视伴原发性下斜肌功能过强的治疗

目的 探讨Ⅴ型斜视伴原发性下斜肌功能过强的治疗效果。方法根据手术方式将49例Ⅴ型斜视伴下斜肌功能过强惠者分为四组，分别采用水平肌加强减弱术不联合下斜肌切断减弱术（Ⅰ组）、联合单侧下斜肌切断减弱术（Ⅱ组）、联合双侧下斜肌对等切断减弱术（Ⅲ组）及联合双侧下斜肌不对等切断并部分切除减弱术（Ⅳ组）治疗Ⅴ型斜视。结果Ⅴ型斜视伴原发性下斜肌功能过强采用四种方式治疗后，眼位正位，下斜肌功能亢进改善＋～＋＋，双侧下斜肌功能对等，术前术后原在位度数和上下注视25。斜视角之差的差异有非常显著性（P〈0．001）。结论根据单侧或双侧下斜肌功能过强的具体情况来选择不同的手术方式治疗Ⅴ型斜视伴原发性下斜肌功能过强，眼位矫正满意，同时手术方式简单、安全有效。     

Counterfactual (‘if only’) thinking in women with chronic widespread pain

The study explored the counterfactual thinking that women with chronic and widespread pain showed in response to what they themselves considered to be particularly stressful situations. Counterfactual thinking in 125 women sick‐listed due to chronic and widespread pain was investigated in terms of structure, function and control focus. The women were asked, for each of three types of problems that they indicated in a questionnaire to affect them most strongly, to describe a typical occurrence of it and to complete a counterfactual sentence in connection with it of the type ‘If only . . .’. The majority of counterfactuals pertained to predominantly somatic problems (e.g. musculo‐skeletal problems, pain and fatigue) classified as being affective rather than preparative and self‐focused rather than external, whereas in counterfactuals relating to predominantly psychological/psychosocial problems a preparative function and an external focus were more prominent. The numbers of problems listed and the numbers of situations responded to counterfactually were positively correlated. The counterfactuals, although often related to somatic problems, generally concerned psychological or psychosocial matters such as finances and paid or unpaid work. A contextual approach to elucidating counterfactual thinking based on subjects' own experiences is seen as providing valuable insight into what bothers them most. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Correspondence analysis as a screening method for indicants for clinical diagnosis

In clinical diagnosis, a patient's symptoms are observed and the probabilities of various diseases are assessed. A widely used method of formalizing this approach is independent Bayes in which symptoms are assumed to be independent conditional on the disease category. Correspondence analysis provides a method for examining the dependence between symptoms and assists in the selection of a reduced set of symptoms for the application of the independent Bayes method. This approach is illustrated on two data sets concerned with patients attending Accident and Emergency departments with chest pain and acute abdominal pain, respectively.     

髂深血管蒂髂骨-腹内斜肌同蒂双岛状瓣修复下颌复合组织缺损

目的评价以髂深血管为蒂的髂骨—腹内斜肌双岛状瓣（简称同蒂双岛状瓣）修复下颌复合组织缺损的临床应用价值。方法2005年1月至2006年10月,应用同蒂双岛状瓣修复10例下颌骨复合组织缺损（包括下颌骨体部、下颌角和下颌骨升支及其周围软组织,其中有7例还包含髁突的缺损）。结果10例同蒂双岛状瓣移植均获成功,仅1例出现局部轻度感染,换药后二期愈合。术后随访3～24个月,均无肿瘤复发,颌面外形两侧基本对称,咬合关系恢复正常,且供区未见明显的并发症。结论同蒂双岛状瓣具有切口隐蔽、单一,对供区功能影响小,软硬组织复合缺损同期修复效果好等特点,是半侧下颌骨复合周围软组织大型缺损功能重建的较好方案。     

Pharmacology of the internal anal sphincter and its relevance to faecal incontinence

1 The internal anal sphincter (IAS) has a spontaneous tone and is the main contributor to the maintenance of faecal continence. The spontaneous resting tone exhibited by the sphincter can be modified by neurotransmitters from the autonomic and enteric nervous systems. 2 In this review, the influence of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems on IAS tone are discussed and the putative roles of nitric oxide, carbon monoxide, vasoactive intestinal peptide and adenosine triphosphate in non‐adrenergic non‐cholinergic transmission are considered. 3 Faecal incontinence is a common condition that places a heavy financial burden on the health service and severely affects patients’ quality of life. Resting anal pressure is reduced in patients with faecal incontinence and agents that increase sphincter tone tend to relieve symptoms. The results of clinical studies of the use of phenylephrine to treat faecal incontinence are reviewed. 4 It is concluded that the IAS is a potential target for drug development for the treatment of faecal incontinence.     

Acute diverticulitis – clinical presentation and differential diagnostics

Objective To describe the clinical presentation of acute diverticulitis in an emergency department and to characterize the natural history of diverticulitis in the short perspective. Comparisons are made with an important differential diagnosis, nonspecific abdominal pain (NSAP). Method Patients admitted to our hospital with abdominal pain of up to 7 days’ duration were registered prospectively using a detailed schedule for history, symptoms and signs, from 1 February 1997 to 1 June 2000. Of 3349 patients initially included, 3073 (92%) were eligible for follow up after 1–3 years. Results Acute diverticulitis was the final diagnosis in 145 patients and NSAP in 1142 patients. The incidence of hospitalized patients with diverticulitis was 47 per year and 100 000 population, with a mean hospital stay of 3.3 days. Patients with diverticulitis, more frequently than NSAP, had a longer history and laboratory signs of inflammatory activity. Isolated left abdominal tenderness was more common in diverticulitis, whereas isolated right abdominal tenderness was more common in NSAP. Duration of symptoms on arrival was independent of age and was not correlated to C‐reactive protein, leucocytes or body temperature. Sensitivity of diverticulitis as primary diagnosis was 64% and specificity 97%. Corresponding figures for NSAP were 43% and 90% respectively. Age and gender did not influence diagnostic accuracy or risk of surgery. Conclusion Diverticulitis differs significantly from NSAP in clinical presentation and laboratory parameters. Sensitivity of primary diagnosis for diverticulitis and NSAP was low.     

Health-related quality of life and its predictive role for analgesic effect in patients with painful polyneuropathy.

Painful polyneuropathy is a common neuropathic pain condition. The present study describes health-related quality of life (HRQL) in a sample of patients with painful polyneuropathy of different origin and the possible predictive role of HRQL for analgesic effect. Ninety-three patients with a diagnosis of painful polyneuropathy were included in the analysis. Data were obtained from three randomised, placebo-controlled cross-over studies testing the effect of different drugs on polyneuropathic pain (St. John's wort, venlafaxine/imipramine and valproic acid). Patients completed a HRQL questionnaire (SF-36) after a drug-free baseline period and at the end of each treatment period. At baseline, all eight SF-36 scores were lower than in the normal population. No significant differences were found between SF-36 scales during placebo and treatment with valproic acid and St. John's wort. Those two drugs had not shown a pain relieving effect in former analysis. The SF-36 scale of bodily pain (BP) was improved by venlafaxine treatment (p=0.023). General health (GH) and vitality (VT) were improved under treatment with imipramine (GH: p=0.006, VT: p=0.015). In a multivariate logistic regression analysis, baseline SF-36 scores predicted subsequent response to pharmacological treatment. Results show an impaired HRQL in painful polyneuropathy and suggest that HRQL may predict response to analgesic treatment.     

Postoperative pain management—clinical practice is still not optimal

Major progress in clinical pain assessment and management has been achieved in the last decade. More effective analgesic drugs and improved techniques for pain management have been introduced. However, medical reports published during the last few years on postoperative pain management (POPM) indicate that moderate or even severe pain is still rather commonly experienced by surgical patients in the early postoperative period and that worst-pain-episodes may occur even in the late postoperative phase. Insufficient relief of postoperative pain seems a more common problem on surgical wards than on a postanaesthesia care unit (PACU). The aims of POPM are to inhibit autonomic trauma-induced nociceptive impulses that may result in functional disturbances of vital organs and thereby affect the incidence of potentially severe complications influencing clinical outcome. Considering that recent studies continue to show sub-optimal pain management despite the availability of effective drugs and analgesic techniques it must be considered essential to identify possible barriers to effective pain management in clinical practice so that necessary improvements in POPM routines can be carried out.     

子宫动脉栓塞治疗子宫肌瘤89例报告

目的 评价子宫动脉栓塞术治疗子宫肌瘤的近期疗效。方法 89例子宫肌瘤患者，采用Seldinger技术分别作左右子宫动脉主干插管检查和栓塞治疗，栓塞剂采用聚乙稀醇颗粒(PVA)或白芨混合颗粒。结果 72例(80．9％)完成随访，随访时间1～28个月。有94．1％(64／68)的患者月经复常；治疗后瘤体缩小25．2％～76．8％(M=41．3％)。除了术中术后疼痛(65例)和发热(16例)外，有2例因肌瘤坏死行子宫切除术，1例出现卵巢早衰。结论 子宫动脉栓塞术治疗子宫肌瘤的近期疗效满意，远期疗效尚待进一步观察。