Influence of pain and urinary symptoms on quality of life in young men with chronic prostatitis-like symptoms

BACKGROUND: Our aims in the present study were to estimate the influences of pain and urinary symptoms on quality of life, and to determine which of these two variables has the most predictive power with respect to quality of life in young men with chronic prostatitis-like symptoms. METHODS: Chronic prostatitis-like symptoms were measured by the National Institutes of Health-Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index. Of the 28,841 men aged 20 years who lived in the study community, 18,495 men (a response rate 64.1%) agreed to participate in the study. A total of 1057 men who complained of symptoms indicative of chronic prostatitis were included in the study. The influences of pain and urinary symptoms on quality of life were determined using logistic regression analysis. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to estimate the predictive ability of each of these variables with respect to quality of life. RESULTS: Results from multivariate analysis showed that both pain and urinary symptoms were associated with an increased likelihood of impaired quality of life, although pain contributed more to a reduced quality of life than urinary symptoms. Relative to men who experienced mild pain, men who experienced moderate pain had a 3.9-fold risk of poor quality of life (odds ratio [OR], 3.87; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.86-5.23; P < 0.001) and those who experienced severe pain had a 15.7-fold risk of reduced quality of life (OR, 15.68; 95% CI, 6.59-37.35; P < 0.001). Moderate urinary symptoms were associated with a 1.4-fold risk of bother (OR, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.01-1.99; P < 0.001) and severe urinary symptoms were associated with 2.4-fold risk (OR, 2.39; 95% CI, 1.37-4.12; P < 0.001), relative to mild urinary symptoms. Comparison of the effects of pain and urinary symptoms showed that pain severity had the most predictive power for bother, quality of life, and quality-of-life impact. The areas under the ROC curves for bother, quality of life, and quality-of-life impact were 71.3%, 69.3% and 72.5%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Urinary symptoms and pain might be associated with an increased likelihood of impaired quality of life in young men with chronic prostatitis-like symptoms. In addition, our findings suggest that pain severity is the most influential variable for determining quality of life in this population.     

Reconstruction after excision of soft tissue sarcomas of the limbs and trunk

From a retrospective analysis of 180 surgical interventions for soft tissue sarcoma of the limbs and trunk, it was concluded that complete excision of the tumour can usually be achieved without sacrifice of major artery, vein, nerve or bone. In this series five major arteries were resected but only one required reconstruction. None of six resected major veins or seven resected nerves were reconstructed. Bone resection in the limb required plating in only two of eleven patients who had limb-sparing resection (there were nine amputations). Both in the limbs and the thorax, resection of bone often involved such a wide excision of the superficial soft tissues as to require a flap repair: four were used in the limbs and three in five chest wall resections. In the majority of operations (140/180) primary wound closure was possible. After 15 procedures for tumour predominantly involving the superficial tissues, split skin grafts were used. These were generally successful (13/15), even occasionally when high-dose radiotherapy had been given. In 16 cases earlier radiotherapy influenced the decision to use a flap repair. A total of 18 flap repairs were performed. In various situations Mersiline mesh (Ethicon, Ltd., UK), Silastic implants and omental swings were used. Wound breakdown in heavily irradiated tissues presented a major challenge for reconstruction. Although major reconstruction was required in only 27 operations (15 per cent), a thorough knowledge of the available methods of reconstruction and repair is essential to allow uninhibited resection with an optimal aesthetic and functional result.