Surgical management for chronic pain

Chronic pain in the UK affects up to 43% of the population. The consequences include physical and psychological distress, loss of function, employment, family and social strain and increased utilization of healthcare services. Modern pain management services operate across primary, secondary and tertiary care and incorporate general practitioners, psychologists, physiotherapists, pharmacists, specialist nurses, pain physicians and surgeons. This allows for a coordinated approach to chronic pain, engaging the patient in a structured pathway from conservative measures, through to surgery if necessary. Surgical interventions have been utilized effectively throughout the 20^th century for the treatment of a variety of conditions, some of which are now effectively managed with improved pharmacological approaches or novel neuromodulation techniques. Ablative procedures that aim to permanently interrupt the pain pathway still represent the final solution for some conditions, particularly those with cancer associated pain; however, the search for less invasive, less risky measures continues. This is stimulated by an increased understanding of the neurobiology of pain transmission and the physiological changes which occur in persistent pain.     

Recipient hypertonic saline infusion prevents cardiac allograft dysfunction

Objective

Hypertonic saline (HTS) has potent immune and vascular effects. We assessed recipient pretreatment with HTS on allograft function in a porcine model of heart transplantation and hypothesized that HTS infusion would limit endothelial and left ventricular (LV) dysfunction following transplantation.

Successful closure of spontaneous esophageal perforation (Boerhaave's syndrome) by endoscopic clipping.

Endoscopic clips have been used mainly for control of gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding and occasionally for closure of GI perforations. However, closure of spontaneous esophageal perforation (Boerhaave's syndrome) by clipping has not been reported. We described successful non-surgical closure of spontaneous esophageal perforation by endoscopic clipping in a patient with bilateral pyopneumothorax and septicemia.     

Quantification of vitamin C in the rat brain in vivo using short echo-time 1H MRS.

Both ultrashort echo-time STEAM and MEGA-PRESS-edited spectroscopy were used to validate noninvasive quantification of vitamin C (ascorbate) in the developing rat brain, where changes in ascorbate concentration have been reported. Despite strong overlap with resonances from glutamine, glutamate, glutathione, and macromolecules, reliable quantification of ascorbate (Cramer-Rao lower bounds<0.2 micromol/g) by LCModel analysis of STEAM (TE=2 ms) spectra was possible at 9.4 T. Ascorbate concentrations quantified from the STEAM spectra were in very good agreement with concentrations calculated from fully resolved ascorbate resonances in MEGA-PRESS-edited spectra measured from identical volumes of interest. Ascorbate concentrations measured using STEAM decreased with increasing postnatal rat age, in agreement with published brain ascorbate concentrations measured in vitro using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).     

Prevalence of vitamin D depletion among morbidly obese patients seeking gastric bypass surgery

BACKGROUND: Abnormalities in calcium and vitamin D metabolism have been reported after bariatric surgery. The purpose of this study was to evaluate vitamin D nutritional status among morbidly obese patients before gastric bypass surgery. METHODS: We prospectively studied 279 morbidly obese patients seeking gastric bypass surgery for vitamin D nutritional status as assessed by serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level. In addition, serum samples were analyzed for calcium, alkaline phosphatase (AP), intact parathyroid hormone (PTH), and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D. RESULTS: Mean patient age was 43 +/- 9 years; 87% of the study patients were women, and 72% were white. Serum calcium and AP levels were normal in 88% and 89% of the patients, respectively. Vitamin D depletion, defined as serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level 相似文献