A Mixed-Methods Study of the Effect of Abdominal Binders on Opioid Use and Postoperative Pain After Cesarean Birth

ObjectiveTo compare levels of postoperative oxycodone use and incisional pain between two randomized groups—an intervention and a control.DesignMixed-methods design; quantitative data achieved via a randomized controlled trial, with qualitative data collected on binder use. The primary variable was oxycodone (in milligrams) required during the first 48 hours after birth, and the secondary variable was incisional pain levels measured on Postoperative Days 1 and 2.SettingAcute-care community hospital in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, and an acute care urban hospital in Denver, Colorado.ParticipantsA total of 220 individuals in the postpartum period after having cesarean birth.Interventions/MeasurementsParticipants were randomized to the intervention group (binder) or the control group (no binder). Data were collected on opioid usage for the first 48 hours. Participants in both groups were asked to rate their incisional pain on Postoperative Day 1 (24 hours after birth) and Postoperative Day 2 (48 hours after birth). Participants in the binder group were also asked to provide feedback on their experience wearing the binder.ResultsA total of 196 participants completed the study. The overall amount of oxycodone taken by individuals in the binder group was lower than that in the control group, but the difference was not statistically significant (p = .10). Pain scores in the binder group were significantly lower on Day 2 compared with the control group (p = .002). The majority of individuals in the binder group provided positive feedback about their experience wearing the binder.ConclusionIndividuals routinely receive medications to assist with pain management postoperatively. Because of growing concerns related to the nation’s opioid addiction crisis, there is interest in using multimodal treatments to achieve adequate pain control for individuals postoperatively. Abdominal binders are a low-cost intervention to assist with pain management and, given the results of this study, seem like a reasonable option to consider.     

Orientation and mobility outcome measures

Despite orientation and mobility (O&M) being a significant factor determining quality of life of people with low vision or blindness, there are no gold standard measures or agreement on how to measure O&M performance. In the first part of this systematic review, an inventory of O&M outcome measures used by recent studies to assess the performance of orientation and/or mobility of adults with vision impairment (low vision and blindness) is presented. A wide variety of O&M outcome measures have been implemented in different fields of study, such as epidemiologic research and interventional studies evaluating training, assistive technology, vision rehabilitation and vision restoration. The most frequent aspect of outcome measures is efficiency such as time, distance, speed and percentage of preferred walking speed, followed by obstacle contacts and avoidance, and dis/orientation and veering. Other less commonly used aspects are target identification, safety and social interaction and self-reported outcome measures. Some studies employ sophisticated equipment to capture and analyse O&M performance in a laboratory setting, while others carry out their assessment in real-world indoor or outdoor environments. In the second part of this review, the appropriateness of implementing the identified outcome measures to assess O&M performance in clinical and functional O&M practice is evaluated. Nearly a half of these outcome measures meet all four criteria of face validity (either clinical or functional), responsiveness, reliability and feasibility and have the potential to be implemented in clinical or functional O&M practice. The findings of this review confirm the complicated and dynamic nature of O&M. Multiple measures are required in any evaluation of O&M performance to facilitate holistic assessment of O&M abilities and limitations of each individual.     

Differentiating autoimmune pancreatitis from pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma with CT radiomics features

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to determine whether computed tomography (CT)-based machine learning of radiomics features could help distinguish autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) from pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).Materials and MethodsEighty-nine patients with AIP (65 men, 24 women; mean age, 59.7 ± 13.9 [SD] years; range: 21–83 years) and 93 patients with PDAC (68 men, 25 women; mean age, 60.1 ± 12.3 [SD] years; range: 36–86 years) were retrospectively included. All patients had dedicated dual-phase pancreatic protocol CT between 2004 and 2018. Thin-slice images (0.75/0.5 mm thickness/increment) were compared with thick-slices images (3 or 5 mm thickness/increment). Pancreatic regions involved by PDAC or AIP (areas of enlargement, altered enhancement, effacement of pancreatic duct) as well as uninvolved parenchyma were segmented as three-dimensional volumes. Four hundred and thirty-one radiomics features were extracted and a random forest was used to distinguish AIP from PDAC. CT data of 60 AIP and 60 PDAC patients were used for training and those of 29 AIP and 33 PDAC independent patients were used for testing.ResultsThe pancreas was diffusely involved in 37 (37/89; 41.6%) patients with AIP and not diffusely in 52 (52/89; 58.4%) patients. Using machine learning, 95.2% (59/62; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 89.8–100%), 83.9% (52:67; 95% CI: 74.7–93.0%) and 77.4% (48/62; 95% CI: 67.0–87.8%) of the 62 test patients were correctly classified as either having PDAC or AIP with thin-slice venous phase, thin-slice arterial phase, and thick-slice venous phase CT, respectively. Three of the 29 patients with AIP (3/29; 10.3%) were incorrectly classified as having PDAC but all 33 patients with PDAC (33/33; 100%) were correctly classified with thin-slice venous phase with 89.7% sensitivity (26/29; 95% CI: 78.6–100%) and 100% specificity (33/33; 95% CI: 93–100%) for the diagnosis of AIP, 95.2% accuracy (59/62; 95% CI: 89.8–100%) and area under the curve of 0.975 (95% CI: 0.936–1.0).ConclusionsRadiomic features help differentiate AIP from PDAC with an overall accuracy of 95.2%.     

TLR9在不同胎龄新生儿脐血中的表达变化

目的 通过观察早产儿不同胎龄Toll样受体9（TLR9）的表达，探讨早产儿免疫功能低下的机制。方法 采集2010年7月至2014年6月在上海市嘉定区妇幼保健院产科出生的活产新生儿的脐血229份，按胎龄分为4组，28~31周组，31~34周组，34~37周组，≥37周组，采用流式细胞术和实时荧光定量PCR方法，分别检测其TLR9的蛋白和mRNA表达情况，了解其与胎龄之间的关系，并分析mRNA和蛋白表达间的相关性。结果 TLR9阳性细胞率在28~31周组，31~34周组，34~37周组，≥37周组分别为（15.93±6.23）%，（11.63±6.70）%，（13.66±6.88）%，（20.51±12.06）%；其在胎龄28~31周较高，至31~34周逐渐下降至最低，两组差异有统计学意义（P<0.05）；34~37周后TLR9阳性细胞率表达逐渐升高，至≥37周达最高，两胎龄组比较，差异具有统计学意义（P<0.05）。31~37周间新生儿脐血TLR9阳性细胞率与胎龄呈正相关（r=0.273，P=0.006）。TLR9 mRNA表达在28~31周组，31~34周组，34~37周组，≥37周组分别为（4.95±3.44）%，（8.89±8.49）%，（13.91±10.92）%，（7.19±7.11）%；其在28~36周逐渐升高，与胎龄呈正相关（r=0.355，P< 0.001）。≥37周TLR9 mRNA表达量下降，该值虽高于28~31周，但差异无统计学意义（P>0.05）。相关性分析表明，同胎龄时期同样本新生儿的TLR9 mRNA和TLR9阳性细胞率之间存在负相关（r=-0.227，P=0.011）。结论 TLR9阳性细胞率和TLR9 mRNA表达在不同胎龄组新生儿间有差异，TLR9阳性细胞率表达在31~37周间随着胎龄的增加而增加，TLR9 mRNA在28~36周间随着胎龄的增加而增加。     

低密度脂蛋白在2型糖尿病骨质疏松中的作用研究进展

2型糖尿病及骨质疏松已成为我国最主要的慢性代谢性疾病。2型糖尿病常伴有血脂紊乱，常表现为低密度脂蛋白升高，而越来越多的研究表明血脂通过不同的方式影响骨代谢，其机制可能是通过抑制骨髓间充质干细胞成骨分化，通过RANK/RNAKL/OPG信号通路及炎症反应调节破骨细胞等方式调节骨代谢。     

Hepatitis B surface antigen seroprevalence among pre- and post-vaccine cohorts in Cambodia, 2017

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is highly endemic in most low income countries including Cambodia. This nationwide serosurvey was conducted to assess the impact of hepatitis B vaccination and to determine whether Cambodia met the WHO regional 2017 target of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) seroprevalence less than 1% in five-year-old children.Methods: A cross-sectional multi-stage cluster survey was conducted among children born during 2010–2012 and their mothers in Cambodia. HBsAg prevalence was estimated by rapid point-of-care testing, and demographic data, including vaccination history, was collected. Vaccine coverage in children and the prevalence of HBsAg among children and mothers was calculated taking into account the complex survey design. Factors associated with children’s failure to receive timely (within 24 h) vaccination were analysed by multivariate logistic analysis.Findings: A total of 2,520 children 5–7 years old and 2,028 mothers were recruited. In total, 78.4% of children received hepatitis B vaccination birth-dose (HepB-BD); of these, 58.7% were administered ≤ 24 h. Birth at home or “other” location were independent risk factors for children’s failure to receive timely HepB-BD. Overall HBsAg seroprevalence was 4.39% (95%CI: 3.53%–5.45%) among mothers and 0.56% (95%CI: 0.32%–0.98%) among children. The prevalence among children without hepatitis B vaccination was 4.62% (95%CI: 1.31%–14.97%). Among children with a HBsAg-positive mother, prevalence was 10.11% (95%CI: 5.41%–18.11%).Interpretation: Having achieved the 2017 target of less than 1% HBsAg prevalence among 5 years old children, Cambodia can now focus on eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HBV. Moreover, the high HBsAg prevalence among mothers suggests that routine screening with proper linkage to care and treatment is needed. Strengthening measures to improve vaccination coverage further and eliminate mother-to-child transmission by coordinated programming with other services offering additional HBV interventions will help move towards the global goal of hepatitis B elimination by 2030.Funding: As per sources of funding.