Anesthesiology
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Safety and efficacy of the cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors parecoxib and valdecoxib after noncardiac surgery.
Valdecoxib and its intravenous prodrug parecoxib are reported to increase thromboembolic risk after coronary artery bypass grafting. The authors conducted a randomized trial to examine their safety and analgesic efficacy in patients recovering from major noncardiac surgical procedures. ⋯ Parecoxib and valdecoxib are useful adjuncts to opioids for the treatment of postoperative pain in noncardiac surgical patients. Further study will be required to determine the safety profile of parecoxib and valdecoxib administered to patients with known atherosclerotic disease after noncardiac surgery.
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Review
Analgesic treatment after laparoscopic cholecystectomy: a critical assessment of the evidence.
Acute pain after laparoscopic cholecystectomy is complex in nature. The pain pattern does not resemble pain after other laparoscopic procedures, suggesting that analgesic treatment might be procedure specific and multimodal. Randomized trials of analgesia after laparoscopic cholecystectomy were identified by systematic electronic literature searches (1985 to June 2005) supplemented with manual searching. ⋯ In total, 64 randomized analgesic trials were identified, comprising a total of 5,018 evaluated patients. The literature suggests a multimodal analgesic regimen consisting of a preoperative single dose of dexamethasone, incisional local anesthetics (at the beginning or at the end of surgery, depending on preference), and continuous treatment with nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (or cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors) during the first 3-4 days. Opioids should be used only when other analgesic techniques fail.
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The authors devised a new method, the hyomental distance ratio (HMDR), for preoperatively identifying patients with a reduced occipitoatlantoaxial extension capacity, which was defined as the ratio of the hyomental distance in head extension position to that in the neutral position. They compared the accuracy of the HMDR with that of the Bellhouse test in 40 patients with rheumatoid arthritis. ⋯ The HMDR was a good predictor of a reduced occipitoatlantoaxial extension capacity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, but the Bellhouse test was not a clinically reliable method.
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Opioids are the cornerstone therapy for the treatment of moderate to severe pain. Although common concerns regarding the use of opioids include the potential for detrimental side effects, physical dependence, and addiction, accumulating evidence suggests that opioids may yet cause another problem, often referred to as opioid-induced hyperalgesia. Somewhat paradoxically, opioid therapy aiming at alleviating pain may render patients more sensitive to pain and potentially may aggravate their preexisting pain. This review provides a comprehensive summary of basic and clinical research concerning opioid-induced hyperalgesia, suggests a framework for organizing pertinent information, delineates the status quo of our knowledge, identifies potential clinical implications, and discusses future research directions.
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The study aimed to determine predictive factors for postcesarean pain and analgesia using an assessment of pain threshold and suprathreshold thermal stimuli as well as degree of somatization and anxiety. ⋯ The authors' results suggest a meaningful combination of preoperative patient responses from physical and psychological tests yields a valid multifactorial predictive model for postoperative pain and analgesic requirement with significant improvements over individual predictive variables.