Anesthesiology
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BACKGROUNDPostoperative pain Is an independent predictor of postoperative delirium. Whether postoperative delirium limits patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) use has not been determined. ⋯ Postoperative delirium did not limit PCA use. Despite more opioid use, visual analog scale scores were higher in patients with delirium. Future studies on delirium should consider the role of pain and pain management as potential etiologic factors.
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Comparative Study
Spinal microglial expression and mechanical hypersensitivity in a postoperative pain model: comparison with a neuropathic pain model.
Postoperative pain control contributes to quality of life. Activation of spinal cord microglia after peripheral nerve injury contributes to mechanical hypersensitivity. The contribution of spinal cord microglia to hypersensitivity after surgery, however, is not well understood. Here, the authors evaluated whether inhibition of spinal microglia reduced postoperative mechanical hypersensitivity, and if so, whether the effect differed from that in a rat neuropathic pain model. ⋯ The results of the present study suggest that spinal OX42 expression has a more important role in the development of neuropathic pain than in postoperative pain, and that an increase in spinal OX42 expression does not contribute to postoperative mechanical hypersensitivity.