Anesthesiology
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Opioids can induce significant respiratory depression when administered as analgesics for the treatment of acute, postoperative, and chronic pain. There are currently no pharmacologic means of reversing opioid-induced respiratory depression without interfering with analgesia. Further, there is a growing epidemic of opioid overdose that could benefit from therapeutic advancements. The aim of this study was to test the ability of two partial agonists of α4β2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, varenicline (used clinically for smoking cessation) and ABT 594 (tebanicline, developed as an analgesic), to reduce respiratory depression induced by fentanyl, remifentanil, morphine, and a combination of fentanyl and diazepam. ⋯ Activation of α4β2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors by varenicline and ABT 594 counters opioid-induced respiratory depression without interfering with analgesia.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Prophylactic Intrathecal Morphine and Prevention of Post-Dural Puncture Headache: A Randomized Double-blind Trial.
Prophylactic intrathecal morphine does not reduce the incidence or severity of post-dural puncture headache.
pearl -
Randomized Controlled Trial
Multimodal Analgesic Regimen for Spine Surgery: A Randomized Placebo-controlled Trial.
Various multimodal analgesic approaches have been proposed for spine surgery. The authors evaluated the effect of using a combination of four nonopioid analgesics versus placebo on Quality of Recovery, postoperative opioid consumption, and pain scores. ⋯ An analgesic pathway based on preoperative acetaminophen and gabapentin, combined with intraoperative infusions of lidocaine and ketamine, did not improve recovery in patients who had multilevel spine surgery.