Anesthesiology
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Surgery causes transient impairment in cognition and function, which may impact driving safety. The authors hypothesized that the risk of a motor vehicle crash would increase after compared to before surgery. ⋯ Using population-based crash and hospital discharge data, the incidence of motor vehicle crashes over a 28-day period did not change on average before compared to after surgery. The authors provide data on crash risk after surgery and highlight specific populations at risk.
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Multicenter Study
Antiemetic Administration and Its Association with Race: A Retrospective Cohort Study.
Anesthesiologists' contribution to perioperative healthcare disparities remains unclear because patient and surgeon preferences can influence care choices. Postoperative nausea and vomiting is a patient- centered outcome measure and a main driver of unplanned admissions. Antiemetic administration is under the sole domain of anesthesiologists. In a U.S. sample, Medicaid insured versus commercially insured patients and those with lower versus higher median income had reduced antiemetic administration, but not all risk factors were controlled for. This study examined whether a patient's race is associated with perioperative antiemetic administration and hypothesized that Black versus White race is associated with reduced receipt of antiemetics. ⋯ In a perioperative registry data set, Black versus White patient race was associated with less antiemetic administration, after controlling for all accepted postoperative nausea and vomiting risk factors.
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Nonsense-mediated messenger RNA (mRNA) decay increases targeted mRNA degradation and has been implicated in the regulation of gene expression in neurons. The authors hypothesized that nonsense-mediated μ-opioid receptor mRNA decay in the spinal cord is involved in the development of neuropathic allodynia-like behavior in rats. ⋯ This study suggests that phosphorylated UPF1-dependent nonsense-mediated μ-opioid receptor mRNA decay is involved in the pathogenesis of neuropathic pain.