Anesthesiology
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Multicenter, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Crossover Trial Evaluating Topical Lidocaine for Mechanical Cervical Pain.
There are few efficacious treatments for mechanical neck pain, with controlled trials suggesting efficacy for muscle relaxants and topical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Although studies evaluating topical lidocaine for back pain have been disappointing, the more superficial location of the cervical musculature suggests a possible role for topical local anesthetics. ⋯ The differences favoring lidocaine were small and nonsignificant, but the trend toward superiority of lidocaine suggests more aggressive phenotyping and applying formulations with greater penetrance may provide clinically meaningful benefit.
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Meta Analysis
Movement-evoked pain versus pain at rest in postsurgical clinical trials, and, in meta-analyses: An updated systematic review.
Given the widespread recognition that postsurgical movement-evoked pain is generally more intense, and more functionally relevant, than pain at rest, the authors conducted an update to a previous 2011 review to re-evaluate the assessment of pain at rest and movement-evoked pain in more recent postsurgical analgesic clinical trials. ⋯ This updated review demonstrates a persistent limited proportion of trials including movement-evoked pain as a pain outcome, a substantial proportion of trials failing to distinguish between pain at rest and movement-evoked pain, and a lack of consistency in the use of pain-evoking maneuvers for movement-evoked pain assessment. Future postsurgical trials need to (1) use common terminology surrounding pain at rest and movement-evoked pain, (2) assess movement-evoked pain in virtually every trial if not contraindicated, and (3) standardize movement-evoked pain assessment with common, procedure-specific pain-evoking maneuvers. More widespread knowledge translation and mobilization are required in order to disseminate this message to current and future investigators.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Remimazolam dosing for gastroscopy: a randomized noninferiority trial.
Remimazolam, an ultra-short-acting benzodiazepine, may provide adequate sedation for endoscopy while causing less cardiovascular or respiratory disturbance than propofol. Although fixed-dose administration is suggested, body weight affects the volume of the central chamber and thus affects the sedation depth that can be achieved by the first dose. This study aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of different doses of remimazolam and propofol by body weight for sedation during gastroscopy. ⋯ This trial established the noninferior sedation success rate of remimazolam (0.2 mg/kg but not 0.15 mg/kg) compared with propofol (1.5 mg/kg), with a superior safety profile.
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Extracorporeal Circulation in Neonatal Respiratory Failure: A Prospective Randomized Study. By RH Bartlett, DW Roloff, RG Cornell, AF Andrews, PW Dillon, JB Zwischenberger. Pediatrics 1985; 76:479-87. ⋯ This is the classic article reviewed in this publication. This was the first use of a randomized, adaptive design trial to minimize the potential ethical dilemma inherent to clinical trials in which the endpoint is death. Other randomized trials followed, and ECMO is now standard practice for severe respiratory and cardiac failure in all age groups.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Long-term outcomes with spinal versus general anesthesia for hip fracture surgery: A randomized trial.
The effects of spinal versus general anesthesia on long-term outcomes have not been well studied. This study tested the hypothesis that spinal anesthesia is associated with better long-term survival and functional recovery than general anesthesia. ⋯ Long-term outcomes were similar with spinal versus general anesthesia.