Medicine
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Observational Study
Development of the A-DIVA Scale: A Clinical Predictive Scale to Identify Difficult Intravenous Access in Adult Patients Based on Clinical Observations.
Placement of a peripheral intravenous catheter is a routine procedure in clinical practice, but failure of intravenous cannulation regularly occurs. An accurate and reliable predictive scale for difficult venous access creates the possibility to use other techniques in an earlier time frame. We aimed to develop a predictive scale to identify adult patients with a difficult intravenous access prospectively: the A-DIVA scale. ⋯ The scoring system was applied in 3 risk groups: 36/788 patients (5%) suffered from a failed first attempt in the low-risk group (A-DIVA score 0 or 1), whereas the medium (A-DIVA score 2 or 3) and high-risk group (A-DIVA score 4 plus), included 72/195 (37%) and 74/80 (93%) patients with a failed first attempt of inserting a peripheral intravenous catheter, respectively. The additive 5-variable A-DIVA scale is a reliable predictive rule that implies the probability to identify patients with a difficult intravenous access prospectively. Dutch Trial Register (ref: 4595).
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Pelvic fractures can result in life-threatening hemorrhages or other associated injuries. Therefore, computed tomography (CT) scanning plays a key role in the management of pelvic fracture patients. However, CT scanning is utilized as an adjunct in secondary survey according to traditional Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) guidelines, whereas pelvic x-ray is used as a primary tool to evaluate pelvic stability and the necessity of further CT scanning. ⋯ Furthermore, the time to definitive hemostasis (surgery or angioembolization) was not significantly different between the unstable patients who underwent a CT scan or those who did not. In the management of pelvic fracture patients, the role of pelvic stability is not significant in the evaluation of associated RH or IAI. Routine CT scanning is suggested for pelvic fracture patients because of the rapid scanning time and sufficient information produced.
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Multicenter Study
Risk of Chronic Low Back Pain Among Parturients Who Undergo Cesarean Delivery With Neuraxial Anesthesia: A Nationwide Population-Based Retrospective Cohort Study.
To investigate the risk of chronic low back pain (LBP) in parturients undergoing cesarean delivery (CD) with neuraxial anesthesia (NA). LBP is common during pregnancy and also after delivery, but its etiology is poorly understood. Previous studies that investigated the correlation between epidural labor analgesia and chronic low back pain were inconclusive. ⋯ Of these women, 27,097 (67.6%) received VD, 8662 (21.6%) received CD with spinal anesthesia, and 4298 (10.7%) received CD with epidural anesthesia (EA). Women who received CD with EA were found to have higher risk of LBP than did women who received VD, with the adjusted OR being 1.26 (95% CI: 1.17-1.34). CD with EA might increase the risk of subsequent chronic LBP.
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Aggressive life-sustaining treatments have the potential to be continued beyond benefit, but have seldom been systematically/nationally explored in pediatric cancer patients. Furthermore, factors predisposing children dying of cancer to receive life-sustaining treatments at end of life (EOL) have never been investigated in a population-based study. This population-based study explored determinants of receiving life-sustaining treatments in pediatric cancer patients' last month of life. ⋯ Receipt of ICU care or mechanical ventilation increased with increasing EOL-care intensity of patients' primary hospital, whereas use of mechanical ventilation decreased with increasing quartile of hospice beds in the patients' primary hospital region. Taiwanese pediatric cancer patients received aggressive life-sustaining treatments in the month before death. Healthcare policies and interventions should aim to help pediatricians treating at-risk pediatric cancer patients and hospitals with a tendency to provide aggressive EOL treatments to avoid the expense of life-sustaining treatments when chance of recovery is remote and to devote resources to care that produces the greatest benefits for children, parents, and society.
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Clinical Trial
Comparison of Acute and Chronic Pain after Open Nephrectomy versus Laparoscopic Nephrectomy: A Prospective Clinical Trial.
We evaluated postoperative pain intensity and the incidence of chronic pain in patients with renal cell carcinoma undergoing laparoscopic or open radical nephrectomy. In this prospective study, 27 laparoscopic nephrectomy (Group LN) and 25 open nephrectomy (Group ON) patients were included. All patients received paracetamol infusion and intramuscular morphine 30 minutes before the end of the operation and intravenous patient controlled analgesia with morphine postoperatively. ⋯ Chronic pain at 6 months after surgery was observed in 1 ON patient (4%) and 1 LN patient (3.7%, P = 0.9). This study demonstrated that postoperative acute pain scores were not different after laparoscopic or open nephrectomy and patients undergoing laparoscopic or open nephrectomy were at equal risk of developing CPSP. Pain control should be carefully planned in order to reduce early postoperative pain and also potentially prevent CPSP.