Der Orthopäde
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Provision of sufficient post-operative pain therapy is an obligation in the clinical management of patients. A wide range of medical, technical and organizational options is used to improve post-operative pain management in orthopaedic surgery. ⋯ Additional procedures like patient-controlled analgesia or local catheter for pain are necessary for individualized or operation-specific pain therapy. The balanced combination in postoperative pain therapy could reduce side effects and complication rates, increase mobility and enhance patient satisfaction.
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Review
[Differential diagnosis of hip and groin pain. Symptoms and technique for physical examination].
The differential diagnosis of hip and groin pain with respect to the high frequency of referred pain from the lumbar spine, lower abdomen, and pelvis is demanding. A systematic approach to the hip and groin area is important to identify the origin of pain. ⋯ The following report summarizes the typical symptoms of hip and groin disorders. A detailed description of the physical exam including functional tests for impingement, apprehension, adductor-, psoas-, and inguinal-related pain is included.
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MRI can be too sensitive for detecting degenerative changes and commonly displays pathology that is not necessarily responsible for the patient's symptoms. ⋯ HIZ is known to be a common lesion found using MRI in lower back pain patients. In operated segments, we found an incidence of 81.8% and in unoperated segments of 28.2%. Discography can discriminate between painful and non-painful discs. With the help of additional parameters such as contrast mean volume and pain characteristics during puncture, the number of false positive discograms can be reduced.
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Review Comparative Study
[Degenerative disorders of the lumbar spine Total disc replacement as an alternative to lumbar fusion?].
Spinal fusion is accepted worldwide as a therapeutic option for the treatment of degenerative disorders of the lumbar spine. Because there are only few evidence-based data available supporting the usefulness of lumbar spinal fusion, its questionable benefit as well as the potential for complications are the reasons for an ongoing discussion. In recent years, total disc replacement with implants has emerged as an alternative treatment. ⋯ Lumbar disc replacement has opened a new era in spinal surgery with a still unproven benefit for the patient. It is strongly recommended that these techniques should only be applied by experienced and well-trained spine surgeons. Until evidence-based data are available, all patients should be treated under scientific study conditions with close postoperative follow-up.
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Review Comparative Study
[Current concepts of polytrauma management: from ATLS to "damage control"].
In recent years, the implementation of standardized protocols for polytrauma management has led to a significant improvement in trauma care as well as to a decrease in post-traumatic morbidity and mortality. As such, the "Advanced Trauma Life Support" (ATLS) protocol of the American College of Surgeons for the acute management of severely injured patients has been established as a gold standard in most European countries since the 1990s. ⋯ The approach of "damage control" surgery takes into account the influence of systemic post-traumatic inflammatory and metabolic reactions of the organism and is aimed at reducing both the primary and the secondary, delayed, mortality in severely injured patients. The present paper provides an overview of the current state of management algorithms for polytrauma patients, with a focus on the standard concepts of ATLS and "damage control".