Journal of clinical neuroscience : official journal of the Neurosurgical Society of Australasia
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Prospective randomized placebo-controlled double-blind clinical study of adjuvant dexamethasone with surgery for chronic subdural haematoma with post-operative subdural drainage: Interim analysis.
Most chronic subdural haematomas (CSDH) are successfully treated neurosurgically. However, operative recurrences occur with a frequency 3-30%, consume resources and potentially prolong length-of stay (LOS). The only adjuvant factor proven to significantly decrease CSDH recurrence rate (RR) is post-operative subdural drainage. ⋯ In this first registered PRPCT, interim analysis suggested that adjuvant DX with post-operative drainage is both safe and may significantly decrease recurrences. A 12.5% point between-groups difference may be reasonable to power a final sample size of approximately n = 89. Future studies could consider adjuvant DX for longer than the arbitrarily-chosen 2 weeks.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Dramatic placebo effect of high frequency repetitive TMS in treatment of chronic migraine and medication overuse headache.
Chronic migraine (CM) is often associated with medication overuse headache (MOH). Few small trials have been conducted on Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for CM treatment, but results are conflicting. Aim of the study was to investigate the effects of high frequency of repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (hf-rTMS) in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex combined with strongly suggesting to avoid medications overuse in patients suffering with CM and MOH. ⋯ There were no significant differences between groups at T0 in demographic data and headache measures. Mean number of HD, HH, SDI, and MIDAS similarly reduced in the two groups. Our study failed in demonstrating that hf-rTMS with detoxification advice could be better than detoxification advice alone in CM treatment. hf-rTMS carries a high potential of inducing placebo effect and this can be usefully leveraged to enhance patients' coping strategies.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Comparison of 20% mannitol and 3% hypertonic saline on intracranial pressure and systemic hemodynamics.
Mannitol and hypertonic saline (HS) are most commonly used hyperosmotic agents for intraoperative brain relaxation. We compared the changes in ICP and systemic hemodynamics after infusion of equiosmolar solutions of both agents in patients undergoing craniotomy for supratentorial tumors. Forty enrolled adults underwent a standard anesthetic induction. ⋯ Urine output was significantly higher with mannitol. The perioperative complications, overall hospital stay, and Glasgow outcome score at discharge were comparable in between the two groups. To conclude, both mannitol and hypertonic saline in equiosmolar concentrations produced comparable effects on ICP reduction, brain relaxation, and systemic hemodynamics.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Percutaneous bipolar radiofrequency thermocoagulation for the treatment of lumbar disc herniation.
Lumbar disc herniation is usually managed with conservative treatment or surgery. However, conservative therapy seldom yields good results, and surgery is associated with multiple complications. This study aimed to assess bipolar radiofrequency thermocoagulation for the treatment of lumbar disc herniation. ⋯ At 180days, a significantly higher efficacy rate was obtained in the experimental group compared with control patients (91.6% versus 79.7%, P<0.05). No severe complications were occurred in either group. Targeted ablation via bipolar radiofrequency thermocoagulation is efficient for lumbar disc herniation treatment, and should be further explored for broad clinical application.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
An equiosmolar study on early intracranial physiology and long term outcome in severe traumatic brain injury comparing mannitol and hypertonic saline.
The impact of hypertonic saline (HTS) on long term control of intracranial hypertension (ICH) is yet to be established. The current prospective randomized controlled study was carried out in 38 patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Over 450 episodes of refractory ICH were treated with equiosmolar boluses of 20% mannitol in 20 patients and 3.0% HTS in 18 subjects. ⋯ In-hospital mortality tended to be lower in the HTS group (3 versus 10; p=0.07) while mortality at 6 months was not different between the groups (6 versus 10; p=0.41). Dichotomized Glasgow Outcome Scale scores at 6months were comparable between the groups (p=0.21). To conclude, immediate physiological advantages seen with HTS over mannitol did not translate into long term benefit on ICP/CPP control or mortality of patients with TBI.