Minerva anestesiologica
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Fever is a common symptom in intensive care unit (ICU) patients and is caused by a wide variety of infectious and noninfectious disorders. The presence of fever often results in the act of diagnostic tests and procedures that considerably increase medical costs and expose the patient to inappropriate use of antibiotics which eventually results in antibiotic resistance. ⋯ Currently, managing ICU patients with fever should be towards a more restrictive approach than simply starting antibiotic therapy. This review summarizes the common causes of fever in ICU patients and outlines a clinical approach to the management of these patients.
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Minerva anestesiologica · Apr 2013
Case Reports Observational StudyLong-lasting beneficial effects of periradicular injection of meloxicam for treating chronic low back pain and sciatica.
Chronic low back pain (LBP) and sciatica can occur without obvious structural causes and are often resistant to conventional analgesic drugs. The effect of periradicular injection of meloxicam on LBP with or without a radicular component was assessed. A secondary objective of this prospective observational study was to assess the effect of meloxicam on functional recovery. ⋯ Periradicular injections of meloxicam (10 mg) appear to be a useful alternative to opioid and non-opiod analgesics for patients with intractable LBP due to nerve root inflammation.
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Minerva anestesiologica · Apr 2013
Preoperative changes of forced vital capacity due to body position do not correlate with postoperative respiratory function in obese subjects.
Obese patients are at risk of developing postoperative pulmonary complications. We hypothesized that preoperative changes in dynamic spirometry due to body posture would correlate with the drop of forced vital capacity (FVC) measured early after surgery. ⋯ The derangement of FVC that occurs in obese subjects after gastric banding is not predictable before surgery from anthropometric or spirometric data. The duration of pneumoperitoneum significantly contributes to postoperative impairment of respiratory function.