World Neurosurg
-
Patients undergoing spine surgery often inaccurately estimate their pain tolerance and postoperative analgesic requirement. We sought to identify an association between patients' self-perceived pain tolerance and postoperative opioid consumption (POC). ⋯ Self-perceived pain tolerance does not appear to predict POC, while younger age and higher preoperative VAS pain scores are related to increased POC. Younger patients who report high pain tolerance appear to consume higher levels of opioids compared with older patients.
-
The pathogenesis and clinical characteristics of sciatica caused by pregnancy were summarized to reduce the incidence of misdiagnoses and missed diagnoses. The sciatic nerve, tibial nerve, common peroneal nerve, sural nerve, superficial peroneal nerve, saphenous nerve, and lateral femoral cutaneous nerve were examined using ultrasonography for 7 imaging features, including the shape and internal structure of the peripheral nerves of the lower extremities. ⋯ We found no significant differences in the peripheral nerve cross-sectional area between the left and right legs but did find a positive correlation with body mass index and age.
-
Although various predictors of adverse postoperative outcomes among patients with meningioma have been established, research has yet to develop a method for consolidating these findings to allow for predictions of adverse health care outcomes for patients diagnosed with skull base meningiomas. The objective of the present study was to develop 3 predictive algorithms that can be used to estimate an individual patient's probability of extended length of stay (LOS) in hospital, experiencing a nonroutine discharge disposition, or incurring high hospital charges after surgical resection of a skull base meningioma. ⋯ After external validation, our predictive models have the potential to aid clinicians in providing patients with individualized risk estimation for health care outcomes after meningioma surgery.
-
Although intracranial aneurysms are increasingly treated endovascularly, microsurgical clipping has been the standard approach for middle cerebral artery (MCA) aneurysms. We compared microsurgical clipping and state-of-the-art endovascular treatment of unruptured MCA bifurcation aneurysms treated at a neurovascular center following a "coil-first" policy. ⋯ Microsurgical clipping was associated with a higher technical success rate and tendentially higher complete occlusion than endovascular treatment, with no additional morbidity and similar clinical outcome. On the basis of these results, clipping proves to be the standard treatment option for MCA bifurcation aneurysms. However, endovascular treatment represents a safe and efficient alternative treatment option for patients.
-
The impact of glioma location on quality of life (QOL) has not been conclusively studied, possibly due to the prohibitively high sample size that standard statistical analyses would require and the inherent heterogeneity of this disease. By using a novel algorithm, we investigated the impact of tumor location on QOL in a limited set of 53 consecutive patients. ⋯ Although the areas identified in this study are traditionally considered non-eloquent areas, tumor proximity to these regions showed more impact on QOL than any other brain regions. We postulate that this effect is mediated via an adverse impact on the visuospatial functioning.