Plos One
-
Meta Analysis
Local Anesthetic Peripheral Nerve Block Adjuvants for Prolongation of Analgesia: A Systematic Qualitative Review.
The use of peripheral nerve blocks for anesthesia and postoperative analgesia has increased significantly in recent years. Adjuvants are frequently added to local anesthetics to prolong analgesia following peripheral nerve blockade. Numerous randomized controlled trials and meta-analyses have examined the pros and cons of the use of various individual adjuvants. ⋯ Buprenorphine, clonidine, dexamethasone, magnesium, and dexmedetomidine are promising agents for use in prolongation of local anesthetic peripheral nerve blocks, and further studies of safety and efficacy are merited. However, caution is recommended with use of any perineural adjuvant, as none have Food and Drug Administration approval, and concerns for side effects and potential toxicity persist.
-
Compared with open oesophagectomy (OE), minimally invasive oesophagectomy (MIO) proves to have benefits in reducing the risk of pulmonary complications for patients with resectable oesophageal cancer. However, it is unknown whether MIO has superiority in reducing the occurrence of in-hospital mortality (IHM). ⋯ Minimally invasive oesophagectomy (MIO) has superiority over open oesophagectomy (OE) in terms of the occurrence of in-hospital mortality (IHM) and should be the first-choice surgical procedure in esophageal surgery.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial
Grant Peer Review: Improving Inter-Rater Reliability with Training.
This study developed and evaluated a brief training program for grant reviewers that aimed to increase inter-rater reliability, rating scale knowledge, and effort to read the grant review criteria. Enhancing reviewer training may improve the reliability and accuracy of research grant proposal scoring and funding recommendations. Seventy-five Public Health professors from U. ⋯ The increase in reliability for experienced reviewers is notable because it is commonly assumed that reviewers--especially those with experience--have good understanding of the grant review rating scale. The findings suggest that both experienced and novice reviewers who had not received the type of training developed in this study may not have appropriate understanding of the definitions and meaning for each value of the rating scale and that experienced reviewers may overestimate their knowledge of the rating scale. The results underscore the benefits of and need for specialized peer reviewer training.
-
Primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) is associated with immunological dysfunctions--a well-known risk factor of shingles. This study aimed to examine the incidence and risk of shingles in adults with pSS and pharmacological treatments. ⋯ Adults with pSS were at greater risk for shingles than control cohorts. Drug exposures significantly increased the risk of shingles in pSS.
-
Non-invasive end-points for interventional trials and tailored treatment regimes in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) for monitoring regionally different manifestations of lung disease instead of global assessment of lung function with spirometry would be valuable. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (1H-MRI) allows for a radiation-free assessment of regional structure and function. The aim of this study was to evaluate the short-term reproducibility of a comprehensive morpho-functional lung MRI protocol in COPD. ⋯ Morpho-functional 1H-MRI can be obtained with reproducible image quality and high short-term test-retest reliability for COPD-related morphological and functional changes of the lung. This underlines its potential value for the monitoring of regional lung characteristics in COPD trials.