J Res Med Sci
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Ketamine, a non-competitive NMDA (N-Methyl-D-Aspartate) receptor antagonist, is recognized as an intraoperative anesthetic agent. Increasing interest in the use of low-dose ketamine for postoperative analgesia has developed in part because of its NMDA-antagonistic properties, which may be important in attenuating central sensitization and opioid tolerance. Despite of many trial evaluations which have been done on the effect of low-dose ketamine in postoperative pain, the role of ketamine, as a component of perioperative analgesia, remains unclear. We evaluated the analgesic effect of low-dose ketamine during anesthesia induction in painful ophthalmic surgery. ⋯ This study demonstrates that a low dose administration of ketamine during anesthesia induction in retinal detachment, strabismus, and keratoplasty surgery improves the extubation time but have no effect on postoperative pain, nausea and vomiting, and perioperative additional analgesic requirements.
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We investigated the difference of clinical practice pattern between end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients with and without palliative care at the end of life in Taiwan. ⋯ Palliative care was underutilized and referral was delayed for COPD patients. COPD patients are polysymptomatic approaching the end of life and this characteristic should be taken into account in providing appropriate end-of-life care in the same way as for cancer patients. Palliative care for COPD patients is urgently needed in Taiwan and should be promoted.
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In this randomized, double-blinded study, we investigated the preemptive effects of propofol, remifentanil or ketamine on post-operative pain scores and analgesic requirements in elective lower abdominal surgeries under general anesthesia during the first 24 h of post-operative period. ⋯ Prophylactic preemptive single dose of intravenous (IV) 0.25 mg/kg propofol significantly decreased post-operative analgesia requirements comparing with IV 0.3 mg/kg ketamine or 0.25 μg/kg remifentanil.
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The purpose of this study is to determine sensitivity and specificity of body mass index (BMI) based on Center for Disease Control 2000 (CDC) percentiles compared to fat mass index (FMI) as an indicator of being really obese in children. Obesity was compared based on these two indexes among children under study. ⋯ Our results indicated 79% of children who were recognized as obese based on FMI, were also classified as obese according to BMI. Twenty-seven percent of children, who were non-obese, were identified as obese based on BMI. It appears that FMI compared to BMI is more accurate in determining obesity, but further studies are required.