Revue médicale de Liège
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Revue médicale de Liège · Apr 2015
Review Case Reports[Spondylodiscitis in children: a review. A propos of two cases].
Spondylodiscitis is defined as an infection of the intervertebral disc and the adjacent vertebral bodies. It represents, at the most, 2-4% of osteoarticular infections in children and its clinical presentation is often insidious. The specific condition of the young child (isolated discitis) is explained by some anatomical peculiarities. We report two cases of spondylodiscitis in children of different ages and review the pediatric characteristics, the role of imaging, the bacteriological diagnosis and the management of this disease.
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Revue médicale de Liège · Dec 2014
Review[Perioperative management of direct oral anticoagulants: not much evidence but several different approaches].
New oral anticoagulants (NOACs) are a major step forward in the field of anticoagulation. As a consequence, the number of patients treated with NOACs that have to undergo surgery constantly increases. The optimal management of such patients is not clearly determined so far as scientifically established data are lacking. ⋯ This interruption should be for a longer period in the presence of renal failure. When an unforeseen surgery is needed, the procedure must be delayed as late as possible. In case of emergency, non specific pro-hemostatic agents such as prothrombin complexes or recombinant factor VIIa have not strongly proven useful and must only be used in last ditch effort.
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Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is one of the multiple pathologies included in the large family of diffuse interstitial parenchymal lung diseases (IPD). The latter represent a large group of about 200 different diseases, most of which are orphan diseases. Recently, some new therapeutic options have appeared that require an early and accurate diagnosis of pulmonary fibrosis.
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Ketamine or -ketamine hydrochloride- is used as an anesthesic and a painkiller. It may also, in some indications, be prescribed in psychiatry and addictology. A literature review was conducted from 2003 to 2013, in PubMed, Google Scholar, Embase, and Psyclnfo, using the following key words (alone or combined): "ketamine", "abuse", "addiction", "dependence" and "misuse". ⋯ Others have demonstrated beneficial effects in alcohol or opiate abstinence maintenance. Ketamine seems to be a promising molecule in psychiatry and in the treatment of addictions, despite the absence of marketing approval for those specific uses. Being a strong psycho-stimulant, ketamine can be the source of abuse and dependence with somatic, psychiatric and cognitive complications.
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Revue médicale de Liège · Feb 2014
Review[Alpha-2 adrenoreceptor agonists in anaesthesia and intensive care medicine].
Alpha-2 adrenoreceptor agonists have long been used in the treatment of arterial hypertension. However, in that indication they have progressively been replaced by antihypertensive drugs with a more interesting therapeutic profile. Nonetheless, pharmacological activation of alpha-2 adrenoreceptors leads to a variety of clinical effects that are of major interest for anaesthesia and intensive care practice. ⋯ Furthermore, alpha-2 adrenoreceptor agonists are potent adjuncts for locoregional anaesthesia. In this article, we will summarize the most frequent applications of alpha-2 adrenoreceptor agonists in anaesthesia and intensive care medicine. We will focus on the clinical data available for the two most representative molecules of this pharmacological class: clonidine and dexmedetomidine.