The British journal of clinical practice
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The recent European Carotid Surgery Trial (ECST) and North American Symptomatic Carotid Endarterectomy Trial (NASCET) have clearly defined a population who benefit from carotid artery endarterectomy (CAE). However these trials used different criteria to identify > 70% stenosis of the internal carotid artery (ICA). The role of CAE in asymptomatic ICA stenosis has been investigated by the Carotid Artery Stenosis with Asymptomatic Narrowing Operation Versus Aspirin (CASANOVA) study, the Veterans Administration Asymptomatic Carotid Study (VAACS) and the Asymptomatic Carotid Artery Stenosis (ACAS) trials, all of which have design limitations. The Asymptomatic Carotid Stenosis Trial (ACST) is still recruiting patients but until the natural history of asymptomatic ICA disease is understood, the role of surgical intervention will continue to be controversial.
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Chronic non-malignant pain is often treated inadequately because of opiophobia. There is no scientific justification for this fear. ⋯ There is no scientific evidence that patients with chronic non-malignant pain are more prone to addiction or tolerance. It is also pertinent to consider that the endpoint of chronic pain treatment is not just freedom from pain but global wellbeing.
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Focal lymphoid hyperplasia of the terminal ileum is a rare cause of terminal ileitis. We describe the case of a 13-year-old boy with a stricture of the terminal ileum that was diagnosed as Crohn's disease on barium meal and follow through. This failed to resolve on steroid therapy and the boy eventually required resection of his terminal ileum. Pathology of the terminal ileum showed focal lymphoid hyperplasia and not Crohn's disease.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Pain control after hysterectomy: an observer-blind, randomised trial of lornoxicam versus tramadol.
This 24-hour, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study compared the efficacy and tolerability of intravenous injections of lornoxicam 4 mg and 8 mg with tramadol 50 mg in 78 female patients aged 20-65 years with moderate to intolerable postoperative pain following mainly hysterectomy. Patients who received lornoxicam 8 mg had a significantly (p < 0.05) longer time to first remedication than placebo recipients and tended to have a greater reduction in pain intensity and a longer time to withdrawal due to "non-response' than tramadol and placebo patients. ⋯ Thus, intravenous lornoxicam at a dose of 8 mg is superior to placebo and at least as effective as intravenous tramadol 50 mg in relieving moderate to intolerable post-hysterectomy pain. Furthermore, lornoxicam seems to possess a more favourable tolerability profile than tramadol.
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A patient with progressive supranuclear palsy who presented with psychiatric features is reported. His case illustrates the difficulty of early diagnosis of this condition. Associated psychiatric symptoms are common and may precede the occurrence of gaze palsy. Our patient's behavioural problems responded to fluoxetine.