Articles: function.
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Observational Study
Doppler renal resistive index for early detection of acute kidney injury after major orthopaedic surgery.
Postoperative acute kidney injury (AKI) is a cause of morbidity and mortality. Its diagnosis requires better markers than variations in diuresis or postoperative serum creatinine. ⋯ Postoperative resistive index appears to be effective for early detection of AKI after major orthopaedic surgery. Resistive index can be measured in the postoperative care unit in patients at risk of AKI.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Jan 2015
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyNicardipine Is Superior to Esmolol for the Management of Postcraniotomy Emergence Hypertension: A Randomized Open-Label Study.
Emergence hypertension after craniotomy is a well-documented phenomenon for which natural history is poorly understood. Most clinicians attribute this phenomenon to an acute and transient increase in catecholamine release, but other mechanisms such as neurogenic hypertension or activation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system have also been proposed. In this open-label study, we compared the monotherapeutic antihypertensive efficacy of the 2 most titratable drugs used to treat postcraniotomy emergence hypertension: nicardipine and esmolol. We also investigated the effect of preoperative hypertension on postcraniotomy hypertension and the natural history of postcraniotomy hypertension in the early postoperative period. ⋯ Nicardipine is superior to esmolol for the treatment of postcraniotomy emergence hypertension. This type of hypertension is thought to be a transient phenomenon not solely related to sympathetic activation and catecholamine surge but also possibly encompassing other physiologic factors. For treating postcraniotomy emergence hypertension, nicardipine is a relatively effective sole drug, whereas if esmolol is used, rescue antihypertensive medications should be readily available.
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Predictors of outcome in lateral epicondylalgia, which is mainly characterized as a mechanical hyperalgesia, are largely limited to sociodemographic and symptomatic factors. Quantitative sensory testing is used to study altered pain processing in various chronic pain conditions and may be of prognostic relevance. ⋯ Early assessment of cold pain threshold could be a useful clinical tool to help identify patients at risk of poorer outcomes and might provide direction for future research into mechanism-based treatment approaches for these patients.
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One theoretical model suggests that the pathway from pain to depression is through the disruption of social and relationship function. This study sought to test this hypothesis by considering the mediating effect of sexual functioning on the association between pain intensity and depressive symptoms in sexually active patients with chronic low back pain. ⋯ This study has shown that sexual functioning significantly mediates the relationship between pain intensity and depressive symptoms in sexually active patients with chronic low back pain. Clinicians may wish to consider the assessment of sexual functioning within this patient group and align treatments that address sexual dysfunction and general pain management.
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Intensive care medicine · Jan 2015
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Observational StudyThromboelastography in patients with severe sepsis: a prospective cohort study.
To investigate the association between consecutively measured thromboelastographic (TEG) tracings and outcome in patients with severe sepsis. ⋯ In our cohort of patients with severe sepsis, progressive hypocoagulability defined by TEG variables was associated with increased risk of death and increased risk of bleeding.