Articles: cations.
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Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocols describe a standardized method of preoperative, perioperative, and postoperative care to enhance outcomes and minimize complication risks surrounding elective surgical intervention. A growing body of evidence is being generated as we learn to apply principles of ERAS standardization to neurosurgical patients. ⋯ This review synthesizes recent findings to generate evidence-based guidelines to manage neurosurgical oncology patients with standardized systems and assess ability of these systems to coordinate multidisciplinary, patient-centric care efforts. Furthermore, we highlight the potential usefulness of multimedia, app-based communication platforms to facilitate patient education, autonomy, and team communication within each of the 3 settings.
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Meta Analysis
Nerve pathology and neuropathic pain after whiplash injury: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
There is no clear understanding of the mechanisms causing persistent pain in patients with whiplash-associated disorder (WAD). The aim of this systematic review was to assess the evidence for nerve pathology and neuropathic pain in patients with WAD. EMBASE, PubMed, CINAHL (EBSCO), and MEDLINE were searched from inception to September 1, 2020. ⋯ Similar sensory dysfunction and nerve mechanosensitivity was seen in WAD grade II, which contradicts its traditional definition of absent nerve involvement. Our findings strongly suggest a subset of patients with WAD demonstrate signs of peripheral nerve pathology and neuropathic pain. Although there was heterogeneity among some studies, typical WAD classifications may need to be reconsidered and include detailed clinical assessments for nerve integrity.
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The flow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) has been described as a unidirectional system with the choroid plexus serving as the primary secretor of CSF and the arachnoid granulations as primary reabsorption site. This theory of neurosurgical forefathers has been universally adopted and taught as dogma. Many neuroscientists have found difficulty reconciling this theory with common pathologies, and recent studies have found that this "classic" hypothesis may not represent the full picture. ⋯ We have highlighted major studies to illustrate modern principles of CSF dynamics. Despite these, the medical education system has been slow to reform curricula and update learning resources.
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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) hierarchical condition category (HCC) coding is a risk adjustment model that allows for the estimation of risk-and cost-associated with health care provision. Current models may not include key factors that fully delineate the risk associated with spine surgery. ⋯ The addition of key demographic and socioeconomic characteristics substantially improves the CMS HCC risk-adjustment models when modeling spinal fusion outcomes. This finding may have important implications for payers, hospitals, and policymakers.
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The early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic led to significant healthcare avoidance, perhaps explaining some of the excess reported deaths that exceeded known infections. The impact of the early COVID-19 era on aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) care remains unclear. ⋯ aSAH in the early COVID-19 era was associated with delayed presentation, neurological complications, and worse outcomes at our center. These data highlight how healthcare avoidance may have increased morbidity and mortality in non-COVID-19-related neurosurgical disease.