Articles: cations.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Comparative Study of Cortical Bone Trajectory-Pedicle Screw (Cortical Screw) versus Conventional Pedicle Screw in Single-Level Posterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion: A 2-Year Post Hoc Analysis from Prospectively Randomized Data.
The aim of this study was to report 2-year follow-up outcomes of posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF) with cortical bone trajectory-pedicle screw (CS), in terms of fusion rates, clinical outcomes, surgical outcomes, and complications, and to compare these outcomes with outcomes for PLIF with conventional pedicle screw (PS). ⋯ We suggest that CS in single-level PLIF may be an alternative to PS.
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Modern advances in genetic sequencing techniques have allowed for increased availability of genetic testing for hereditary cancer syndromes. Consequently, more people are being identified as mutation carriers and becoming aware of their increased risk of malignancy. Testing is commonplace for many inheritable cancer syndromes, and with that comes the knowledge of being a gene carrier for some patients. With increased risk of malignancy, many guidelines recommend that gene carriers partake in risk reduction strategies, including risk-reducing surgery for some syndromes. This review explores the quality-of-life consequences of genetic testing and risk-reducing surgery. ⋯ Although the overwhelming quality-of-life implications of surgery are neutral to positive, risk-reducing surgery is irreversible and can be associated with short- and long-term side-effects.
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Blood is the most extensively studied body fluid and, because it contains circulating tumour cells (CTCs) and circulating tumour-derived cell-free DNA (ctDNA), it may represent a liquid biopsy for cancer. Methods for enrichment and detection of CTCs and ctDNA, their clinical applications and future opportunities in gastrointestinal cancers were the focus of this review. ⋯ Liquid biopsies have applications in gastrointestinal cancers to improve clinical decision-making.
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Healthcare providers play a fundamental role in evaluating pain. Several issues about how nurses are educated remain unsolved. The aim of our study was to address how Italian nurses manage patients suffering from pain in daily practice. ⋯ The prevalence of nurses' knowledge of pain scales and their distribution in usual applications was similar in the Northwest and -east, and Central Italy, but lower in the South (p=0.0001). This study underlines the need for change in the clinical approach to pain treatment in healthcare. Pain assessment is a fundamental step for preparing individualized therapeutic plans, and nurses play a crucial role in improving the quality of life of suffering patients.
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Far from traditional "vital signs," the field of hemodynamic monitoring (HM) is rapidly developing. However, it is also easy to misunderstand hemodynamic therapy as merely HM and some concrete bundles or guidelines for circulation support. Here, we describe the concept of "critical hemodynamic therapy" and clarify the concepts of the "therapeutic target" and "therapeutic endpoint" in clinical practice. ⋯ The flow-directed target for fluid infusion might be a priority, but it remains controversial in resuscitation. The interpretation of these targets is necessary for adequate resuscitation and the correction of tissue hypoxia. The incoherence phenomenon of resuscitation (macrocirculation and microcirculation, tissue perfusion, and cellular oxygen utilization) is gaining increased attention, and early identification of these incoherences might be helpful to reduce the risk of over-resuscitation.