A&A practice
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Case Reports
Scrambler Therapy for the Treatment of Multiple System Atrophy-Parkinsonian Subtype Pain: A Case Report.
The management of pain in patients with multiple system atrophy (MSA) is often inadequate, and treatments commonly result in adverse effects. A 63-year-old man with the parkinsonian subtype of MSA presented with bilateral neck, shoulder, upper extremity, lower extremity, and low back pain of 6 years' duration. His baseline pain was 5 of 10 with flares to 10 of 10. ⋯ His pain relief after 4 ST sessions lasted for 6 weeks. No complications or adverse effects occurred. ST deserves further study for patients with atypical parkinsonism.
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The anesthetic management of a patient with uncorrected congenital heart disease presenting for noncardiac surgery is quite challenging. When this becomes a neurosurgical emergency, the need to balance cerebral and complex circulatory physiologies tests the anesthesiologist's preparedness. The principal clinical challenges we faced were preventing increases in intracranial pressure while maintaining the circulatory physiology using the "cardiac grid" approach to hemodynamic management in a case of acyanotic double outlet right ventricle with a posterior fossa space-occupying lesion. Point of care preoperative echocardiography enabled us to understand the altered circulatory physiology and successfully manage this patient.
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Intrathecal drug delivery systems (IDDS) are a treatment option for patients with chronic nonmalignant pain and cancer pain. In this case report, we describe a patient in whom an intrathecal catheter was implanted into a blood vessel rather than into the subarachnoid cavity. ⋯ The anterior spinal arteries and veins were verified on the ventral side of the spinal cord without interruption. To our knowledge, this is the first report of implantation of an IDDS catheter into a blood vessel.
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Severe and life-threatening cases of metformin-associated lactic acidosis (MALA) are treated with renal replacement therapy. Intermittent hemodialysis is recommended, as it achieves rapid more elimination of metformin compared to continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT). ⋯ Three of the 4 patients survived to hospital discharge. Dual CRRT may be an effective alternative when dialysis is not readily available.
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Avoidance of general anesthesia and endotracheal intubation has been shown to reduce respiratory complications in patients with severe lung disease. We describe the case of a 75-year-old patient with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who underwent cochlear implantation managed with nerve block and sedation. A superficial cervical plexus block (SCPB) was performed with 1% mepivacaine before surgery. ⋯ The patient experienced only slight pain during surgery. A SCPB had a good analgesic effect on the posterior auricle. Cochlear implantation in patients with COPD can be performed using a SCPB and sedation.