Arthritis care & research
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Arthritis care & research · Nov 2014
Randomized Controlled TrialFunctional discharge readiness and mobility following total knee arthroplasty for osteoarthritis: a comparison of analgesic techniques.
To determine if functional discharge readiness and mobility following total knee arthroplasty (TKA) for osteoarthritis is delayed after femoral nerve block (FNB) with or without patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) opioid compared with PCA opioid alone. ⋯ After TKA, FNB (single-injection with PCA opioid or continuous) does not delay achievement of 90° knee flexion or other measures of functional discharge readiness and mobility compared with PCA opioid alone.
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Arthritis care & research · Nov 2014
Comparative StudyUsing natural language processing and machine learning to identify gout flares from electronic clinical notes.
Gout flares are not well documented by diagnosis codes, making it difficult to conduct accurate database studies. We implemented a computer-based method to automatically identify gout flares using natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML) from electronic clinical notes. ⋯ We developed a computer-based method (NLP and ML) to identify gout flares from the clinical notes. Our method was validated as an accurate tool for identifying gout flares with higher sensitivity and specificity compared to previous studies.
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Arthritis care & research · Nov 2014
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudySubcutaneous tocilizumab versus placebo in combination with disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
The efficacy and safety of subcutaneous tocilizumab (TCZ-SC) versus subcutaneous placebo (PBO-SC) was evaluated in patients with rheumatoid arthritis who had an inadequate response to disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs in the BREVACTA study. ⋯ TCZ-SC every other week had significantly greater efficacy, including ACR end points and inhibition of joint damage, compared with PBO-SC. TCZ-SC was well tolerated and its safety profile was comparable with that of previous intravenous TCZ studies.