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.
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Arthritis care & research · Oct 2014
Associations between pressure-pain threshold, symptoms, and radiographic knee and hip osteoarthritis.
To determine the association between generalized evoked pressure pain sensitivity with distal pressure-pain threshold (PPT) and the presence, severity, or number of involved knee/hip joints with radiographic osteoarthritis (rOA) or related symptoms. ⋯ PPT was significantly associated with self-reported single and multijoint symptoms. In contrast, after adjustment, PPT measured at the trapezius was not associated with asymptomatic knee or hip rOA. As such, PPT may prove to be a useful indicator of rOA pain processing and of why individuals respond favorably and others do not to treatments targeting rOA.
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Arthritis care & research · Oct 2014
Trends in prescription of opioids from 2003-2009 in persons with knee osteoarthritis.
Osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee is a painful condition affecting ∼13% of persons ages >65 years. We sought to examine whether the use of opioids in older persons with OA has increased over the past decade and what patient characteristics may correlate with their use. ⋯ As the prevalence and incidence of knee OA continues to increase, the public health impact of greater opioid use should be monitored carefully.