Anesthesiology
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Predicting Death or Disability after Surgery in the Older Adult.
Older patients are vulnerable to developing new or worsening disability after surgery. Despite this, patient or surgical characteristics predisposing to postoperative disability are poorly defined. The aim of the study was to develop and validate a model, subsequently transformed to point-score form, to predict 6-month death or disability in older patients after surgery. ⋯ The authors developed and validated a point score model to predict death or disability in older patients after surgery.
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The pathophysiology of delirium is incompletely understood, including what molecular pathways are involved in brain vulnerability to delirium. This study examined whether preoperative plasma neurodegeneration markers were elevated in patients who subsequently developed postoperative delirium through a retrospective case-control study. ⋯ These results suggest that patients who subsequently developed delirium are more likely to be experiencing clinically silent neurodegenerative changes before surgery, reflected by changes in plasma neurofilament light chain biomarker concentrations, which may identify individuals with a preoperative vulnerability to subsequent cognitive decline.
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Pharmacologic manipulations directed at the periaqueductal gray have demonstrated the importance of the μ-opioid receptor in modulating reflexive responses to nociception. The authors hypothesized that a supraspinal pathway centered on neurons in the periaqueductal gray containing the μ-opioid receptor could modulate nociceptive and itch behaviors. ⋯ μ-Opioid receptor neurons in the periaqueductal gray modulate distinct nocifensive behaviors: their activation reduced responses to mechanical and thermal testing, and attenuated scratching behaviors, but facilitated escape responses. The findings emphasize the role of the periaqueductal gray in the behavioral expression of nociception using reflexive and noxious paradigms.