The Annals of thoracic surgery
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Control of postoperative pain by transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation after thoracic operations.
Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) has been used extensively to control postoperative pain, but its effects are controversial. This is probably due to the different types of operations performed and, therefore, to the varying intensity of postoperative pain. Here we present an extensive study with TENS in 324 patients who underwent different types of thoracic surgical procedures: posterolateral thoracotomy, muscle-sparing thoracotomy, costotomy, sternotomy, and video-assisted thoracoscopy. ⋯ These findings show that TENS is useful after thoracic surgical procedures only when postoperative pain is mild to moderate; it is uneffective for severe pain.
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Despite good results in neonates, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is less well accepted in pediatric patients. Older children frequently undergo ECMO for severe bacterial, viral, or aspiration pneumonia and many have coexisting systemic sepsis. We reviewed data from a national registry to study the influence of sepsis on survival from ECMO. ⋯ Systemic sepsis does not independently influence survival in pediatric ECMO. This therapy should not be withheld solely because of sepsis, although neurologic complications may occur more frequently.