Medicine
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To examine whether the association between blood transfusion and suicide attempt exists. Utilizing the national insurance database from Taiwan and propensity score matching analysis, the incidence of suicide attempt in a cohort with blood transfusion versus controls was compared. The key finding is that higher incidence of suicide attempt in blood transfusion than control group (with an adjusted hazard ratio of 1.79 with 95% confidence interval, 1.72-1.88) after adjusted for the covariates. Patients receiving blood transfusion are an increased risk of subsequent suicide attempt.
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Temporomandibular disorder (TMD) causes masticatory muscle pain and mouth opening limitations and affects patients' ability to eat, practice oral health and perform other activities of daily living. Although the benefits of low-energy lasers in treating TMD have been reported, the results vary greatly depending on the equipment used and the energy output. This study systematically evaluated the efficacy of a low-level gallium aluminium arsenide (GaAlAs) laser treatment for TMD with myofascial pain and maxillary pain. ⋯ The results of this study suggest that there is insufficient evidence to indicate an efficacy of low-level GaAlAs laser therapy in improving TMD pain and maximal oral opening. These results suggest that clinicians should make appropriate recommendations to inform patient decision-making.
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Review Case Reports
Spinal cord stimulation in the approach to chronic pelvic pain: A case report and literature review.
Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) is a pain related to pelvic structures that arise from posttraumatic pain, postsurgical pain, or somatic or visceral pain syndromes. Despite the available treatment options, CPP remains mostly untreated, due to difficulties in covering such a large area. ⋯ Through the combination of spinal cord stimulation Spectra Wavewriter and 3D programming technology, both lumbar and leg pain and CPP were successfully relieved, along with an improvement in the quality of life of the patient.
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To investigate the efficacy and safety of sacubitril-valsartan in patients with heart failure, relevant randomized clinical trials (RCTs) were analyzed. ⋯ The present meta-analysis suggested that sacubitril-valsartan may improve the cardiac function of heart failure. Given the limited number of included studies, additional large sample-size RCTs are required to determine the long-term effect of cardiac function of sacubitril-valsartan in patients with heart failure.
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The effective therapy to reduce postoperative catheter-related bladder discomfort (CRBD) remained unknown. ⋯ The 5 RCTs showed great effectiveness in reducing the incidence and severity of the early and later postoperative CRBD. Meta-analysis showed that DEX interventions were useful in preventing the early and later postoperative CRBD without significant side effects.