Clinical and investigative medicine. Médecine clinique et experimentale
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Clinical Trial
A non-tracheal intubation (tubeless) anesthetic technique with spontaneous respiration for upper airway surgery.
The most important consideration for administration of anesthesia in upper airway surgery is maintenance of a patient's airway for optimal surgical exposure, adequate ventilation and sufficient depth of anesthesia. The tubeless anesthetic techniques, including total intravenous anesthesia with a combination of propofol and remifentanil or inhalation anesthesia with the insufflation of anesthetic gas, are considered experimental in many countries. ⋯ Tubeless anesthesia with spontaneous ventilation induced in patients can provide both an interference-free operative field and continuous observation of airway activity, which may provide an effective approach in excellent surgical conditions for the actual airway operation.
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Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is the most common cause of admission to acute care facilities in Canada. The burden of illness for patients, caregivers and the health care system is profound. Dyspnea in advanced COPD pervades all aspects of patients' lives. ⋯ Outreach programs and use of personalized action plans that include advice on careful use of opioids can be remarkably effective. The move toward an integrated approach to COPD management with more effective advance care planning will help patients and their families make informed decisions throughout the illness trajectory. Intensive medical treatment focused on increasing survival can coexist with both holistic and palliative approaches to improve the quality of life of patients with severe end-stage COPD.
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This study was designed to assess the correlation between the neuroprotective effect of dexmedetomidine and oxidative stress, neural inflammation and mast cell stability in rats with bupivacaine-induced sciatic nerve toxicity. ⋯ Dexmedetomidine may ameliorate bupivacaine-induced neurotoxicity by modulating mast cell degranulation. The neuroprotective effect of dexmedetomidine may make it a suitable adjuvant agent to local anesthetics in peripheral nerve blocks.
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To present an assortment of molecular targets evident from a variety of signal transduction pathways and downstream effectors, which may have clinical relevance for the treatment of medulloblastomas. ⋯ Novel therapies, based on better understanding key biological pathways in medulloblastomas, hold promise for improved treatments in due course among patients with medulloblastomas.
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Suppression of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) below the normal range with administration of L-thyroxine has been shown to improve survival in patients treated for thyroid cancer (TC). Although most TC patients require long-term TSH suppression therapy, the effect of this treatment on cardiac rhythm remains unknown. A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence of atrial fibrillation (AF) in TC patients on TSH suppressive therapy. ⋯ TSH suppression in thyroid cancer is associated with a high prevalence of AF, particularly in older individuals.