Plos One
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Adductor canal block for postoperative pain treatment after revision knee arthroplasty: a blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled study.
Revision knee arthroplasty is assumed to be even more painful than primary knee arthroplasty and predominantly performed in chronic pain patients, which challenges postoperative pain treatment. We hypothesized that the adductor canal block, effective for pain relief after primary total knee arthroplasty, may reduce pain during knee flexion (primary endpoint: at 4 h) compared with placebo after revision total knee arthroplasty. Secondary endpoints were pain at rest, morphine consumption and morphine-related side effects. ⋯ The only statistically significant difference found between groups was in the primary endpoint: pain during knee flexion at 4 h. However, due to a larger than anticipated dropout rate and heterogeneous study population, the study was underpowered.
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Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
Importance of cough and M. tuberculosis strain type as risks for increased transmission within households.
The degree to which tuberculosis (TB) is transmitted between persons is variable. Identifying the factors that contribute to transmission could provide new opportunities for TB control. Transmission is influenced by host, bacterial and environmental factors. However, distinguishing their individual effects is problematic because measures of disease severity are tightly correlated, and assessing the virulence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates is complicated by epidemiological and clinical confounders. ⋯ We found differential transmission among otherwise clinically similar patients with advanced TB disease. We propose that distinct strains may cause differing patterns of cough strength and cavitation in the host leading to diverging infectiousness. Larger studies are needed to verify this hypothesis.
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We performed the first meta-analysis of clinical studies by investigating the effects of eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy on the symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, and subjective distress in PTSD patients treated during the past 2 decades. ⋯ This study confirmed that EMDR therapy significantly reduces the symptoms of PTSD, depression, anxiety, and subjective distress in PTSD patients. The subgroup analysis indicated that a treatment duration of more than 60 min per session was a major contributing factor in the amelioration of anxiety and depression, and that a therapist with experience in conducting PTSD group therapy was a major contributing factor in the reduction of PTSD symptoms.
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There have been conflicting results across the trials that evaluated prophylactic efficacy of short-term high-dose statin pre-treatment for prevention of contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CIAKI) in patients undergoing coronary angiography (CAG). The aim of the study was to perform an up-to-date meta-analysis regarding the efficacy of high-dose statin pre-treatment in preventing CIAKI. ⋯ High-dose statin pre-treatment significantly reduced overall incidence of CIAKI in patients undergoing CAG, and emerges as an effective prophylactic measure to prevent CIAKI.
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Meta Analysis
Increased risk of cerebrovascular events in patients with cancer treated with bevacizumab: a meta-analysis.
Arterial ischemia and hemorrhage are associated with bevacizumab, an inhibitor of vascular endothelial growth factor that is widely used to treat many types of cancers. As specific types of arterial ischemia and hemorrhage, cerebrovascular events such as central nervous system (CNS) ischemic events and CNS hemorrhage are serious adverse events. However, increased cerebrovascular events have not been uniformly reported by previous studies. ⋯ Higher risks were observed in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (RR, 6.42; 95% CI, 1.76-35.57), and no significant risk was observed in other types of tumors. In conclusion, the addition of bevacizumab significantly increased the risk of cerebrovascular events compared with controls, including CNS ischemic events and CNS hemorrhage. The risk may vary with bevacizumab dose and tumor type.