Systematic reviews
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A recent paradigm shift within the intensive care discipline has led to implementation of protocols to drive early recovery from the intensive care unit (ICU). These protocols belong to a large knowledge, translation and quality improvement initiative lead by the Society of Critical Care Medicine, aiming to "liberate" patients from the ICU. They "bundle" evidence-based elements shown to lower ICU stay and mortality and optimize pain management. The bundled elements focus on Assessing, preventing and managing pain; Both spontaneous awakening trials and spontaneous breathing trials; Choice of analgesia and sedation; assessment, prevention, and management of Delirium; Early mobility and exercise; and Family engagement and empowerment (ABCDEF). It is evident that analgesia and sedation protocols either directly relate to or influence most of the bundle elements. A paucity of literature exists for neurologically injured patients, who create unique challenges to bundle implementation and often have limited external validity in existent studies. We will systematically search the literature, present the unique challenges of neurointensive care patients, conduct a stratified analysis of subgroups of interest, and disseminate the evidence of analgesia and sedation protocols in the neurointensive care unit (NICU). We hope the relevant stakeholders can adapt this information through knowledge translation-to make formal recommendations in clinical practice guidelines or a position statement. ⋯ PROSPERO CRD42017078909.
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Gastrointestinal cancer patients are susceptible to significant postoperative morbidity. The aim of this systematic review was to examine the effects of preoperative exercise therapy (PET) on patients undergoing surgery for GI malignancies. ⋯ PET for surgical patients with gastrointestinal malignancies may improve physical fitness and aid in postoperative recovery.
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When patients have been on opioid therapy for more than 90 days, more than half of them continue using opioids years later. Knowing that long-term opioid consumption could lead to harmful side effects including misuse, abuse, and addiction, it is important to understand the risks of transitioning to prolonged opioid therapy to reduce its occurrence. Perioperative and trauma contexts are ideal models commonly used to study such transition. Long-term use of opioids might be associated with transformation of acute pain to chronic, which might be an example of a risk factor. The objectives of this knowledge synthesis are to examine the relative frequency and the risk factors for transitioning to long-term opioid therapy among patients who have undergone a surgical procedure or experienced a trauma. ⋯ This protocol was registered in PROSPERO on March 2, 2018; registration number CRD42012018089907 .
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Review Meta Analysis
Pain rewarded: hyperalgesic and allodynic effect of operant conditioning in healthy humans-protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis.
'Pain rewarded' is a hypothesis wherein acute pain sufferers are exposed to reinforcers and punishers from their environment that shape their behaviour, i.e. pain responses. Such a point of view has been taken for granted by many clinicians and researchers although existing evidence has not yet been systematically summarized. This planned systematic review and meta-analysis is aiming to summarize the research findings on pain modulation (hyperalgesic effect) and pain elicitation (allodynic effect) resulting from operant conditioning procedures in healthy humans. ⋯ PROSPERO CRD42017051763.
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Individuals with substance use and addictive disorders often display greater risk-taking behaviour, higher impulsivity, and altered reward processing compared to individuals without these disorders. While it is not known whether cognitive biases precede or result from addictive behaviour, they likely influence addiction-related decision-making, and may facilitate pathological behaviour. There is evidence that cognitive functions-including those shown to be altered in substance use and addictive disorders-can be influenced by neuromodulation techniques (specifically, transcranial direct current stimulation and transcranial magnetic stimulation). Much of this work has been conducted in healthy populations, however, making it unclear whether these methods can be used effectively to modulate cognitive functioning in individuals with substance use and addictive disorders. The purpose of the current review is to shed light on the potential effectiveness and feasibility of neuromodulation as a means to improve cognitive deficits in substance use disorders. ⋯ To determine whether neuromodulation holds promise as an effective treatment for neurocognitive deficits in substance use and addictive disorders, it is essential to look carefully at previous studies using this approach in addiction samples. This review will provide an objective and informative description of what is currently known about the efficacy of these techniques, shed light on the feasibility and potential challenges of using neuromodulation in individuals who exhibit addictive behaviour, and identify the most valuable next steps for future research.