The Ochsner journal
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The Ochsner journal · Jan 2014
ReviewEffect of opiates, anesthetic techniques, and other perioperative factors on surgical cancer patients.
Opioid pharmacotherapy is often used to treat cancer pain. However, morphine and other opioid-like substance use in patients with cancer may have significant adverse consequences, including the suppression of both innate and acquired immune responses. Although studies have examined the possibility that regional anesthesia attenuates the immunosuppressive response of surgery, the effects of morphine and other opioid-related substances on tumor progression remain unknown. ⋯ Immune responses from all components of the immune system, including both the humoral and cell-mediated components, appear to be suppressed by anesthetics and analgesics. The clinical anesthesiologist should consider these factors in the application of technique, especially in cancer surgery.
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The Ochsner journal · Jan 2014
ReviewPrimary palliative care for the general internist: integrating goals of care discussions into the outpatient setting.
Primary palliative care consists of the palliative care competencies required of all primary care clinicians. Included in these competencies is the ability to assist patients and their families in establishing appropriate goals of care. Goals of care help patients and their families understand the patient's illness and its trajectory and facilitate medical care decisions consistent with the patient's values and goals. General internists and family medicine physicians in primary care are central to getting patients to articulate their goals of care and to have these documented in the medical record. ⋯ General internists and family medicine practitioners in primary care are central to eliciting patients' goals of care and achieving optimal end-of-life outcomes for their patients.
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The Ochsner journal · Jan 2014
Likelihood of reaching minimal clinically important difference in adult spinal deformity: a comparison of operative and nonoperative treatment.
Few studies have examined threshold improvements in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) by measuring minimal clinically important differences (MCIDs) in treatment of adult spinal deformity. We hypothesized that patients undergoing operative treatment would be more likely to achieve MCID threshold improvement compared with those receiving nonoperative care, although a subset of nonoperative patients may still reach threshold. ⋯ Patients in both the operative and nonoperative treatment groups demonstrated improvement in at least one HRQOL measure at 1 year. However, surgical treatment was more likely to result in threshold improvement and more likely to lead to simultaneous improvement across multiple measures of ODI, SF-36, and SRS-22. Although a subset of nonoperative patients achieved threshold improvement, nonoperative patients were significantly less likely to improve in multiple HRQOL measures and more likely to sustain MCID deterioration or no change.
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The Ochsner journal · Jan 2014
ReviewAvailability and utilization of opioids for pain management: global issues.
Pain can significantly influence an individual's health status and can have serious negative consequences: poor nutrition, decreased appetite, abnormal sleep patterns, fatigue, and impairment of daily living activities. Pain can cause psychological impairment and decrease healing and recovery from injuries and illness. A hallmark of many chronic conditions, pain affects more patients' lives than diabetes mellitus, heart disease, and cancer combined. However, many chronic sufferers do not have access to effective pain management for a variety of reasons, including limited access, restrictions, and personal and cultural biases. ⋯ Comprehensive guidelines for goal-directed and patient-friendly chronic opiate therapy will potentially enhance the outlook for future chronic pain management. The improvement of pain education in undergraduate and postgraduate training will benefit patients and clinicians. The promise of new medications, along with the utilization of multimodal approaches, has the potential to provide effective pain relief to future generations of sufferers.
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The Ochsner journal · Jan 2014
Urgent cesarean section in a patient with a spinal cord stimulator: implications for surgery and anesthesia.
Spinal cord stimulation used in the treatment of chronic pain is offered to women of child-bearing age. This practice warrants special consideration on the part of the obstetricians and anesthesiologists charged with their care. ⋯ Accepted approaches to managing labor and delivery-such as neuraxial anesthesia and analgesia-need not be denied patients with spinal cord stimulators. Whenever possible, however, the pain specialist should communicate the specific characteristics of the implanted device to the team who will manage the patient in the peripartal period.