Surgery, gynecology & obstetrics
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Surg Gynecol Obstet · Nov 1992
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical TrialA prospective randomized trial of single versus multiple drains in the axilla after lymphadenectomy.
Increasing duration and amount of postoperative fluid formation after axillary lymphadenectomy delays final healing. We postulated that multiple drains (instead of a single drain) might decrease postoperative fluid accumulation by their greater proximity to points of leakage. We randomized 65 women with clinical stage I or II carcinoma of the breast to single or multiple drains. ⋯ The two arms (single versus multiple drains) were determined to be homogeneous in other variables that may affect postoperative fluid formation--age, size of the breast, weight, height, obesity, presence of previous surgical biopsy, excision of pectoralis minor muscle, excision of thoracodorsal complex, level of axillary dissection, number of lymph nodes, number and proportion of positive lymph nodes and whether or not the dominant hand was on the side operated upon. Single versus multiple drains had no clinically significant effect on the amount or duration of drainage, as an inpatient or outpatient, or total. We recommend a single drain to the axilla after lymphadenectomy.
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Surg Gynecol Obstet · Mar 1992
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialTolerance to enteral tube feeding diets in hypoalbuminemic critically ill, geriatric patients.
Tolerance of elemental (for example, Peptamen [PEP]) or free amino acid (for example, Vivonex TEN [VIV]) tube feeding diets is controversial, especially in the critically ill patient who is hypoalbuminemic. A prospective, randomized trial was conducted to compare differences between feeding PEP (n = 8) or VIV (n = 8) in critically ill, elderly (average age of 66 years) patients. Diets were administered through nasogastric or postpyloric feeding tubes. ⋯ Serum albumin concentrations upon initiation of the diets were 2.3 grams per deciliter in both groups. We conclude that tolerance to the two diets were similar because it was possible to feed enterally either PEP or VIV in critically ill, hypoalbuminemic patients (serum albumin concentrations of less than 2.5 grams per deciliter) successfully, irrespective of diet. Although there were more stools in the VIV group, this did not reduce compliance with the goals.
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Surg Gynecol Obstet · Mar 1992
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical TrialA randomized comparison of patient-controlled versus standard analgesic requirements in patients undergoing cholecystectomy.
In the current study, 55 patients undergoing elective cholecystectomy were randomly allocated to receive postoperative analgesia (morphine sulfate) administered through either patient-controlled intravenous (PCA) or standard intramuscular (IM) routes. There were no significant differences in length of hospitalization or required dose of morphine sulfate. Patients randomized to PCA reported significantly improved subjective relief from pain and a smaller percentage of time in pain during each of the first two postoperative days. ⋯ Theoretically, PCA regimens can deliver narcotic analgesia at a higher and more varied rate (with fewer side effects) compared with standard IM narcotic delivery, which is more limited by considerations of clinical doses. In PCA dosing, patients should experience less time in pain and sedation. The results of the current study support this premise.
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The most frequently used postoperative analgesia techniques are intramuscular injection (IM) and patient controlled analgesia (PCA). Recently, the use of epidural catheter injection (EPI) has been done with success. This study was done to prospectively compare these three techniques for postoperative analgesia after extensive operations upon the colon and rectum. ⋯ The EPI group required significantly less daily narcotic compared with either the IM or PCA groups (17.0 +/- 6.12 milligrams; 67.8 +/- 26.8 milligrams; 40.5 +/- 20.6 milligrams, respectively, less than 0.05 ANOVA) and total narcotic (81.3 +/- 31.3 milligrams; 355.4 +/- 147.7 milligrams; 215.3 +/- 105.4 milligrams, respectively, p less than 0.05 ANOVA). EPI achieves excellent pain control in more patients with a significantly lower dose of narcotics and significantly fewer pulmonary complications. Therefore, epidural analgesia is the optimal method of postoperative analgesia after extensive abdominal operations.
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Surg Gynecol Obstet · Dec 1991
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialThe use of bupivacaine in elective inguinal herniorrhaphy as a fast and safe technique for relief of postoperative pain.
The intraoperative use of local anesthetic agents to decrease postoperative pain has been used in many types of procedures. Most of these techniques involve needle injection of anesthetic and result in a low but troublesome incidence of complications. In this study, we evaluated the reliability, safety, and efficacy of a technique emphasizing bathing of tissues with anesthetic rather than needle injection for relieving postoperative pain. ⋯ Objectively, groups 1 and 2 required fewer total doses of pain medication and waited longer before requesting oral pain medication postoperatively compared with those in the control group. No complications occurred that could be attributed to the technique. The results of this study indicate that the bathing of wounds with 0.5 per cent bupivacaine with or without epinephrine 1:200,000 is a safe and effective method of decreasing postoperative pain for several hours in patients undergoing elective inguinal herniorrhaphy.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)