Nocebo Effects on Muscular Performance - An Experimental Study About Clinical Situations.

Nocebo effects are not only seen in studies of pharmacology and placebo/nocebo research but also in clinical everyday situations. For generation of objective and quantitative data on the impact of negative communication we have evaluated the immediate effects of common sentences, non-verbal signals and situations in the medical context on muscular performance. In an experimental study, 46 volunteers were tested by dynamometry of the deltoid muscle group to evaluate the maximal muscular strength during arm abduction.

Fat removal during cell salvage: an optimized program for a discontinuous autotransfusion device.

Background: Fat in wound blood observed in orthopedic or cardiac surgery might pose a risk for fat embolism during blood salvage. Fat removal was optimized in the washing process.

Study Design And Methods: In an experimental study blood from fresh donations was adjusted to a hematocrit (Hct) of 25% and an admixture of 1.

Subsyndromal delirium after cardiac surgery.

Objectives: To evaluate the incidence of subsyndromal delirium (SSD) after cardiac surgery and its impact on clinical outcome.

Design: In this prospective study, 506 patients were screened for SSD and clinical delirium (CD) using the Intensive Care Delirium Screening Checklist.

Results: 150 (34%) patients were classified as having SSD and 54 (12%) patients as having CD.

Fat removal during cell salvage: a comparison of four different cell salvage devices.

Background: Fat embolism is a possible risk factor for pulmonic and cerebral dysfunction after orthopedic and heart surgery. It is unknown whether fat occasionally observed during cell salvage adds to the risk of fat embolism after retransfusion. We have examined the fat removal capacities of different cell salvage devices including discontinuous and a continuous system under various conditions.

Local anesthetic cytotoxicity on human mesenchymal stem cells during chondrogenic differentiation.

Purpose: This study was to investigate the cytotoxic potency of local anesthetics on human mesenchymal stem cells during chondrogenesis.

Methods: Aggregates were created from density-gradient centrifugation-separated bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells. After 7, 14, and 21 days, aggregates were analyzed histologically and immunohistochemically and exposed to equipotent concentrations of bupivacaine, ropivacaine, and mepivacaine for 1 h.

Processing of small volumes in blood salvage devices.

Background: New technical developments such as a small Latham bowl, a continuous autotransfusion system, and a dynamic disk designed for postoperative autotransfusion raise hopes for a possible application of blood salvage in young children. However, the minimal blood volume for effective processing under clinically relevant conditions has yet to be determined.

Study Design And Methods: Fresh blood from volunteer donations adjusted to a hematocrit (Hct) of 10% was used to test ELECTA (Sorin) equipped with a 55-mL bowl, C.

Cytotoxicity of local anesthetics on human mesenchymal stem cells in vitro.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the cytotoxic potency of local anesthetics on human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) before and after chondrogenic differentiation.

Methods: MSCs were exposed to equal and equipotent concentrations of bupivacaine, ropivacaine, and mepivacaine for 1 hour. Cell viability, apoptosis, and necrosis were determined using flow cytometry and live/dead staining.

The cytotoxicity of bupivacaine, ropivacaine, and mepivacaine on human chondrocytes and cartilage.

Background: Intraarticular injections of local anesthetics are frequently used as part of multimodal pain regimens. However, recent data suggest that local anesthetics affect chondrocyte viability. In this study, we assessed the chondrotoxic effects of mepivacaine, ropivacaine, and bupivacaine.

Washing of banked blood by three different blood salvage devices.

Background: Storage lesions in red blood cells (RBCs) lead to an accumulation of soluble contaminants that can compromise the patient. Organ failures, coagulopathies, and cardiovascular events including lethal cardiac arrest have been reported, especially with massive transfusion or in pediatric patients. Washing improves the quality of stored RBCs, and autotransfusion devices have been proposed for intraoperative processing, but these devices were designed for diluted wound blood, and limited data on their performance with RBCs are available.

Estrogen reduces cellular aging in human mesenchymal stem cells and chondrocytes.

Chondrocyte aging is associated with cartilage degeneration and senescence impairs the regenerative potential of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Estrogen exerts profound effects on human physiology including articular cartilage and MSCs. The present study should analyze the effects of pre- and postmenopausal estrogen concentrations on chondrogenic cells.