Acute and persistent post-operative pain following mastectomy: a descriptive study in a tertiary hospital cohort.

Aims: Post mastectomy pain syndrome (PMPS) can have significant negative effects on patients' quality of life after mastectomy. The estimated prevalence of PMPS varies widely and there is little data from a New Zealand population. This limits clinicians' ability to meaningfully describe and discuss pain-related complications of mastectomy peri-operatively.

The association between low pre-operative step count and adverse post-operative outcomes in older patients undergoing colorectal cancer surgery.

Background: Multiple tools exist estimating perioperative risk. With an ageing surgical demographic, frailty is becoming an increasingly important concept in perioperative medicine due to its association with adverse post-operative outcomes. Reduced physical activity is a hallmark of frailty, and we postulate that a low pre-operative step count may be an objective measure of frailty.

The effect of routine preoperative interruption of dabigatran therapy on coagulation parameters and dabigatran plasma levels in a mixed surgical population.

Dabigatran is an oral anticoagulant used for atrial fibrillation and venous thromboembolism. While an effective antibody reversal agent is available, its cost precludes routine use and the mainstay of preoperative management is timely dabigatran interruption. Unlike warfarin, there are no universally accepted protocols for interruption of dabigatran in the preoperative period and there is uncertainty around the interpretation of standard coagulation tests in the presence of dabigatran.

Postoperative plasma paracetamol levels following oral or intravenous paracetamol administration: a double-blind randomised controlled trial.

In day-case surgery paracetamol is commonly given orally preoperatively, or intravenously intraoperatively. In this double-blind randomised controlled trial we investigated which of these methods of administration achieved therapeutic plasma levels most effectively in the early postoperative period. Thirty patients undergoing day case arthroscopy of the knee were randomised to receive either 1.

Showered calcific emboli to the brain, the 'salted pretzel' sign, originating from the ipsilateral internal carotid artery causing acute cerebral infarction.

Background And Purpose: Unenhanced head CT has become the first line imaging study in the evaluation of suspected acute cerebral ischemia. It is important to identify subtle findings of acute ischemia on this exam to direct appropriate patient management. Summary of Case- We report the first case of multiple pial surface distal internal carotid artery territory calcified emboli causing multifocal cerebral infarctions, likely from a carotid bifurcation source.