Role of intraoperative ropivacaine in adult post-tonsillectomy pain control: A randomized controlled trial.

We sought to evaluate the efficacy of ropivacaine in post-tonsillectomy pain management in adults and evaluate the timing of intraoperative ropivacaine administration for this purpose. A prospective, double-blinded, randomized, controlled trial with a paired design was performed in 25 consecutive adults undergoing tonsillectomy. To date, no studies examining the efficacy of local anesthetics in post-tonsillectomy pain control have used a paired design to account for the variability in pain difference between individuals.

Success of sequential free flaps in head and neck reconstruction.

Background: The need for additional free flaps following an initial free flap reconstruction sometimes arises. However, there is understandable hesitation to perform subsequent free flaps due to concerns regarding recipient vessel availability, flap loss, and other complications.

Methods: An analysis of patients undergoing one or more sequential head and neck free flap reconstructions between 2000 and 2012 was performed.

Free flap failure in head and neck reconstruction.

Background: The purpose of this study was to determine the causes of head and neck free flap loss and to evaluate outcomes after subsequent microvascular and non-microvascular reconstruction.

Methods: Patients who experienced free flap loss between 2000 and 2012 were reviewed.

Results: There were 40 flap losses out of 3090 free flaps (1.

Tonotopic relationships reveal the charge density varies along the lateral wall of outer hair cells.

Outer hair cells amplify and improve the frequency selectivity of sound within the mammalian cochlea through a sound-evoked receptor potential that induces an electromechanical response in their lateral wall membrane. We experimentally show that the membrane area and linear membrane capacitance of outer hair cells increases exponentially with the electrically evoked voltage-dependent charge movement (Q(T)) and peak membrane capacitance (C(peak)). We determine the size of the different functional regions (e.

Management of lateral cervical metastases in papillary thyroid cancer: patterns of lymph node distribution.

In this article we discuss the management of lateral cervical lymph node metastases in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). We conducted a retrospective analysis of cases of PTC at our tertiary academic medical center involving 32 patients who underwent 39 neck dissections for the management of lateral cervical metastases from 2000 to 2007. Of these patients, 18 underwent primary neck dissections at the time of thyroidectomy after fine-needle aspiration biopsy confirmed the PTC.

Mechanisms to inhibit matrix metalloproteinase activity: where are we in the development of clinically relevant inhibitors?

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are involved in numerous pathophysiological processes, including cancer and cardiovascular disease. MMPs proteolyze multiple targets, including extracellular matrix, cytokines, and growth factors. Due to a high clinical relevance, MMPs have long been a target for pharmaceutical intervention.