Perioperative Management and In-Hospital Outcomes After Minimally Invasive Repair of Pectus Excavatum: A Multicenter Registry Report From the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia Improvement Network.

Background: There are few comparative data on the analgesic options used to manage patients undergoing minimally invasive repair of pectus excavatum (MIRPE). The Society for Pediatric Anesthesia Improvement Network was established to investigate outcomes for procedures where there is significant management variability. For our first study, we established a multicenter observational database to characterize the analgesic strategies used to manage pediatric patients undergoing MIRPE.

A comparison of sensory and motor loss after a femoral nerve block conducted with ultrasound versus ultrasound and nerve stimulation.

Background: Controversy exists regarding the need for nerve stimulation when performing an ultrasound (US)-guided peripheral nerve block. We tested the hypothesis that the quality of a femoral nerve block (FNB) performed with US is equivalent to an FNB performed with US and nerve stimulation.

Methods: One hundred seven patients undergoing unilateral total knee arthroplasty were randomized to receive either a US-guided FNB (group US) or a US-guided FNB with nerve stimulation (group USNS).

Ultrasound improves the success rate of a tibial nerve block at the ankle.

Background: The tibial nerve provides the majority of sensation to the foot. Although multiple techniques have been described, there exists little evidence-based medicine evaluating different techniques for blocking the tibial nerve at the ankle. We hypothesized that an ultrasound (US)-guided tibial nerve block at the ankle would prove more successful than a conventional approach based on surface landmarks.

Ultrasound improves the success rate of a sural nerve block at the ankle.

Background And Objectives: : During ankle block performance, anesthetizing the sural nerve is important for generating complete anesthesia of the lateral aspect of the foot. We hypothesized that an ultrasound-guided perivascular approach, utilizing the lesser saphenous vein as a reference, would prove more successful than a conventional approach based on surface landmarks.

Methods: : Eighteen healthy volunteers were prospectively randomized into this controlled and blinded study.

The obesity epidemic in the United States.

We describe the epidemic of obesity in the United States: escalating rates of obesity in both adults and children, and why these qualify as an epidemic; disparities in overweight and obesity by race/ethnicity and sex, and the staggering health and economic consequences of obesity. Physical activity contributes to the epidemic as explained by new patterns of physical activity in adults and children. Changing patterns of food consumption, such as rising carbohydrate intake--particularly in the form of soda and other foods containing high fructose corn syrup--also contribute to obesity.

[Cost-effectiveness of drotrecogin alpha [activated] in the treatment of severe sepsis in Spain].

Introduction: The PROWESS clinical trial has shown that treatment with drotrecogin alpha (activated) in patients with severe sepsis is associated with a reduction in the absolute risk of death compared with standard treatment. The aim of the present study was to assess the cost-effectiveness of drotrecogin alpha (activated) versus that of standard care in the treatment of severe sepsis in Spain.

Patients And Methods: A decision analysis model was drawn up to compare costs to hospital discharge and the long-term efficacy of drotrecogin alpha (activated) versus those of standard care in the treatment of severe sepsis in Spain from the perspective of the health care payer.