Publications by authors named "Gagan Mahajan"

While the evidence for urine drug testing for patients on chronic opioid therapy is weak, the guidelines created by numerous medical societies and state and federal regulatory agencies recommend that it be included as one of the tools used to monitor patients for compliance with chronic opioid therapy. To get the most comprehensive results, clinicians should order both an immunoassay screen and confirmatory urine drug test. The immunoassay screen, which can be performed as an in-office point-of-care test or as a laboratory-based test, is a cheap and convenient study to order.

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Aims: We assessed the neurodevelopmental outcome at one year of age of children with asymptomatic neonatal hypoglycemia and compared their outcome with that of symptomatic hypoglycemic and euglycemic neonates.

Method: Seventy two hypoglycemic (plasma glucose less than 50 mg/dL) neonates, both symptomatic (n = 27) and asymptomatic (n = 45), and 70 weight- and gestation-matched euglycemic neonates of gestational age greater than 32 weeks were enrolled during the first week of life then assessed for neurodevelopmental outcome at corrected age six and 12 months (n = 67 and 62 in hypoglycemia group and 63 and 54 in euglycemia group, with the rest lost to follow-up, and death = 1).

Results: At one year, 8% (five of 62, four in symptomatic and one in asymptomatic group) of hypoglycemic neonates developed cerebral palsy.

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Objective: To study post-discharge growth, mortality and morbidity of extremely low birth weight neonates at corrected age of 2 years.

Methods: Weight, length and head circumference were compared on WHO growth charts at corrected ages 3 (n=54), 6, 9, 12 (n=51) and 24 months (n=37); rates of underweight, stunting, microcephaly and wasting were calculated.

Results: The mean Z-score for weight, length, head circumference and weight-for-length significantly improved from 3 to 24 months (P<0.

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Background: The data on the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency (VDD) in apparently healthy children from India is limited.

Objective: To assess the prevalence of VDD in apparently healthy children.

Design: Prospective study.

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In recent years, opioid therapy for the management of chronic noncancer pain has become more widely accepted following the publication of data demonstrating the efficacy of this class of drugs in a variety of pain conditions, including osteoarthritis, neuropathic pain, and low back pain. An array of short-acting and long-acting opioids has been formulated to help prescribers more effectively tailor the management of chronic pain based on the quality and temporal profile of the pain as well as the functional goals of the individual patient. Evidence suggests that both of these groups of medications offer unique benefits to individual patients and that neither is more efficacious than the other.

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Objective: This report describes a case where pulsed radiofrequency lesioning (RFL) of the greater occipital nerve (GON) offered a valuable and safe treatment for the management of greater occipital neuralgia. The case is considered in relation to a review of the medical literature on greater occipital neuralgia and RFL interventions.

Case Report: A 62-year-old man with a 43-year history of left suboccipital pain underwent pulsed RFL of the left GON (20-millisecond bursts at intervals of 0.

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This study was undertaken from April 2002 to March 2003 to find out the correlation of transcutaneous bilirubinometer index with serum bilirubin levels in term, pre-term, small for gestation age babies, with and without phototherapy in neonates with jaundice. Another aim was to evaluate the transcutaneous bilirubinometer as a screening device for neonatal hyperbilirubinemia by finding the action levels for TcBI at forehead and sternum at which sample for serum bilirubin estimation should be taken. A total of 104 neonates were evaluated.

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Methadone has numerous advantages as an analgesic, which have supported its recent increase in use. However, methadone also has a pharmacological profile as an opioid that differentiates it from other, better known or more widely used opioids. It also has unusual pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, and metabolism that must be considered for safe use of methadone as an analgesic.

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Objective: To examine the demographics, progress, and functional outcomes of all postcardiac surgery stroke patients admitted to the rehabilitation unit of an acute, tertiary general hospital over a 5-yr period and to compare this cohort with an age-matched control group of other stroke patients admitted during the same period.

Design: A retrospective chart review of 47 postcardiac surgery stroke and a matched control group of other stroke patients admitted to the rehabilitation unit.

Results: The mean age of the postcardiac surgery stroke patients was 70.

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We have extended the traditional use of opioid contracts to involve the primary care physician (PCP). The PCP was asked to collaborate with the pain specialist's decision to use opioids by cosigning an opioid contract. Explicit in the agreement was the understanding that the primary care physician would assume prescribing the refills for these medications once the opioid regimen had become stabilized.

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