To STOPP or to START? Potentially inappropriate prescribing in older patients with falls and syncope.

Objectives: To investigate the prevalence of potentially inappropriate prescribing (PIP) according to the revised STOPP/START criteria in older patients with falls and syncope.

Study Design: We included consecutive patients with falls and syncope aged ≥65 years at the day clinic of the Northwest Clinics, the Netherlands, from 2011 to 2016. All medication use before and after the visit was retrospectively investigated using the revised STOPP/START criteria.

The Effect of Glycopyrrolate on Nocturnal Sialorrhea in Patients Using Clozapine: A Randomized, Crossover, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial.

Background: Nocturnal sialorrhea is one of the most frequent adverse events in clozapine treatment. Symptomatic management of sialorrhea usually consists of off-label treatment with anticholinergic agents. The aim of the current study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of glycopyrrolate in patients using clozapine that experience sialorrhea.

Risk of New-Onset Diabetes After Long-Term Treatment With Clozapine in Comparison to Other Antipsychotics in Patients With Schizophrenia.

It has been suggested that clozapine has one of the largest diabetic effects of all atypical antipsychotics. To confirm these findings, we examined retrospectively the risk of new-onset diabetes in long-term clozapine treatment compared to treatment with other antipsychotics in a matched control population with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Ninety-four adult patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder who had been treated with clozapine for 5 years or longer were matched on age, diagnosis, and sex to 94 patients without any use of clozapine.

QT interval prolongation in users of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in an elderly surgical population: a cross-sectional study.

Objective: To investigate the association between the use of a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) and the occurrence of QT interval prolongation in an elderly surgical population.

Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted among patients (> 60 years) scheduled for outpatient preanesthesia evaluation in the period 2007 until 2012. The index group included elderly users of an SSRI.

['Postoperative pain treatment' practice guideline revised].

On the initiative of the Dutch Association of Anaesthesiologists, a multidisciplinary workgroup has revised the 2003 practice guideline on 'Postoperative pain treatment' for adults and children. The main reason for revision was the availability of new drugs and new methods of administration. The most important deviations from the previous edition are the following.

The effect of a preoperative erythropoietin protocol as part of a multifaceted blood management program in daily clinical practice (CME).

Background: The effectiveness of a preoperative erythropoietin (EPO) protocol to reduce allogeneic blood transfusions (ABTs) in daily clinical practice has been insufficiently studied. This study evaluated the effect of such a protocol, as part of a multifaceted blood management program, in patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty (THA).

Study Design And Methods: This retrospective observational study was designed as an interrupted time series (1999-2010).

Antidepressive treatment with monoamine oxidase inhibitors and the occurrence of intraoperative hemodynamic events: a retrospective observational cohort study.

Objective: To investigate the occurrence of intraoperative hemodynamic events when antidepressive treatment with monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) was continued during anesthesia.

Method: A retrospective observational cohort study was conducted among patients who were admitted for elective surgery requiring anesthesia in 8 Dutch hospitals (2004-2010). The index group included current users of irreversible (tranylcypromine) and reversible (moclobemide) MAOIs.

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and intraoperative blood pressure.

Background: The influence of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) on blood pressure is poorly understood. We hypothesized that if SSRIs have an influence on blood pressure, this might become manifest in changes in intraoperative blood pressure. We aimed to study the association between perioperative use of SSRIs and changes in intraoperative blood pressure by measuring the occurrence of intraoperative hyper- and hypotension.

Use of serotonergic antidepressants and bleeding risk in orthopedic patients.

Background: Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors have been associated with an increased bleeding tendency. Information on the impact of a possible impaired hemostasis associated with the perioperative use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors is limited. This study aimed to determine the association between the perioperative use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and the amount of blood loss during surgery and perioperative transfusion requirements.

[Pain treatment following knee and hip replacement surgery].

Objective: To gain insight into the outcomes of postoperative pain treatment using patient-controlled intravenous analgesia (PCIA) with morphine and oral analgesics after total hip or knee arthroplasty (THA or TKA).

Design: Prospective observational study.

Method: In 2006-2007, 154 THA and 110 TKA patients who underwent arthroplasty at the Medical Centre Alkmaar were included in this study.