Opioids are an indispensable part of perioperative pain management of cancer surgeries. Opioids do have some side effects and abuse potential, and some laboratory data suggest a possible association of cancer recurrence with perioperative opioid use. Opioid-free anesthesia and opioid-sparing anesthesia are emerging new concepts worldwide to safeguard patients from adverse effects of opioids and potential abuse.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: The risks of epidural analgesia (EA) differ depending on the population studied. We describe our experience with postoperative EA for oncologic surgery.
Materials And Methods: We searched our Acute Pain Medicine database for cases in which postoperative EA was used between 2003 and 2012.
This study describes the implementation of a multimodal, multidisciplinary, evidence-based ERAS program in oncologic spine surgery, identifies and measures several relevant postoperative recovery outcomes, and demonstrates the feasibility and potential benefit of the program in improving analgesia and decreasing opioid consumption. The study underscores the importance of defining and capturing meaningful, patient-specific, and patient-reported outcomes, and constant evaluation and monitoring of a group's compliance with the program. The study represents the steppingstone for evaluation and improvement of a young ERAS program for spine surgery and serves as a roadmap for further initiatives and larger-scale studies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe use of epidural analgesia in conjunction with subcutaneous administration of unfractionated heparin 3 times per day could increase the risk of spinal epidural hematoma, but insufficient patient experience data exist to determine this. We retrospectively reviewed the incidence of spinal epidural hematoma in 3705 cases at our institution over a 7-year period of patients receiving acute postoperative epidural analgesia and heparin 3 times per day. No cases of spinal epidural hematoma were reported (95% CI, 0-0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: One of the functions of natural killer (NK) cells is to eliminate cancer cells. The cytolytic activity of NK cells is tightly regulated by inhibitory and activation receptors located in the surface membrane. Lidocaine stimulates the function of NK cells at clinically relevant concentrations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: The primary objective of this randomized trial was to compare thoracic epidural analgesia (TEA) to intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (IV-PCA) for pain control over the first 48 hours after hepatopancreatobiliary (HPB) surgery. Secondary endpoints were patient-reported outcomes, total narcotic utilization, and complications.
Background: Although adequate postoperative pain control is critical to patient and surgeon success, the optimal analgesia regimen in HPB surgery remains controversial.
Context: Few empirical studies have combined the patient's perspective (patient-reported outcomes [PROs]) with clinical outcomes (risk for complications, length of hospital stay, return to planned treatment) to assess the effectiveness of treatment after thoracic surgery for early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Objectives: Quantitatively measure PROs to assess functional recovery postsurgery.
Methods: Treatment-naïve patients (N = 72) with NSCLC who underwent either open thoracotomy or video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) used the MD Anderson Symptom Inventory (MDASI) to report symptom interference with general activity, work, walking, mood, relations with others, and enjoyment of life for three months after surgery.
Objectives: Measuring patient-reported outcomes (PROs) has become increasingly important for assessing quality of care and guiding patient management. However, PROs have yet to be integrated with traditional clinical outcomes (such as length of hospital stay), to evaluate perioperative care. This study aimed to use longitudinal PRO assessments to define the postoperative symptom recovery trajectory in patients undergoing thoracic surgery for lung cancer.
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