An answered call for aid? Cannabinoid clinical framework for the opioid epidemic.

Background: The opioid crisis continues in full force, as physicians and caregivers are desperate for resources to help patients with opioid use and chronic pain disorders find safer and more accessible non-opioid tools.

Main Body: The purpose of this article is to review the current state of the opioid epidemic; the shifting picture of cannabinoids; and the research, policy, and current events that make opioid risk reduction an urgent public health challenge. The provided table contains an evidence-based clinical framework for the utilization of cannabinoids to treat patients with chronic pain who are dependent on opioids, seeking alternatives to opioids, and tapering opioids.

A double-blind controlled trial of polyglytone 6211 versus poliglecaprone 25 for use in body contouring.

The use of absorbable sutures to obtain secure dermal closure in surgeries such as body contouring is common. The risk of complications based on the absorption rate of these materials is unknown. This study attempts to determine whether a faster absorbing suture material such as polyglytone 6211 will lead to fewer complications such as extrusion and granuloma formation as compared with less rapidly absorbing materials such as poliglecaprone 25.

Breast cancer cell-derived fibroblast growth factor 2 and vascular endothelial growth factor are chemoattractants for bone marrow stromal stem cells.

Objective: Recent efforts by the scientific community to characterize the complex interplay between different cell types involved in the development of tumors have led us to investigate the roles of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) in the development of breast cancer.

Methods: Using modified Boyden chamber assays, we measured the in vitro migration effect on murine mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Additionally, we assayed for the presence of receptors for these growth factors on MSCs, and for the presence of VEGF and FGF2 in breast cancer-conditioned media.

Completing the metamorphosis: building a center of excellence in postbariatric plastic surgery.

Postbariatric body contouring is an expanding and rapidly evolving specialty within plastic surgery. To best address the many clinical issues related to the safe and effective care of the postbariatric patient, the authors have established a dedicated multidisciplinary treatment center. Team building efforts have brought together attending plastic surgeons who specialize in body contouring, nurses focused on body contouring after weight loss, and an administrative staff well trained in the issues related to managing these specific types of cases.

Complete remission of previously intractable peripheral cutaneous T-cell lymphoma of the lower extremity using isolated hyperthermic limb perfusion with melphalan (1-phenylalanine mustard).

The patient is a 74-year-old woman first diagnosed with a peripheral cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (PCTCL) in April of 1994. Initially she presented with subcutaneous indurated areas in the right forearm, scapula, and submadibular region. After chemotherapy with CHOP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone), she went into remission for 2 years before relapse of her PCTCL localized to the right lower extremity.