Pain chronification impacts whole-brain functional connectivity in women with hip osteoarthritis during pain stimulation.

Objective: Previous neuroimaging studies have shown that patients with chronic pain display altered functional connectivity across distributed brain areas involved in the processing of nociceptive stimuli. The aim of the present study was to investigate how pain chronification modulates whole-brain functional connectivity during evoked clinical and tonic pain.

Methods: Patients with osteoarthritis of the hip (n = 87) were classified into 3 stages of pain chronification (Grades I-III, Mainz Pain Staging System).

Femoral nerve blockade versus local infiltration analgesia for primary knee arthroplasty. Randomised controlled trial.

Introduction: Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is associated with severe postoperative pain and significant chronification. The lengthy debate is on-going regarding the best balance between pain management, safety, and functional rehabilitation.

Material And Methods: Fifty adult patients scheduled for primary unilateral TKA were randomly divided into 2 groups: continuous femoral nerve blockade (FNB; n = 25) and local infiltration analgesia (LIA; n = 25).

The virtue of optimistic realism - expectation fulfillment predicts patient-rated global effectiveness of total hip arthroplasty.

Background: Emerging evidence highlights the importance of preoperative expectations in predicting patient-reported outcomes of orthopedic surgeries. To date, it is still a matter of controversy whether patient satisfaction can be maximized by promoting either optimistic or realistic outcome expectations before surgery. Adjusting overly optimistic outcome expectancies in favor of a more realistic outlook on the limitations of total hip arthroplasty could reduce the risk of disappointment and lead to greater satisfaction with surgery outcomes.

Treatment of intraoperative hypotension with cafedrine/theodrenaline versus ephedrine : A prospective, national, multicenter, non-interventional study-the HYPOTENS trial.

Background: Sympathomimetic drugs are a therapeutic cornerstone for the management of hypotensive states like intraoperative hypotension (IOH). While cafedrine/theodrenaline (C/T) is widely used in Germany to restore blood pressure in patients with IOH, more research is required to compare its effectiveness with alternatives such as ephedrine (E) that are more commonly available internationally.

Methods: HYPOTENS (NCT02893241, DRKS00010740) was a prospective, national, multicenter, open-label, two-armed, non-interventional study that compared C/T with E for treatment of IOH.