One half of patients reports persistent pain three months after orthopaedic surgery.

Objective: To determine persistent post-surgical pain prevalence after orthopaedic surgery with its impact on patient quality of life and to assess factors related to it.

Study Design: Cross-sectional cohort study.

Patients: A questionnaire was mailed to 2100 patients undergoing orthopaedic surgery in our teaching hospital.

The echogenicity of nerve blockade needles.

We performed a prospective, randomised study to evaluate the echogenicity of 11 regional block needles when inserted into a gel phantom at 45° in the ultrasound plane. Two hundred anaesthetists viewed in random sequence recordings of each needle as it was advanced into the phantom. Participants scored the needle for echogenicity on a scale of 0-10 and categorised the needle as 'hyperechoic' or 'standard'.

[Proton pump inhibitors: impact of professional practice evaluation on prescriptions pertinence].

Objective: To improve the quality of proton pump inhibitors (PPI) prescription in an orthopaedic department.

Study Design: Prospective professional practice evaluation study.

Patients And Methods: A specific protocol concerning the best practice for using PPI in the perioperative period was established by anaesthesiologists and validated by all prescribers, according to recent recommendations published by French Afssaps.

Spinal anesthesia failure after local anesthetic injection into cerebrospinal fluid: a multicenter prospective analysis of its incidence and related risk factors in 1214 patients.

Background And Objectives: Different mechanisms have been proposed to explain spinal anesthesia failure even after LA injection into the subarachnoid space. The aim of this prospective multicenter study was to assess the incidence of spinal anesthesia failure, excluding technical problems, and then to suggest independent factors leading to failure.

Methods: Consecutive spinal anesthetic procedures performed in 21 centers were included.

[Anxiety: an independent factor of axillary brachial plexus block failure?].

Objective: To evaluate the impact of the anxiety level using Spielberger test on axillary block success.

Study Design: Prospective double-blind study.

Patients And Methods: An axillary brachial plexus block was performed with a nerve stimulator for all patients undergoing elective or emergency upper limb surgery.

[Continuous spinal anesthesia for femoral fracture in two patients with severe aortic stenosis].

Neuraxial blockade is usually not recommended in patients with aortic stenosis. However, neuroaxial blockade techniques such as continuous spinal or epidural anaesthesia can be tailored to minimize potentially dramatic consequences of decrease in systemic vascular resistance, often encountered after standard single shot spinal anaesthesia. We report the cases of two severe aortic stenosis patients (aortic valve area<0.

A double-blind, randomized, comparative study of Dysport vs. Botox in primary palmar hyperhidrosis.

Background: Intradermal injections of type A botulinum toxin have been reported to reduce excessive sweating in patients with primary palmar hyperhidrosis. Two preparations are commercially available in Europe: Botox (Allergan; 100 U per vial) and Dysport (Beaufour Ipsen Biotech; 500 U per vial), which are not bioequivalent. A few studies have tried to find an appropriate conversion factor between the two preparations in dystonic patients but results remain controversial.

[Analgesia with intra-articular injection of buprenorphine after surgery of the shoulder].

The effect of 10 ml of intra-articular buprenorphine (0.30 mg) or normal saline on postoperative pain after shoulder surgery was studied in a randomized, prospective, double-blind study in 30 ASA I-II patients receiving general anaesthesia. The pain scores (Five Point Scale ranging from "no pain" to "unbearable pain" and Visual Analog Pain Scale) 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 24 hours after surgery, time to first analgesic use and total 6-hours and 24-hours analgesic requirements were recorded.