Safety and therapeutic value of radiosynoviorthesis with yttrium-90: a Canadian single-centre experience.

Background: Yttrium-90 (90Y) is approved in several countries as a radiosynoviorthesis agent in the intra-articular treatment of synovitis, however, no such radiopharmaceuticals are approved in Canada. The aim of this Health Canada-approved study was to examine the safety and efficacy of 90Y synovectomy among patients with refractory synovitis.

Methods: We performed a subset analysis of a prospective, phase III, single-arm, pan-Canadian trial.

Analysis of the spinal nerve roots in relation to the adjacent vertebral bodies with respect to a posterolateral vertebral body replacement procedure.

Objective: This study aims to improve the understanding of the anatomic variations along the thoracic and lumbar spine encountered during an all-posterior vertebrectomy, and reconstruction procedure. This information will help improve our understanding of human spine anatomy and will allow better planning for a vertebral body replacement (VBR) through either a transpedicular or costotransversectomy approach.

Summary Of Background Data: The major challenge to a total posterior approach vertebrectomy and VBR in the thoracolumbar spine lies in the preservation of important neural structures.

A multicenter assessment of the adequacy of cancer pain treatment using the pain management index.

Purposes: Determine adequacy of management of pain secondary to bone metastases by physicians referring to specialized outpatient palliative radiotherapy (RT) clinics in Canada; compare geographic differences in adequacy of pain management and pain severity between these cohorts; compare results with published international literature.

Methods: Prospectively collected data from three participating centers were used to calculate the Pain Management Index (PMI) by subtracting the patient-rated pain score at time of initial clinic visit from the analgesic score. Scores were 0, 1, 2, and 3 when patients reported no pain (0), mild (1-4), moderate (5-6), or severe pain (7-10), respectively, on the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System or Brief Pain Inventory.

Retrospective assessment of cancer pain management in an outpatient palliative radiotherapy clinic using the Pain Management Index.

Context: The Pain Management Index (PMI) is a simple index linking the usual severity of cancer pain with the category of medication prescribed to treat it. Medication categories are derived from the World Health Organization's "analgesic ladder" approach to cancer pain, and the PMI is an indicator of the extent to which the medication prescribed corresponds to the recommended categories for mild, moderate, and severe pain.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess prevalence of inadequate pain management in an outpatient palliative radiotherapy clinic using the PMI.