Wireless high-frequency dorsal root ganglion stimulation for chronic low back pain: A pilot study.

Objective: Evaluation of the efficacy of a wireless high-frequency stimulator placed over selected DRG of exiting nerve roots for the treatment of chronic low back pain.

Design: Feasibility.

Subjects: Six subjects with chronic, intractable back pain refractory to standard medical treatment.

Automatic detection of health changes using statistical process control techniques on measured transfer times of elderly.

It has been shown that gait speed and transfer times are good measures of functional ability in elderly. However, data currently acquired by systems that measure either gait speed or transfer times in the homes of elderly people require manual reviewing by healthcare workers. This reviewing process is time-consuming.

Celiac plexus neurolysis for abdominal cancer pain: a systematic review.

Objective: This systematic review assesses the effectiveness and side effects of celiac plexus neurolysis (CPN) in the treatment of upper abdominal cancer pain, and evaluates whether there are any differences between the percutaneous and endoscopic ultrasound-guided (EUS) denervation techniques.

Methods: Five databases were searched, expanded by assessing the reference lists of all retrieved papers. Sixty-six publications fulfilled the inclusion/exclusion criteria and were included in the systematic review.

Evidence-based medicine in anesthesiology.

Two decades ago, Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) was introduced to improve the quality of medical care. Using EBM in practice can be seen as a cyclic process consisting of 5 steps. This paper explains how to apply these steps in anesthesiology.

Evaluation of the neuroprotective effects of S(+)-ketamine during open-heart surgery.

Unlabelled: We compared the effect of S(+)-ketamine to remifentanil, both in combination with propofol, on the neurocognitive outcome after open-heart surgery in 106 patients. A battery of neurocognitive tests was administered before surgery and 1 and 10 wk after surgery. Fourteen patients (25%) in the control group and 10 patients (20%) in the S(+)-ketamine group had 2 or more tests with a cognitive deficit (decline by at least one preoperative SD of that test in all patients) 10 wk after surgery (P = 0.

A prospective randomized study of the potential benefits of thoracic epidural anesthesia and analgesia in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting.

We performed an open, prospective, randomized, controlled study of the incidence of major organ complications in 420 patients undergoing routine coronary artery bypass graft surgery with or without thoracic epidural anesthesia and analgesia (TEA). All patients received a standardized general anesthetic. Group TEA received TEA for 96 h.