Postoperative analgesia and early rehabilitation after total knee replacement: a comparison of continuous low-dose intravenous ketamine versus nefopam.

The effects of nefopam and ketamine on pain control and rehabilitation after total knee replacement were compared in a prospective, double blinded study. Seventy-five patients were randomly assigned to receive a 0.2mg kg(-1) bolus of nefopam or ketamine, followed by a 120microg kg(-1) h(-1) continuous infusion until the end of surgery, and 60microg kg(-1) h(-1) until the second postoperative day, or an equal volume of saline considered as placebo.

[Practical advice for exercise-induced asthma in children: experience of the exercise training centre of Necker-Enfants malades hospital].

Now, to care exercise-induced asthma is not only to prescribe drugs. It is a global and interdisciplinary approach: the pulmonary rehabilitation, matching a therapeutic education and a physical training, with the goal of promoting a regular physical activity in the asthmatic child, achieving physiological benefits and improvement of quality of life. Getting from the experience of Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital's Training Centre, a few advises encourage the physical practice of the asthmatic child, and decrease risks of exercise-induced asthma: optimisation of treatments;progressive beginning and end of exercises; use of the diaphragmatic breathing, keeping up with the exercise; use of the ventilatory threshold (or dysponea threshold) as intensity of the aerobic training; practice of different activities promoting play and conviviality in sports and allowing the integration of sports in the daily life of the asthmatic child.

Comparison of mechanical behaviour of normal and scoliotic vertebral segment: a preliminary numerical approach.

Specific behaviour of the scoliotic spine has already been proven. The aim of this preliminary study is to evaluate if this behaviour is mainly due to geometrical deformities or to mechanical characteristics of soft tissues. We use a kriging technique to obtain a personalized finite element model of scoliotic spine from 3D reconstructions and from an existing detailed model of normal spine.