Progressive reduction of hospital length of stay following minimally invasive repair of pectus excavatum: A retrospective comparison of three analgesia modalities, the role of addressing patient anxiety, and reframing patient expectations.

Purpose: Management of postoperative pain is a significant challenge following the Nuss procedure. Epidurals, PCAs, and newer analgesia modalities have been used elsewhere without demonstrating consistent improvement in the reported length of hospital stays (LOS). We reviewed a large single surgeon experience identifying three different methods of analgesia used over time to highlight marked improvement in patient LOS.

Pleurectomy and decortication.

Pleurectomy and decortication (P/D) improve survival and quality of life in selected patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma. The operative procedure was not standardized until recently. The goal of the operation is to perform a macroscopic complete resection of the tumor.

Procedural volume and survival after lung transplantation in the United States: the need to look beyond volume in the establishment of quality metrics.

Background: We sought to evaluate the effect of center volume on patient survival.

Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis on nationwide data from the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients provided by United Network for Organ Sharing pertaining to lung transplantation (LT) recipients transplanted between 2005 and 2013. Centers were categorized into 4 groups based on their annual volume as follows: less than 20, 20 to 29, 30 to 39, and greater than or equal to 40 LTs.

Lung Transplantation in Patients with High Lung Allocation Scores in the US: Evidence for the Need to Evaluate Score Specific Outcomes.

Objective. The lung allocation score (LAS) resulted in a lung transplantation (LT) selection process guided by clinical acuity. We sought to evaluate the relationship between LAS and outcomes.

Mixed Co/Fe oxide nanoparticles in block copolymer micelles.

Small iron oxide and Co-doped iron oxide nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized in a commercial amphiphilic block copolymer, poly(ethylene oxide)-b-poly(methacrylic acid) (PEO 68-b-PMAA8), in aqueous solutions. The structure and composition of the micelles containing guest molecules (metal salts) or NPs (metal oxides) were studied using transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and X-ray powder diffraction. The enlarged micelle cores after incorporation of metal salts are believed to be formed by both PMAA blocks containing metal species and penetrating PEO chains.