Narrative review: erector spinae block in spine surgery.

Background: Lumbar spine surgery is an ever-increasing procedure with multiple analgesia techniques utilized for postoperative pain control. More recently, erector spinae plane (ESP) blocks have been used to limit the use of opioids after surgery. The authors aimed to review the current literature on ESP blocks and its potential use in the outpatient setting.

Review of heart transplantation from hepatitis C-positive donors.

Significant scarcity of a donor pool exists for heart transplantation (HT) as the prevalence of patients with end-stage refractory heart failure is increasing exceptionally. With the discovery of effective direct-acting antiviral and favorable short-term outcomes following HT, the hearts from hepatitis C virus (HCV) patient are being utilized to increase the donor pool. Short-term outcomes with regards to graft function, coronary artery vasculopathy, and kidney and liver disease is comparable in HCV-negative recipients undergoing HT from HCV-positive donors compared to HCV-negative donors.

Multimodal analgesia is superior to opiates alone after tibial fracture in patients with substance abuse history.

To evaluate the effectiveness of multimodal analgesia in patients with a tibial shaft fracture. Retrospective review. Large, urban, academic center.

Plazomicin: an intravenous aminoglycoside antibacterial for the treatment of complicated urinary tract infections.

Introduction: Antimicrobial resistance continues to be a major public health concern due to the emergence and spread of multi-drug resistant (MDR) organisms, including extended spectrum ß-lactamase (ESBL) and carbapenemase producing Enterobacterales. Plazomicin is a novel aminoglycoside that demonstrates activity against MDR gram-negatives, including those producing ESBLs and most carbapenemases, and retains activity against aminoglycoside modifying enzymes as a result of structural modifications. The information discussed is meant to assist in identifying plazomicin's place in therapy and to expand the clinician's armamentarium.

Is Entresto good for the brain?

The main stay pharmacotherapy for heart failure (HF) is targeted towards rennin-angiotensin-aldosterone (RAAS) and neprilysin pathways (NP). Both therapeutic strategies decreases morbidity and mortality but also carry considerable adverse effects. This review of the literature highlights the new generation of HF drug, sacubitril-valsartan (SV), trade name Entresto (researched as LCZ696, Novartis) which simultaneously blocks RAAS and NP.

Complete lobar collapse following pulmonary lobectomy. Its incidence, predisposing factors, and clinical ramifications.

Study Objective: To define the most severe form of postlobectomy atelectasis and determine its incidence, predisposing factors, and clinical ramifications.

Design: Retrospective case control.

Setting: The thoracic surgery unit at a 900-bed tertiary care hospital.

Relationship of common laboratory parameters to the activity of Crohn's disease in children.

The Pediatric Crohn's Disease Activity Index (PCDAI) has been proposed as a simple instrument to aid in the classification of patients by disease severity. The PCDAI includes subjective patient reporting of symptoms, physical examination, nutritional parameters, and several common laboratory tests (hematocrit, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, albumin). In this report we examine the relationship of each of the laboratory parameters to the PCDAI, as well as to a modified Harvey-Bradshaw Index score and physician global assessment of disease activity.