Li Zhang

BACKGROUND: Neuraxial analgesia is chosen by almost half of women who give birth in the United States. Unintentional dural puncture is the most common complication of this pain management technique, occurring in 0.4% to 6% of parturients. Severe positional headaches develop acutely in 70% to 80% of these parturients. Acute postdural puncture headaches are well known, but few studies have investigated long-term sequelae. We investigated the incidence of and risk factors for chronic headache and chronic back pain in parturients who experienced unintentional dural puncture with a 17-gauge Tuohy needle compared with matched controls. METHODS: In a case control design, 40 parturients who sustained unintentional dural puncture with a 17-gauge Tuohy needle over an 18-month period and 40 controls matched for age, weight, and time of delivery were recruited by telephone and 2 validated questionnaires were administered assessing headache and back pain symptoms 12 to 24 months after delivery. RESULTS: The incidence of chronic headaches in the study group (28%) was significantly higher than in the matched controls (5%) (OR = 7, P = 0.0129). Subjects who experienced dural punctures were more likely than controls to report chronic back pain (OR = 4, P = 0.0250), but treatment with an epidural blood patch was not a risk factor for chronic back pain. CONCLUSIONS: Patients who incur unintentional dural punctures with large-gauge needles are surprisingly likely to continue to suffer chronic headaches. Treatment with an epidural blood patch does not enhance the risk of chronic back pain. The pathophysiology underlying these symptoms and the best treatment for this syndrome are not known.

BACKGROUND: To estimate a pooled association between hearing impairment and risk of mild cognitive impairment and dementia. METHODS: PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science were searched for prospective cohort studies that examined the association between hearing impairment and risk of mild cognitive impairment and/or dementia. Random-effects models were fitted to estimate the summary risk ratios (RRs) and 95% confidence interval (CIs), which represents the pooled association between hearing impairment with risk of mild cognitive impairment and dementia, compared to subjects free of hearing impairment. RESULTS: Four studies on hearing impairment with mild cognitive impairment and 7 studies on hearing impairment with dementia were included in the meta-analysis. A total of 15,521 subjects were studied with follow-up periods between 2 and 16.8 years. Hearing impairment was associated with a greater risk of mild cognitive impairment (RR = 1.30, 95% CI: 1.12, 1.51) and dementia (RR = 2.39, 95% CI: 1.58, 3.61). CONCLUSIONS: The meta-analysis showed that hearing impairment is associated with a higher risk of mild cognitive impairment and dementia among older adults.

BACKGROUND: Postoperative pain control after abdominally based autologous microvascular breast reconstruction is critical to functional recovery, patient satisfaction, and early discharge. The transversus abdominis plane block using 0.25% bupivacaine hydrochloride has been shown to be effective, but it is limited by a short duration of effect. Liposomal bupivacaine is a recently U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved preparation of bupivacaine that can provide up to 72 hours of pain relief. The purpose of this randomized, controlled trial was to compare the analgesic efficacy of liposomal bupivacaine and conventional bupivacaine. METHODS: This study was a prospective, single-blind, randomized, controlled trial of 44 patients undergoing abdominally based autologous breast reconstruction between June of 2016 and February of 2018 performed by a single surgeon. Each patient was randomized to receive either 266 mg of liposomal bupivacaine or 75 mg of conventional bupivacaine to the transversus abdominis plane at the conclusion of the reconstruction procedure. All patients were managed postoperatively according to an enhanced recovery protocol. RESULTS: In our study of 44 patients, 22 patients received a transversus abdominis plane block with conventional bupivacaine and 22 patients received liposomal bupivacaine. There were no significant differences with regard to any outcome measure. No differences were found in total opioid consumption (p = 0.98), Quality of Recovery-15 scores (p = 0.72), pain scores (p = 0.39), or length of stay (p = 0.20). CONCLUSION: In the setting of a robust enhanced recovery after surgery protocol, liposomal bupivacaine does not confer advantages over conventional bupivacaine when used as single injections in transversus abdominis plane blocks after abdominally based microvascular breast reconstruction. CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic, II.

OBJECTIVE: Neurocognitive disorders commonly occur following cardiac surgery. However, the underlying etiology of these disorders is not well understood. The current study examined the association between perioperative glucose levels and other risk factors and the onset of neurocognitive disorders in adult patients following coronary artery bypass and/or valvular surgery. METHODS: Adult patients who underwent their first cardiac surgery at a large tertiary care medical center were identified and those with neurocognitive disorders prior to surgery were excluded. Demographic, perioperative, and postoperative neurocognitive outcome data were extracted from the Society for Thoracic Surgery database, and from electronic medical records, between January 2004 and June 2009. Multiple clinical risk factors and measures associated with insulin resistance, such as hyperglycemia, were assessed. Multivariable Cox competing risk survival models were used to assess hyperglycemia and postoperative neurocognitive disorders at follow up, adjusting for other risk factors and confounding variables. RESULTS: Of the 855 patients included in the study, 271 (31.7%) had new onset neurocognitive disorders at follow-up. Age, sex, New York Heart Failure (NYHF) Class, length of postoperative intensive care unit stay, perioperative blood product transfusion, and other key factors were identified and assessed as potential risk factors (or confounders) for neurocognitive disorders at follow-up. Bivariate analyses suggested that new onset neurocognitive disorders were associated with NYHF Class, cardiopulmonary bypass, history of diabetes, intraoperative blood product use, and number of diseased coronary vessels, which are commonly-accepted risk factors in cardiac surgery. In addition, higher first glucose level (median =116 mg/dL) and higher peak glucose >169 mg/dL were identified as risk factors. Male sex and nonuse of intra-operative blood products appeared to be protective. Controlling for potential risk factors and confounders, multivariable Cox survival models suggested that increased perioperative first glucose measured in 20 unit increments, was significantly associated with the onset of postoperative neurocognitive disorders at follow-up (hazard ratio [HR] =1.16, P<0.001) and that women had an elevated risk for this outcome (HR =4.18, P=0.01). CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that perioperative hyperglycemia was associated with new onset of postoperative neurocognitive disorders in adult patients after cardiac surgery, and that men tended to be protected from these outcomes. These findings may suggest a need for the revision of clinical protocols for perioperative insulin therapy to prevent long-term neurocognitive complications.

BACKGROUND: Continuous epidural infusion (CEI) can provide analgesia during labor. The dural puncture epidural (DPE) technique is used to accelerate the onset of neuraxia anesthesia. The primary objective of this study was to compare the percentage of patients that received adequate labor analgesia following an injection of 0.08% epidural ropivacaine via the DPE and CEI techniques combined with the PIEB mode of maintenance. METHODS: Patients who were laboring were randomly allocated to receive either CEI + PIEB or DPE + PIEB. Subjects indicated a VAS score immediately prior to epidural placement, and parturients with a VAS score of ≤50 mm were excluded. A 25-gauge needle was used for dural puncture. Analgesia was provided with 10 mL of 0.08% ropivacaine and 0.4 μg/mL of sufentanil, and was maintained at 10 mL/h in both groups with the same solution. All pumps were programmed for patient-controlled epidural analgesia (PCEA) boluses of 5 mL with a 20-minute lockout. VAS measurements were collected at 2-minute intervals for up to 20 minutes after initiation of the epidural bolus. The median time to adequate analgesia was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox proportional hazard models. RESULTS: Data were collected and analyzed from 200 participants (n=100 per group). Adequate analgesia at 10 minutes was higher in the DPE + PIEB group compared to the CEI + PIEB group (DPE + PIEB =58.4% vs. CEI + PIEB =41.6%; P=0.007). The DPE + PIEB group also had a shorter median time to adequate analgesia [median (95% confidence interval (CI), 8 minutes (7-9 minutes) vs. 12 minutes (10-14 minutes)] compared to the CEI + PIEB group [hazard ratio (HR) =1.488; 95% CI, 1.105-2.002; P=0.002]. CONCLUSIONS: The percentage of parturients with adequate analgesia at 10 minutes was higher with DPE + PIEB compared to CEI + PIEB. Furthermore, the DPE + PIEB mode was associated with a faster time to a VAS score ≤30 mm.