Opioid use prior to total knee replacement: comparative analysis of trends in England and Sweden.

OBJECTIVES: To describe and compare trends in the frequency of opioid prescribing/dispensing in English and Swedish patients with osteoarthritis prior to total knee replacement (TKR). METHODS: 49,043 patients from an English national database (Clinical Practice Research Datalink) and 5,955 patients from the Swedish Skåne Healthcare register undergoing TKR between 2015 and 2019 were included, alongside 1:1 age-, sex-, and practice (residential area) matched controls. Annual prevalence and prevalence rates ratio (PRR) of opioid prescribing/dispensing (any, by strength) in the 10 years prior to TKR (or matched index date for controls) were estimated using Poisson regression. RESULTS: In England and Sweden, the prevalence of patients with osteoarthritis receiving any opioid prior to TKR increased towards the date of surgery from 24% to 44% in England and from 16% to 33% in Sweden. Prescribing in controls was stable, resulting in an increasing PRR (1.6-2.7) between 10 and 1 years prior to index date in both countries. No relevant cohort or period effect was observed in either country. Prevalence of opioid prescribing was higher in English cases and controls; weaker opioids were more commonly prescribed in England, stronger opioids in Sweden. CONCLUSIONS: Temporal prevalence patterns of opioid prescribing between cases and controls are similar in England and Sweden. Opioids are still commonly used in TKR cases in both countries highlighting the lack of valid alternatives for OA pain management.

The role of laparoscopy to evaluate candidates for complete cytoreduction of peritoneal carcinomatosis and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy.

AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of explorative laparoscopy to evaluate candidates for complete resection of peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC) combined with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPC). METHODS: The database of the surgical department of the Institut Gustave Roussy was used to select 113 patients planned to undergo a maximal cytoreductive surgery combined with HIPC for PC between April 2001 and July 2003. Among them, 11 underwent an explorative laparoscopy because extent of the PC was insufficiently documented to evaluate its resectability. Patient records were retrospectively reviewed. RESULTS: Laparoscopic evaluation was successful in all 11 patients. The median operating time was 38 min (range 23-75 min). The laparoscopic examinations were well tolerated in all cases. The median length of hospital stay was 1.7 days. For three patients, the PC was as judge as unresectable. A complete resection of the PC combined with HIPC was performed in seven out of the eight patients with PC considered resectable at laparoscopy. One patient was diagnosed with more extensive disease than that as assessed by the evaluative laparoscopy. Of note, for 20% of the patients with straight away laparotomy, the complete cytoreduction was not possible. CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic scoring of peritoneal carcinomatosis is accurate to assess the complete resectability of PC in patients for which there is inadequate or contradictory information concerning disease extent.

Malignant hyperpyrexia: Investigation of a family after a fatal case.

The relatives of a patient who died from malignant hyperpyrexia were examined clinically and biochemically. One fo the deceased's children, an identical twin, undergoing an anesthetic, was found to develop malignant hyperpyrexia on exposure to nitrous oxide. The creatine phosphokinase concentrations in this family were unhelpful as a method of identifying susceptible individuals.

Bupivacaine carbonate and bupivacaine hydrochloride: a comparison of blood concentrations during epidural blockade for vaginal surgery.

Carbonated bupivacaine, plain bupivacaine hydrochloride, and bupivacaine hydrochloride with adrenaline were used to provide epidural analgesia for patients undergoing vaginal hysterectomy. Following injection to the blood concentrations of bupivacaine were measured at intervals over a period of 30 minutes. All three preparations produced satisfactory analgesia at a bupivacaine dose of 1.5 mg/kg body weight. The highest group mean blood concentrations were just outside the toxic dose range. Carbonated bupivacaine was absorbed most rapidly producing significantly higher blood concentrations up to 12 minutes after injection.