Liposomal Bupivacaine Injection for Analgesia During Minimally Invasive Supracervical Hysterectomy.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of intracervical injection of liposomal bupivacaine for postoperative pain control among women undergoing minimally invasive supracervical hysterectomy. Methods: A randomized double-blinded placebo-controlled trial of intracervical injection of combination liposomal bupivacaine and bupivacaine for postoperative pain among patients undergoing laparoscopic and robotic supracervical hysterectomy. Patients were enrolled between October 1, 2018 and April 30, 2019. The primary outcome was pain at 12 hours postoperatively using a numeric rating scale from zero to 10. Pain scores were also recorded pre-operatively, immediately postoperatively, at 12, 24, and 48 hours postoperatively. The secondary outcome was the number of patients who required opioid analgesic medications up to 48 hours postoperatively. Results: Sixty participants were randomized into the control (n = 30) and intervention (n = 30) groups. Pain scores were 1 and 1.75 (p = 0.89) immediately postoperatively, 3 and 3.5 (p = 0.85) at 12 hours, 3.5 and 5 (p = 0.22) at 24 hours, and 2.75 and 4 (p = 0.18) at 48 hours for the control and intervention groups, respectively. Within the first 24 hours, 10 patients in the control and 14 patients in the intervention group used narcotics (p = 0.37). From the 24 to 48 hours window, 6 and 8 patients in the control and intervention groups used narcotics (p = 0.74), respectively. Conclusion: There was no statistically significant difference in pain scores between patients receiving combination liposomal bupivacaine and bupivacaine intracervical block and those receiving placebo in the first 48 hours after surgery. There was no difference in analgesic use between the two study groups.

Patient Perceptions of Open, Laparoscopic, and Robotic Gynecological Surgeries.

Objective. To investigate patient knowledge and attitudes toward surgical approaches in gynecology. Design. An anonymous Institutional Review Board (IRB) approved questionnaire survey. Patients/Setting. A total of 219 women seeking obstetrical and gynecological care in two offices affiliated with an academic medical center. Results. Thirty-four percent of the participants did not understand the difference between open and laparoscopic surgeries. 56% of the participants knew that laparoscopy is a better surgical approach for patients than open abdominal surgeries, while 37% thought that laparoscopy requires the surgeon to have a higher technical skill. 46% of the participants do not understand the difference between laparoscopic and robotic procedures. 67.5% of the participants did not know that the surgeon moves the robot's arms to perform the surgery. Higher educational level and/or history of previous abdominal surgeries were associated with the highest rates of answering all the questions correctly (p < 0.05), after controlling for age and race. Conclusions. A substantial percentage of patients do not understand the difference between various surgical approaches. Health care providers should not assume that their patients have an adequate understanding of their surgical options and accordingly should educate them about those options so they can make truly informed decisions.

50% dextrose versus normal saline as distension media during cystoscopy for assessment of ureteric patency.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the visualization of ureteric jets when using 50% dextrose (D50) as opposed to normal saline (NS) as distension media during cystoscopy. STUDY DESIGN: Cross sectional study. METHODS: Two patients each had two cystoscopy videos recorded at the time of a ureteric jet; one using NS and the other using D50 resulting in two sets of paired videos (four videos). A fifth cystoscopy video was recorded, as a control, at a time when there was no ureteric-jet. Fifty participants including attending physicians, residents and medical students were recruited at an academic-affiliated community hospital. Participants were blinded to the medium used and viewed each of the five videos. Participants assessed each video for presence of a ureteric-jet, ease of interpretation, and compared the paired D50 and NS videos for clarity of ureteric-jets. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Participant's assessment of clarity of the ureteric jets when D50 was used as compared to when NS was used in the paired videos. RESULTS: All 100 observations of the two D50 videos with jets identified the presence of a jet; for the NS videos, 96/100 observations identified a jet, 2/100 did not identify a jet and 2/100 were unsure. 48/50 observations of the video with no jet were correct, while 2/50 were unsure. Participants rated the ureteric-jets to be clearer in videos with D50 (86% vs 14%, P<0.001); and had difficulty interpreting cystoscopy videos with NS (62% vs 2%, OR: 80, 95% CI: 10.2-627.6). CONCLUSION: Participants preferred the clarity of the ureteric-jet when 50% dextrose was used as the distension medium during cystoscopy as compared to normal saline.

Use of 50% Dextrose as the Distension Medium During Cystoscopy for Visualization of Ureteric Jets.

BACKGROUND: Indigotindisulfonate sodium has been used to color the urine and thereby improve the visualization of ureteric jets during intraoperative cystoscopy. After indigotindisulfonate sodium became unavailable, there has been an ongoing search for an alternate agent to improve visualization of the jets. METHOD: We used 50% dextrose, which is more viscous than urine, as the distension medium during cystoscopy so that the ureteric efflux is seen as a jet of contrasting viscosity. We instilled 100 mL of 50% dextrose into the bladder through an indwelling catheter, which is then removed and cystoscopy is performed as usual. EXPERIENCE: We observed jets of contrasting viscosity in every patient in whom 50% dextrose was used as compared with coloring agents in which the jet is not always colored at the time of cystoscopy. Visualization of the other structures in the bladder and the bladder wall itself is not altered by 50% dextrose, although the volume of 50% dextrose that we typically use may not provide adequate distension for a complete assessment of the bladder. If additional distension is necessary, normal saline may be used in addition to the 50% dextrose once the ureteric jets have been assessed. CONCLUSION: Fifty percent dextrose is an effective alternative to indigotindisulfonate sodium for visualization of ureteric jets during cystoscopy.

The Relationship between Tests of Neurocognition and Performance on a Laparoscopic Simulator.

Objective. To estimate if there is a relationship between the results of tests of neurocognition and performance on a laparoscopic surgery simulator. Methods and Materials. Twenty participants with no prior laparoscopic experience had baseline cognitive tests administered (Trail Making Test, Part A and B (TMT-A and TMT-B), Grooved Peg Board Test, Symbol Digit Modalities Test, Symbol Digit Recall Test, and Stroop Interference Test), completed a demographic questionnaire, and then performed laparoscopy using a simulator. We correlated the results of cognitive tests with laparoscopic surgical performance. Results. One cognitive test sensitive to frontal lobe function, TMT-A, significantly correlated with laparoscopic surgical performance on the simulator (correlation coefficient of 0.534 with P < .05). However, the correlation between performance and other cognitive tests (TMT-B, Grooved Peg Board Test, Symbol Digit Modalities Test, Symbol Digit Recall Test, and Stroop Interference Test) was not statistically significant. Conclusion. Laparoscopic performance may be related to measures of frontal lobe function. Neurocognitive tests may predict motor skills abilities and performance on laparoscopic simulator.