Neuromuscular end-point predictive capability of published rocuronium pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic models: An observational trial.

BACKGROUND: Objective neuromuscular monitoring remains the single most reliable method to ensure optimal perioperative neuromuscular management. Nevertheless, the prediction of clinical neuromuscular endpoints by means of Pharmacokinetic (PK) and Pharmacodynamic (PD) modelling has the potential to complement monitoring and improve perioperative neuromuscular management.s STUDY OBJECTIVE: The present study aims to assess the performance of published Rocuronium PK/PD models in predicting intraoperative Train-of-four (TOF) ratios when benchmarked against electromyographic TOF measurements. DESIGN: Observational trial. SETTING: Tertiary Belgian hospital, from August 2020 up to September 2021. PATIENTS AND INTERVENTIONS: Seventy-four patients undergoing general anaesthesia for elective surgery requiring the administration of rocuronium and subject to continuous EMG neuromuscular monitoring were included. PK/PD-simulated TOF ratios were plotted and synchronised with their measured electromyographic counterparts and their differences analysed by means of Predictive Error derivatives (Varvel criteria). MAIN RESULTS: Published rocuronium PK/PD models overestimated clinically registered TOF ratios. The models of Wierda, Szenohradszky, Cooper, Alvarez-Gomez and McCoy showed significant predictive consistency between themselves, displaying Median Absolute Performance Errors between 38% and 41%, and intra-individual differences (Wobble) between 14 and 15%. The Kleijn model outperformed the former with a lower Median Absolute Performance Error (16%, 95%CI [0.01; 57]) and Wobble (11%, 95%CI [0.01; 34]). All models displayed considerably wide 95% confidence intervals for all performance metrics, suggesting a significantly variable performance. CONCLUSIONS: Simulated TOF ratios based on published PK/PD models do not accurately predict real intraoperative TOF ratio dynamics. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT04518761 (clinicaltrials.gov), registered on 19 August 2020.

Assessment of Retinal Pigment Epithelium Alterations and Chorioretinal Vascular Network Analyses in Patients under Treatment with BRAF/MEK Inhibitor for Different Malignancies: A Pilot Study.

In the last two decades, an increasing number of so-called molecular-targeted therapies have become available for the treatment of patients with advanced malignancies. These drugs have included inhibitors of proteins in the MAPK pathway, such as BRAF and MEK inhibitors, which are characterized by a distinct toxicity profile. The eye is particularly susceptible to adverse effects due to MEK inhibitors, and the term MEKAR (MEK-inhibitor-associated retinopathy) indicates the presence of subretinal fluid, mimicking central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC). The pathogenesis of the retinal alterations related to MAPK pathway inhibitors is still unclear, and questions are still open. The present study aims to assess the presence of retinal pigment epithelium alterations as predictive parameters for retinal toxicity, analyzing, at the same time, the chorioretinal vascular network in patients undergoing BRAF/MEK inhibitor treatment for different malignancies.

Traumatic brain injury hospitalizations in Belgium: A brief overview of incidence, population characteristics, and outcomes.

Background: There is a need for complete and accurate epidemiological studies for traumatic brain injury (TBI). Secondary use of administrative data can provide country-specific population data across the full spectrum of disease. Aim: This study aims to provide a population-based overview of Belgian TBI hospital admissions as well as their health-related and employment outcomes. Methods: A combined administrative dataset with deterministic linkage at individual level was used to assess all TBI hospitalizations in Belgium during the year 2016. Discharge data were used for patient selection and description of injuries. Claims data represented the health services used by the patient and health-related follow-up beyond hospitalization. Finally, social security data gave insight in changes to employment situation. Results: A total of 17,086 patients with TBI were identified, with falls as the predominant cause of injury. Diffuse intracranial injury was the most common type of TBI and 53% had injuries to other body regions as well. In-hospital mortality was 6%. The median length of hospital stay was 2 days, with 20% being admitted to intensive care and 28% undergoing surgery. After hospitalization, 23% had inpatient rehabilitation. Among adults in the labor force pre-injury, 72% of patients with mild TBI and 59% with moderate-to-severe TBI returned to work within 1 year post-injury. Discussion: Administrative data are a valuable resource for population research. Some limitations need to be considered, however, which can in part be overcome by enrichment of administrative datasets with other data sources such as from trauma registries.

Randomized Trial Comparing Burr Hole Craniostomy, Minicraniotomy, and Twist Drill Craniostomy for Treatment of Chronic Subdural Hematoma.

BACKGROUND: The mainstay of treatment for symptomatic or large chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH) is surgery, but controversy still exists regarding the best surgical technique. Three different techniques are commonly used: burr hole craniostomy (BHC), minicraniotomy (MC), and twist drill craniostomy (TDC). OBJECTIVE: To determine which surgical technique for drainage of CSDH offers best results. METHODS: We set up a multicenter prospective randomized trial (Comparison of Chronic Subdural Hematoma Treatment [COMPACT] trial) comparing BHC, MC, and TDC for the surgical treatment of CSDH. The primary end point was reoperation rate, and secondary end points included complication rates and clinical outcome. Patients were considered to have good outcome when they did not undergo reoperation, suffered no surgical or medical complication, and had no related mortality. Clinical outcome was also evaluated by evolution of the Markwalder score and the modified Rankin score. RESULTS: Two-hundred forty-five patients were included in the final analysis: 79 BHC, 84 MC, and 82 TDC. Mean duration of surgery was shorter for TDC than for BHC and MC ( P < .001). Reoperation rate was 7.6% for BHC, 13.1% for MC, and 19.5% for TDC ( P = .07). This trend toward better results for BHC was not statistically significant in logistic regression analysis. The proportion of patients with good outcome was 78.5% for BHC group, 76.2% for MC, and 69.5% for TDC ( P = .4). Evolution of the Markwalder score and modified Rankin score were not significantly different between treatment groups. CONCLUSION: All 3 techniques are effective at treating patients with CSDH with eventual 6-month outcome being similar. Although not reaching statistical significance in our study, BHC offers the lowest recurrence rate combined with manageable complication rate.

Assessing Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes in Breast Cancer: A Proposal for Combining Immunohistochemistry and Gene Expression Analysis to Refine Scoring.

Scoring of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in breast cancer specimens has gained increasing attention, as TILs have prognostic and predictive value in HER2+ and triple-negative breast cancer. We evaluated the intra- and interrater variability when scoring TILs by visual inspection of hematoxylin and eosin-stained tissue sections. We further addressed whether immunohistochemical staining of these sections for immune cell surface markers CD45, CD3, CD4, and CD8 and combination with nanoString nCounter® gene expression analysis could refine TIL scoring. Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded and fresh-frozen core needle biopsies of 12 female and treatment-naive breast cancer patients were included. Scoring of TILs was performed twice by three independent pathologists with a washout period of 3 days. Increasing intra- and interrater variability was observed with higher TIL numbers. The highest reproducibility was observed on tissue sections stained for CD3 and CD8. The latter TIL scores correlated well with the TIL scores obtained through nanoString nCounter® gene expression analysis. Gene expression analysis also revealed 104 and 62 genes that are positively and negatively related to both TIL scores. In conclusion, integration of immunohistochemistry and gene expression analysis is a valuable strategy to refine TIL scoring in breast tumors.

Evolution of head-shaft angle and neck-shaft angle in childhood.

The current retrospective study investigates the natural evolution of head-shaft angle (HSA) and neck-shaft angle (NSA) in childhood. It is not known if a high HSA in early childhood leads to a high HSA in adulthood. This study aims to characterize the evolution of HSA and compares it with the more commonly known NSA in healthy children. We measured radiographs of 84 different healthy hips of children between 3 and 14.5 years old who underwent at least 2 radiographs of the pelvis, corresponding to 286 measurements. We used a linear mixed model to determine the covariance between random intercept and slope while allowing each individual hip to change over time. The covariance for HSA between random intercept and random slope was -4.262 (p < 0.001), corresponding to a high negative correlation of -0.717, for NSA -2.754 (p = 0.031) or a high negative correlation of -0.779. HSA and NSA were strongly correlated, a value of 0.736 (p < 0.001) was measured. The high negative correlation for random intercept and random slope means that the higher the initial value (intercept), the steeper the decline (slope). Therefore HSA decreases faster in hips with high HSA at an early age. Hips with high HSA in early childhood do not necessarily lead to hips with high HSA in adulthood. Our results may aid in future clinical decision making in patients with developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) with high HSA in particular.

Functional impairment, symptom severity, and overall quality of life in patients with advanced lung or colorectal cancer in six European countries: baseline findings from the ACTION study.

BACKGROUND: People with advanced cancer often suffer from various symptoms, which can arise from the cancer itself and its treatment, the illness experience, and/or co-morbid conditions. Important patient-reported outcomes such as functional status, symptom severity, and quality of life (QoL) might differ between countries, as countries vary with regard to contextual factors such as their healthcare system. PURPOSE: To assess self-reported emotional functioning, physical functioning, symptoms, and overall QoL in patients with advanced lung or colorectal cancer from six European countries, particularly in relation to their country of residence. METHODS: We used baseline patient data from the ACTION trial, including socio-demographic and clinical data as well as patient-reported data regarding functioning, symptoms, and overall QoL (EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL). RESULTS: Data from 1117 patients (55% lung cancer stage III/IV, 45% colorectal cancer stage IV) were used. The highest (worst) average symptom score was found for fatigue. We found similarities but also important differences in the outcomes across countries. The best scores (the highest for emotional functioning and QoL, the lowest for symptoms) were reported by Dutch and Danish patients. Belgian patients reported relatively low emotional functioning. CONCLUSION: The optimization of functioning, symptom relief, and overall QoL should be important objectives of healthcare professionals who take care of patients with advanced cancer. There are similarities, but also substantial differences across countries in functional status, symptoms, and overall QoL. Policymakers should take these differences into account and invest in offering health care catered to the needs of their population.

The mediating effect of pain catastrophizing and perceived injustice in the relationship of pain on health-related quality of life in breast cancer survivors.

BACKGROUND: The importance of cognitive appraisals in the effectiveness of pain coping is well established. Two key variables in these appraisal processes are pain catastrophizing (PC) and perceived injustice (PI), which are known to increase the risk of long-term disability and aggravate the pain-related distress through maladaptive behavioral responses. However, to date, the mediating effects of these appraisals have not been examined concurrently in the breast cancer survivor (BCS) population, nor have they been related to health-related quality of life (HRQoL). METHODS: Using cross-sectional data from 110 BCS, structural path analyses were used to examine the mediating effects of PC and PI in the relationship of pain on the HRQoL in BCS. RESULTS: Results demonstrated a significant direct effect of pain and PI on HRQoL combined with a significant indirect effect through PI, but not through PC. An increase in pain is suggested to result in a decrease in quality of life. On the other hand, an increase in pain also is suggested to increase the PI. A similar relation with PC was not retained as significant. CONCLUSION: The relative salience of PI as a mediator of HRQoL underscores the fact that PI is not only understudied but also underappreciated and undertreated in the BCS population. The results of our study warrant replication across longitudinal studies but continue to expand upon the evidence of the multifactorial nature of pain coping in BCS.

Corpus luteum score, a simple Doppler examination to prognose early pregnancies.

OBJECTIVES: In early pregnancies, miscarriages and inconclusive ultrasound scans considering location and viability are very common. In several previous studies, serum progesterone levels predicted viability of pregnancy and, in recent ones, failed Pregnancies of Unknown Location (PUL), completion of miscarriage and complications. Corpus luteum, secreting progesterone in early pregnancy, was less studied. Some publications showed correlations between corpus luteum aspects and diagnosis of miscarriage but it was not evaluated for other outcomes in early pregnancy, such as failed PUL, completion of miscarriage or complications. We aimed to assess if Doppler examination of corpus luteum could also predict all these outcomes: failed PUL, diagnosis and completion of miscarriages and complications. STUDY DESIGN: A single operator prospectively described and/or collected pictures of Doppler signal in the wall of the corpus luteum at most consultations in our early pregnancy unit and established a three-level score. All suspected or confirmed non-viable pregnancies with this score or/and serum progesterone levels were registered retrospectively. With logistic regressions, AIC/BIC, likelihood ratios, ROC curves, Mann-Whitney and Fisher exact tests, we evaluated the ability of the score, alone, to predict failed PUL, diagnosis and completion of miscarriages and the complications, and, combined, to improve previously published predictions. RESULTS: From 277 included pregnancies, 186 (67.1 %) miscarried. Of these, 159/186 (85.5 %) fully evacuated without surgery: 114/186 (61.3 %) within 20 days after the first diagnosis and 45/186 (24.2 %) after more than 20 days. Twenty-seven patients (14.5 %) underwent surgical evacuation, including ten complications, five haemorrhages and five suspected infections. Logistic regression correlated strongly the corpus luteum score with failed PUL (p < 0.0001) and miscarriages (p < 0.0001). Moreover, rates of complications and swift non-surgical completions of miscarriage were respectively 0 % and 92 % with scores of 0, versus 6 % and 44 % with scores of 1, versus 16 % and 0 % with scores of 2. Combined with serum progesterone levels, this score improved most predictions. Adding parity or history of miscarriage in predictive models even increased these performances. CONCLUSIONS: Corpus luteum score, alone, can predict failed PUL, diagnosis and completion of miscarriages and their complications. Combining this score with other factors (mainly serum progesterone levels) improves most predictions.

Hyperprolactinemia in Acromegaly is Related to Prolactin Secretion by Somatolactotroph Tumours.

The aim of this study is to assess differences in patient characteristics, tumour characteristics and hormone levels between acromegalic patients with and without hyperprolactinemia. 44 patients of the University Hospital of Brussels, Belgium with acromegaly who were diagnosed between January 2007 and July 2018 were included in this study. Nineteen patients were classified in the hyperprolactinemia group and 25 patients were classified in the normoprolactinemia group. No significant differences between acromegalic patients with and without hyperprolactinemia were found in age at diagnosis, gender, presence of hyperprolactinemia symptoms, insulin-like growth factor 1, growth hormone and testosterone levels, tumour volume, tumour invasiveness, immunohistochemistry of growth hormone and prolactin, Ki-67 index and mitotic index. However, for a cut-off of 10% of prolactin-positive cells, there was a trend towards a higher percentage of prolactin-positive tumours in hyperprolactinemia patients (p=0.054) and higher mean prolactin level in case of positive prolactin immunostaining (p=0.007)). In our study there were no differences in characteristics between acromegaly patients with hyper- and normoprolactinemia. An association between the serum prolactin level and the positivity of prolactin immunohistochemistry of the adenoma tissue was found. The absence of a difference in tumour volume between patients with hyper- and normoprolactinemia suggests that the hyperprolactinemia is likely to be caused by the co-secretion of growth hormone and prolactin by the tumour. Finally, for the first time, the cut-off of 10% of prolactin cells was validated for the diagnosis of somatolactotroph tumours in acromegaly.

Hemodialysis Does Not Induce Detectable Activation of the Contact System of Coagulation.

INTRODUCTION: Systemic anticoagulation is administered during hemodialysis to prevent clotting of the extracorporeal circuit. The role of contact system activation in thrombin generation during hemodialysis using current era dialyzer membranes is unknown. METHODS: We performed a single-center randomized crossover study. Ten patients treated with hemodialysis underwent 3 standardized hemodialysis sessions. For every patient, each session was performed with a different type of dialyzer membrane (polyphenylene [PP], polymethylmetacrylate [PMMA], polyethylenimine-coated polyacrylonitrile [AN69ST]). Blood samples were collected before and 5, 15, 30, 90, and 240 minutes after blood pump start to evaluate coagulation activation (thrombin-antithrombin complex [TAT], prothrombin fragment 1+2 [PF1+2], activated factor XII [FXIIa], kallikrein, activated factor XI [FXIa]). Plasma of healthy volunteers (n = 20) was used as a reference. RESULTS: Baseline TAT and PF1+2 levels were higher in hemodialysis patients compared to healthy controls (median [interquartile range] for TAT: 3.3 [2.9-4.2] vs. 2.4 [2.3-2.5] µg/l [P = 0.0002] and for PF1+2: 647 [478-737] vs. 138 [125-254] pmol/l [P < 0.0002]). Despite the use of systemic anticoagulation, TAT further increased during treatment, with the increase starting after 30 minutes (median TAT at t240: 9.0 µg/l (PP), 5.5 µg/l (PMMA), and 7.2 µg/l (AN69ST), all P < 0.05 vs. baseline). Contact system markers FXIIa and kallikrein did not differ significantly between dialysis patients and healthy controls, whereas baseline FXIa levels were significantly lower in dialysis patients compared to healthy controls (P = 0.001). Levels of all contact system markers remained unchanged during hemodialysis with all types of dialyzer membranes. CONCLUSION: Routine hemodialysis using systemic heparin anticoagulation induces coagulation activation without measurable contact system activation.

Is ovarian response associated with adverse perinatal outcomes in GnRH antagonist IVF/ICSI cycles?

RESEARCH QUESTION: Is there an association between ovarian response and perinatal outcomes? DESIGN: A retrospective, single-centre cohort study including all women undergoing their first ovarian stimulation cycle in a gonadotrophin releasing hormone antagonist protocol, with a fresh embryo transfer that resulted in a singleton live birth from January 2009 to December 2015. Patients were categorized into four groups according to the number of oocytes retrieved: one to three (category 1), four to nine (category 2), 10-15 (category 3), or over 15 oocytes (category 4). RESULTS: The overall number of patients analysed was 964. No relevant statistical difference was found among neonatal outcomes across the four ovarian response categories. Neonatal weight (in grams) was comparable between all groups (3222 ± 607 versus 3254 ± 537 versus 3235 ± 575 versus 3200 ± 622; P = 0.85, in categories 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively). No statistically significant differences were found among the ovarian response categories for birth weight z-scores (taking into account neonatal sex and delivery term). The incidence of pre-term birth and low birth weight was comparable across the different ovarian response groups (P = 0.127 and P = 0.19, respectively). Finally, the occurrence of adverse obstetric outcomes did not differ among the ovarian response categories. Multivariate regression analysis revealed that the number of oocytes was not associated with neonatal birth weight. CONCLUSIONS: No association was found between ovarian response and adverse perinatal outcomes in antagonist IVF and intracytoplasmic sperm injection cycles. Future, larger scale and prospectively designed investigations are needed to validate these results.

Vascular access type and mortality in haemodialysis: a retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Haemodialysis patients have a high mortality rate. Part of this can be attributed to vascular access complications. Large retrospective studies have shown a higher mortality in patients dialysed with a catheter, which is mostly ascribed to infectious complications. Since we observe very little infectious complications in our haemodialysis patients, the aim of our study was to assess if we could still detect a difference in survival according to vascular access type. METHODS: Patients that started chronic haemodialysis treatment between 1/1/2007 and 31/12/2016 at the 'Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel' were retrospectively studied. The time to death was studied as a function of the two main vascular access types using survival analysis, considering the type of vascular access at the initiation of dialysis or as time varying, and accounting for the available baseline characteristics. RESULTS: Of 374 patients 309 (82.6%) initiated haemodialysis with a catheter, while 65 patients initiated with an arteriovenous access. Vascular access type during follow-up did not change in 74% of all patients. A Kaplan Meier plot did not suggest a survival dependent on the vascular access type at start. An extended cox proportional hazard analysis showed that vascular access type was not independently correlated with mortality. However, age, history of congestive heart failure and active cancer at initiation of dialysis were independently associated with mortality. CONCLUSIONS: In this retrospective cohort study, haemodialysis vascular access type was not independently correlated with patient survival, even after taking into account change of vascular access over time.

Serum progesterone levels could predict diagnosis, completion and complications of miscarriage.

BACKGROUND: Low serum progesterone levels were strongly correlated with miscarriages in several publications and with completion of miscarriage in one paper. This study evaluated several parameters, predominantly serum progesterone, as predictors for miscarriages, their swift non-surgical completion and their complications. BASIC PROCEDURES: Suspected or confirmed non-viable pregnancies with available concomitant serum progesterone measurements were retrospectively reviewed. The performance of serum progesterone, either alone or combined with other parameters, to predict viability, surgical removal and delay of non-surgical evacuation of non-viable pregnancy and complications, was analysed by logistic regression combined with Akaike and Bayesian information criteria, likelihood, receiver operated characteristic (ROC) curves, Mann-Whitney test and Fisher's exact test. MAIN FINDINGS: From 151 included pregnancies, 104 (68.9 %) were non-viable with 91 completions of miscarriage without surgery. The probability of viability was correlated linearly and curvilinearly with serum progesterone (p < 0.001). The probability of surgical removal, and the delay before non-surgical evacuation, showed a linear relationship with progesterone. No complication occurred when progesterone levels remained below 10 µg/L, while its rates were 9.5 % of non-viable pregnancies with progesterone levels between 10 and 20 µg/L and 26.7 % of cases with progesterone levels above 20 µg/L. Combined with progesterone, either "parity" or "history of miscarriage" improved the prediction of viability, "history of supra-isthmic uterine surgery" improved the prediction of surgery and "history of miscarriage" improved the prediction of delayed non-surgical evacuations. CONCLUSION: Serum progesterone can probably predict the odds of miscarriages, surgical removal, delayed non-surgical evacuation and complications, with potential improvements when different predictors are combined.

Evidence of Tissue Repair in Human Donor Pancreas After Prolonged Duration of Stay in Intensive Care.

M2 macrophages play an important role in tissue repair and regeneration. They have also been found to modulate ß-cell replication in mouse models of pancreatic injury and disease. We previously reported that ß-cell replication is strongly increased in a subgroup of human organ donors characterized by prolonged duration of stay in an intensive care unit (ICU) and increased number of leukocytes in the pancreatic tissue. In the present study we investigated the relationship between duration of stay in the ICU, M2 macrophages, vascularization, and pancreatic cell replication. Pancreatic organs from 50 donors without diabetes with different durations of stay in the ICU were analyzed by immunostaining and digital image analysis. The number of CD68+CD206+ M2 macrophages increased three- to sixfold from ≥6 days' duration of stay in the ICU onwards. This was accompanied by a threefold increased vascular density and a four- to ninefold increase in pancreatic cells positive for the replication marker Ki67. A strong correlation was observed between the number of M2 macrophages and ß-cell replication. These results show that a prolonged duration of stay in the ICU is associated with an increased M2 macrophage number, increased vascular density, and an overall increase in replication of all pancreatic cell types. Our data show evidence of marked levels of tissue repair in the human donor pancreas.

Value of Relative Myocardial Perfusion at MRI for Fractional Flow Reserve-Defined Ischemia: A Pilot Study.

OBJECTIVE. Correcting the perfusion in areas distal to coronary stenosis (risk) according to that of normal (remote) areas defines the relative myocardial perfusion index, which is similar to the fractional flow reserve (FFR) concept. The aim of this study was to assess the value of relative myocardial perfusion by MRI in predicting lesion-specific inducible ischemia as defined by FFR. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Forty-six patients (33 men and 13 women; mean [± SD] age, 61 ± 9 years) who underwent adenosine perfusion MRI and FFR measurement distal to 49 coronary artery stenoses during coronary angiography were retrospectively evaluated. Subendocardial time-enhancement maximal upslopes, normalized by the respective left ventricle cavity upslopes, were obtained in risk and remote subendocardium during adenosine and rest MRI perfusion and were correlated to the FFR values. RESULTS. The mean FFR value was 0.84 ± 0.09 (range, 0.60-0.98) and was less than or equal to 0.80 in 31% of stenoses (n = 15). The relative subendocardial perfusion index (risk-to-remote upslopes) during hyperemia showed better correlations with the FFR value (r = 0.59) than the uncorrected risk perfusion parameters (i.e., both the upslope during hyperemia and the perfusion reserve index [stress-to-rest upslopes]; r = 0.27 and 0.29, respectively). A cutoff value of 0.84 of the relative subendocardial perfusion index had an ROC AUC of 0.88 to predict stenosis at an FFR of less than or equal to 0.80. CONCLUSION. Using adenosine perfusion MRI, the relative myocardial perfusion index enabled the best prediction of FFR-defined lesion-specific myocardial ischemia. This index could be used to noninvasively determine the need for revascularization of known coronary stenoses.

Selective Suprascapular and Axillary Nerve Block Versus Interscalene Plexus Block for Pain Control After Arthroscopic Shoulder Surgery: A Noninferiority Randomized Parallel-Controlled Clinical Trial.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: This randomized trial aimed to assess if a combined suprascapular-axillary nerve block (SSB) is noninferior (margin = 1.3 on a 0- to 10-point scale) to interscalene block (ISB) in treating pain after arthroscopic shoulder surgery. Secondary end points included opioid consumption, dyspnea, discomfort associated with muscle weakness, and patient satisfaction. METHODS: One hundred patients undergoing arthroscopic shoulder surgery were randomized to receive ultrasound-guided ISB (n = 50) or SSB (n = 50). Pain intensity at rest, dyspnea, and discomfort were recorded upon arrival in the recovery room, discharge to the ward, and at 4, 8, and 24 hours after surgery. Piritramide consumption was recorded for the first 24 hours. Patient satisfaction was assessed on the second postoperative day. RESULTS: During the first 4 hours after surgery, the difference in mean pain score between SSB and ISB was higher than 2.5 (±0.8). The difference gradually decreased to 1.1 (±1.0) at 8 hours before resulting in noninferiority during the night and at 24 hours. Piritramide consumption was significantly higher in the SSB group in the first 8 hours. The incidence of dyspnea and discomfort was higher after ISB. Treatment satisfaction was similar in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: Suprascapular-axillary nerve block is inferior to ISB in terms of analgesia and opioid requirement in the immediate period after arthroscopic shoulder surgery but is associated with a lower incidence of dyspnea and discomfort. The difference in pain and opioid consumption gradually decreases as the blocks wear off in order to reach similar pain scores during the first postoperative night and at 24 hours. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier NCT02415088.