Effect of Guided Imagery on Patient Comfort, Vital Signs, Pain, Anxiety, and Satisfaction in Cancer Patients Undergoing Port Catheterization With Local Anesthesia: A Prospective Randomized Controlled Study.

BACKGROUND: Port catheter placement is usually an operation performed under local anesthesia. Being conscious during the interventions performed with local anesthesia can lead to anxiety and stress. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of guided imagery performed before and during the procedure on vital signs and comfort, pain, anxiety, and satisfaction levels in patients with cancer undergoing port catheterization with local anesthesia. METHODS: A total of 80 patients were included in the study. Patients in the intervention group received standard treatment and nursing care, as well as a guided imagery intervention once before and once during the procedure. Patients in the control group received only standard treatment and nursing care. RESULTS: Patients in the guided imagery group reported lower pain and anxiety scores, higher patient satisfaction, and increased comfort compared with patients in the control group. Patients in the guided imagery group showed significantly lower respiratory rate and heart rate than the control group by the end of the procedure. There was no significant difference in blood pressure. CONCLUSION: Practicing guided imagery before and during a procedure performed under local anesthesia reduced cancer patients' pain, increased patient satisfaction and comfort, and had a positive effect on their respiratory and heart rates. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: We recommend guided imagery as a practical, low-cost complementary therapy for patients receiving local anesthesia.

Evaluation of cross-bar and parallel-bar techniques in MIRPE surgery in different countries: a multicenter study.

Parallel- and cross-bar techniques are surgical methods used in the pectus excavatum. While the parallel bar is used in many centers, the cross bar is a new technique. The aim of the study is to evaluate the data of centers using cross bar and parallel bar. The aim of this multicenter study is to retrospectively evaluate the data of centers have been using both cross-bar and parallel-bar techniques. 213 parallel bars and 205 cross bars were used. Parallel-bar advantages: the mean patient satisfaction score was 9.40 ± 0.95. Cross-bar advantages: the rate of patients with symmetric deformity was 75.6%, recurrence 0.5%. The mean patient satisfaction score was 9.40 ± 0.95 in operations performed with the parallel-bar technique and 9.13 ± 1.11 in operations performed with the cross-bar technique (p < 0.05). Recurrence was observed in 3.3% of patients undergoing surgery using the parallel-bar technique and 0.5% of patients undergoing surgery using the cross-bar technique (p < 0.04). The cross-bar technique is more advantageous in terms of the recurrence, while second, the parallel-bar technique is associated with greater patient satisfaction. Comparison of data from different countries reveals the differences between patients who have been treated with minimally invasive repair of pectus excavatum and the outcomes of surgery.

Atypical Presentation of a Primary Thymic Adenocarcinoma.

Primary thymic adenocarcinomas are extremely rare and aggressive tumours. In this report, clinical and histopathological findings of this rare entity as well as its treatment approaches are presented. A 55-year man was operated for anterior mediastinal mass. Histopathological examination revealed primary thymic adenocarcinoma. No other tumour focus was found in clinical, radiological, and endoscopic examinations. Due to the capsular invasion, adjuvant mediastinal radiotherapy was applied. In the process of monitoring, brain metastases developed. Stereotactic radiosurgery and chemotherapy were applied. All the lesions are under control at 28 months postoperatively. Complete surgical resection of the tumour is the most important factor. Adjuvant radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy as well as local therapies for metastases (surgical therapy or stereotactic radiosurgery) are seen as approaches to improve survival. Key Words: Adenocarcinoma, Metastasis, Stereotactic radiosurgery, Thymus.

Pushing the boundaries of minimally invasive repair of pectus excavatum: first experience with a 4-bar technique.

Several modifications to minimally invasive repair of pectus excavatum have been reported to date. Of these, the use of multiple bars was a major development. At present, there are 2 established techniques: cross-bar and parallel bar placement. We used a combination of both parallel and cross-bar techniques in a 25-year-old male patient with deep, Grand-Canyon type pectus excavatum, placing a total of 4 bars and 4 stabilizers. The patient had no complications during the 7 months of postoperative follow-up. We share this case report as the first experience using this modified technique in the literature.

Comparison of Three Different Surgical Techniques in Patients Undergoing VATS and Open Thoracotomy.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to determine the impact of surgical approach on postoperative recovery, quality of life, and satisfaction level in patients undergoing uniportal or multiportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) or open thoracotomy. DESIGN: This prospective study included patients who underwent open thoracotomy, uniportal VATS, or multiportal VATS in a tertiary Hospital between January 1, 2019 and May 1, 2021. METHODS: Recovery was evaluated at postoperative 24th, 48th, and 72nd hours, and 1 month using the Postoperative Recovery Index (PoRI); quality of life was evaluated using the Short Form 36 (SF-36) at postoperative 1 month; and patient satisfaction\was assessed with visual analog scale (VAS) at postoperative 72nd hours and at 1 month. FINDINGS: Of 215 patients screened, 163 patients met the inclusion criteria. Women had higher PoRI values than men at postoperative 24th, 48th, and 72nd hours. Open thoracotomy was associated with higher PoRI values, lower SF-36 scores (except social functioning), and lower satisfaction at postoperative 72nd hours compared to VATS. Patients in the uniportal and multiportal VATS groups had similar postoperative recovery, satisfaction, and quality of life outcomes. Satisfaction was similar in all groups at 1 month. CONCLUSIONS: Both uniportal and multiportal VATS were superior to open thoracotomy in terms of postoperative recovery, quality of life, and patient satisfaction. Long-term studies with larger patient populations comparing uniport and multiport VATS are needed.

A non-surgical option in large bronchopleural fistulas: Bronchoscopic conical stent application.

BACKGROUND: This study aims to compare the results of the open surgical approach versus endobronchial conical stent application in the treatment of extensive fistulas. METHODS: Between December 2004 and April 2016, a total of 36 patients (34 males, 2 females; mean age 59.6±8.1 years; range, 40 to 72 years) with a bronchopleural fistula of ≥8 mm in diameter and underwent either conventional open surgery with stump-supported intercostal muscle flap or endobronchial ultra-flex expandable stenting were retrospectively analyzed. The demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients, operative data including the length of hospital stay, thoracic drainage time, and early mortality, and survival data were recorded. RESULTS: The mean hospitalization time was 17.4±4.5 days for the bronchoscopic group and 22.5±6.7 days for the invasive surgery group (p=0.026). The median time to removal of thoracic drains was 15 (range, 10 to 30) days for the bronchoscopic group and 26 (range, 14 to 55) days for the surgical group (p=0.027). Early mortality rates of both approaches were in favor of the bronchoscopic approach (χ2=7.058; p=0.008). Two-year survival rate was 76.47% (n=13) in the bronchoscopic group and 70% (n=7) in the surgical group. There was no statistically significant difference in the survival rates between the two groups (χ2=0.132; p=0.716). CONCLUSION: Our study results suggest that bronchoscopic approach can be the first choice in the treatment algorithm of fistulas with a diameter of ≥8 mm presenting with empyema in selected cases.

Do oral amino acid supplements facilitate the healing of rat lung injuries?

OBJECTIVES: Prolonged air leaks following lung injury cause extended hospital stays. This study investigated the effect of nutritional supplements containing arginine, glutamine and ß-hydroxy ß-methyl butyrate, which were theoretically proven to accelerate wound healing, on air leak and wound healing parameters in a rat lung injury model. METHODS: Twenty-eight female rats were randomly divided into 4 groups. Experimental groups were given glutamine (Resource Glutamine®) or a mixture of arginine, glutamine and ß-hydroxy ß-methyl butyrate (Abound®) as a dietary supplement at isonitrogenous and isocaloric doses. On day 3, standard sized lung injuries were created in all rats except the sham group. The rats were sacrificed on day 6, and the lungs were removed for air-leak threshold pressure measurement and histopathological and biochemical analyses. RESULTS: Loss of body mass was greater in the glutamine group than in the other groups (P = 0.004). Rats that received the amino acid mixture had better results for mature collagen fibre density (P = 0.002) and inflammation suppression (P = 0.003). The sham group had higher values for air-leak threshold pressure and all other histochemical parameters compared to the other groups. Hydroxyproline level did not differ significantly in any of the groups. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicated that an oral amino acid mixture was effective in the healing of lung injuries. Isolated glutamine supplementation had an adverse impact on body mass. Randomized clinical studies including larger series are needed. Hydroxyproline does not seem to be a suitable marker for this purpose.

Despite the Effects of Tension and Intraluminal Pressure, Which Suture Technique Is the Most Appropriate for Prevention of Air Leakage or Anastomotic Dehiscence in Tracheal Anastomoses in the Short Term? An Experimental Research on Ex Vivo Model.

PURPOSE: We performed an experimental study comparing different suture techniques in trachea anastomoses using the ex vivo sheep model, which deals with the parameters that suture tension, air leakage, intraluminal pressure, and tension at which the anastomosis will rupture. We aimed to find an answer to "Which suture technique should be used in tracheal anastomoses?" METHODS: In all, 45 sheep tracheas were randomly divided into three groups (each n = 15) differing in suture technique for anastomoses: single stitches, mixed, and continuous suture. The anastomoses were evaluated for air leakage under normal (25 mbar) and high (70 mbar) intraluminal pressures without tension. Then, air leakage was followed under high intraluminal pressure with tensile stress. Tension levels of dehiscence were also recorded. Data were statistically evaluated. RESULTS: No air leakage was observed at 25 mbar intraluminal pressure. At 70 mbar pressure without tension, no statistically significant difference was found among the groups (p >0.05). However, single-stitch technique was the best in terms of air leakage tension and rupture tension levels (p <0.05). CONCLUSION: The most reliable and advantageous is single-stitch technique for a tracheal anastomosis in short-term results. Further studies are needed to analyze longer ventilation periods in terms of other serious complications as ischemic dehiscence and stenosis.

The benefits of early rib fixation for clinical outcomes of flail chest patients in intensive care unit.

BACKGROUND: In the present study, we aimed to compare clinical results of conservative and surgical stabilization approaches and to investigate the effect of early reduction in patients with a flail chest. METHODS: Between March 2013 and December 2017, 34 patients (23 males, 11 females; mean age 43.7±12.1 years; range, 20 to 74 years) with a flail chest who underwent early rib fixation were included in the surgical group and 29 patients with a flail chest (19 males, 10 females; mean age: 45.7±15.8 years; range, 24 to 74 years) who were followed with the conservative approach were included in the conservative treatment group between February 2012 and December 2017. We applied early rib reduction on the first or the next day (within 24 to 36 h) of trauma. The length of hospitalization, the presence of pneumonia and septic complications in the postoperative period, mortality, mechanical ventilation duration, tracheostomy rate, respiratory function test results, and pain scores were recorded and compared between the groups. RESULTS: The length of stay in the hospital and intensive care unit, and duration of mechanical ventilation were statistically significantly higher in the conservative treatment group than the surgery group (p<0.001, p<0.001, and p<0.001, respectively). None of the patients required tracheostomy in the surgical group, while five patients required tracheostomy in the conservative treatment group (p=0.004). Mortality rates were 2.94% and 20.69% in the surgery and conservative treatment groups, respectively (p=0.027). Pain scores were statistically significantly different in favor of the surgical group compared to the conservative treatment group (p=0.0038 and p=0.044, respectively). CONCLUSION: The results of our study show that early fixation and weaning reduce the need for mechanical ventilation, length of hospitalization, the need for tracheostomy, and mortality rates. This approach also provides a significant improvement in the long-term pain complaints and pulmonary function tests of patients with a flail chest.

A new method of tracheoesophageal fistula treatment: Using an atrial septal defect occluder device for closure-The first Turkish experience.

OBJECTIVE: One of the techniques used in the treatment of tracheoesophageal fistula is applying the umbrella catheter, designed for closure of atrial septal defects, in this region. In the literature, we have encountered only 9 case reports in this regard. We shared a successfully closed tracheoesophageal fistula case with this technique. CASE: A tracheoesophageal fistula in a 47-year-old male patient was successfully closed with an atrial septal defect occluder device. The patient died on the 42nd day after the procedure with no atrial septal defect occluder device-related problems. CONCLUSION: Using of atrial septal defect occluder device may be an appropriate option for tracheoesophageal fistula treatment. It can be said that the procedure is successful when the device is completely covered. Even so, there is a need for multi-centered, randomized, controlled studies of large series about the subject.

Determination of severity of deformity with rib length to costal cartilage length ratio in thorax deformities.

BACKGROUND: This study aims to investigate whether rib length to costal cartilage length ratio is effective in determining the severity of chest wall deformity. METHODS: The study included 72 patients (64 males, 8 females; mean age 18.5±6 years; range, 6 to 40 years) who were operated because of chest wall deformity and 38 control subjects (22 males, 16 females; mean age 14.6±4.2 years; range, 6 to 25 years). Of the patients, pectus excavatum was detected in 69 and pectus carinatum in three. All participants' rib length-costal cartilage length ratio index, Haller index, correction index and computed tomography depression index were measured and compared. RESULTS: In patient group, there was a mild-level significant negative relationship between computed tomography depression index and rib length-costal cartilage length ratio index (p<0.05). Except for the computed tomography depression index, there was no significant relationship between rib length-costal cartilage length ratio index and other indexes and control group indexes in patient group. Rib length was higher than costal cartilage length in patient group compared to control group. There was no statistically significant difference between patient and control groups in terms of costal cartilage length (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: Contrary to what would be expected, there was no significant difference between patient and control groups in terms of costal cartilage length. Therefore, studies with larger series are required to demonstrate if costal cartilage length is effective in determining the severity of chest wall deformities.

Chaperonin (HSP60) and annexin-2 are candidate biomarkers for non-small cell lung carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Lung cancer is responsible of 12.4% and 17.6% of all newly diagnosed cancer cases and mortality due to cancer, respectively, and 5-year survival rate despite all improved treatment options is 15%. This survival rate reaches 66% in the Stage 1 and surgically treated patients. Early diagnosis which could not be definitely and commonly achieved yet is extremely critical in obtaining high survival rate in this disease. For this reason; proteomic differences were evaluated using matrix assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry in the subgroups of lung adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. METHODS: Fresh tissue samples of 36 malignant cases involving 83.3% (n = 30) men and 16.7% (n = 6) women patients were distributed into 2 groups as early and end stage lung cancer and each group were composed of subgroups including 18 squamous cell carcinoma (9 early stage cases, 9 end stage cases) and 18 adenocarcinoma cases (9 early stage cases, 9 end stage cases). The fresh tissues obtained from the tumoral and matched normal sites after surgical intervention. The differences in protein expression levels were determined by comparing proteomic changes in each patient. RESULTS: In the subgroups of advanced stage adenocarcinoma; tumoral tissue revealed differences in expression of 2 proteins compared with normal parenchymal tissue. Of those; difference in protein expression in heat shock protein 60 (HSP60) was found statistically significant (P = 0.0001). Subgroups of early and advanced stage squamos cell carcinoma have differed in certain 20 protein expression of normal tissue and diseased squamos cell carcinoma. Of those, increased protein expression level of only annexin-2 protein was found statistically significant (P = 0.002). No significant difference was detected in early and advanced stage protein expressions of the tumoral tissues in the subgroups of adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that with respect to early diagnosis of lung cancer that HSP60 and annexin-2 proteins are the important biomarkers in the subgroups of adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. We also consider that these 2 proteins are molecules which may provide critical contribution in evaluation of prognosis, metastatic potential, response to treatment, and in establishment of differential diagnosis between adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma.

Comparison of health-related quality of life and exercise capacity according to stages in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study is to compare the exercise capacity and health-related quality of life parameters according to stages of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty-two patients (who are able to ambulate independently) with stage I-II (group early-stage, n= 17) and stage IIIA-IV NSCLC (group advanced-stage, n= 35) were included. Exercise capacity (six minute walking test), strength of the peripheral muscle (Back and Leg Dynamometer), performance status (Karnofsky performance status scale), health-related quality of life- HRQOL (European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of life measure and Short Form-36 Health Survey), depression and anxiety (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale) were evaluated. RESULTS: No difference was found in age, body mass index, respiratory symptoms and the distribution of disease cell types between two groups (p> 0.05). In advanced-stage group, pulmonary function test values, peripheral muscle strength, walking distance and health-related quality of life scores especially the categories of functional capacity and pain were established significantly lower compared to early-stage group (p ≤ 0.05). Depression and anxiety levels were confirmed to be similar between groups (p> 0.05). CONCLUSION: The exercise capacity of patients with advanced-stage NSCLC is lower due to reduced pulmonary functions and peripheral muscle strength compared to patients with early-stage NSCLC. Therefore, we can conclude that reduced exercise capacity negatively impacts functional categories of health related quality of life of patients with advanced-stage NSCLC.