The endogenous oxytocin after manipulative osteopathic treatment in full-term pregnant women.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to assess whether the touch of osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) can affect the endogenous production of oxytocin in full-term pregnant women and the assessment of well-being following the treatment. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this study have been enrolled 57 pregnant women at full-term pregnancy (37th-41st week) for evaluation of the concentration of salivary oxytocin 2 minutes before and 2 minutes after a single session of OMT by an osteopath lasting for 30 minutes. Pre-OMT and post-OMT saliva samples were collected with the use of Salivette® salivary swabs. 7 salivary swabs were excluded from the analysis. 50 samples were analyzed with an appropriate ELISA kit. RESULTS: The mean OT salivary concentration pre-OMT was 89.98±16.39, and post-OMT was 100.60±19.13 tends to increase with p=0.0000051. In multivariate analysis, two subgroups show interesting data in the mean difference in OT salivary concentration post-OMT: women with painful contractions (p=0.06) and women under 35 years (p=0.09). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study demonstrate that the effectiveness of OMT-increasing endogenous oxytocin is statistically significant in full-term pregnant women. The sensation of well-being found in most women indicates that there has been a predominantly central rather than peripheral oxytocin release after OMT.

The role of peritoneal lavage in benign gynecologic laparoscopic surgery.

OBJECTIVE: Laparoscopic surgery offers many advantages compared to invasive surgery but one of the main problems is postoperative pain, partially resulting from the peritoneal inflammatory process mediated by inflammatory cytokines. The rationale of this study is that intraperitoneal washing could remove inflammatory mediators that are the cause of postoperative pain and could help in the removal of CO2 from the abdominal cavity. This article aims to analyze the effects of peritoneal lavage in the reduction of postoperative shoulder pain. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 277 patients enrolled to undergo laparoscopic gynecologic surgery were included in the study. Women are randomized into two groups, according to the use or non-use of peritoneal lavage with saline solution at the end of laparoscopic gynecological major procedures. RESULTS: Data show that the peritoneal lavage can significantly reduce postoperative pain in the first 36 hours after surgery, as well as patients' requests for analgesics: during the first 3 postoperative days, requests for paracetamol were lower in the YW (Yes Washing) group than the NW (No Washing) group (77 vs. 101; p<0.05); similar results are obtained considering ketorolac administration (62 vs. 71; p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Peritoneal lavage after gynecological laparoscopic procedures may be effective in the reduction of postoperative pain and use of analgesics.