Diffusion Tensor Imaging Technique Delineating the Prognosis for Cerebellar Mutism in Posterior Fossa Tumors: A New Tool.

AIM: Cerebellar mutism syndrome (CMS) is a morbid complication of posterior fossa surgery in children. This review focuses on the current understanding of pathophysiology in the white matter tracts (WMT) using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). MATERIAL AND METHODS: A series of 38 patients operated on for posterior fossa tumors in our institute between December 2019 till May 2021 were evaluated neurologically along with characteristics of mutism and DTI imaging (fractional anisotropy) in preoperative and postoperative periods. We also noted tumor size, location, volume, brainstem compression, cerebellar peduncle involvement, extent of resection, surgical approach, and histopathology. RESULT: Cerebellar mutism developed in five patients. The mean age, male sex, tumor size >5 cm, superior cerebellar peduncle involvement, and vermian incision were found to have positive correlation with the development of CMS. They showed reduction in fractional anisotropy in superior cerebellar peduncle (SCP) following resection; however, others' WMT did not show any significant change in fractional anisotropy values pre- or post-surgery. CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that functional disruption of WMT, i.e., superior cerebellar peduncle and dentato-thalamo-cortical tract (DTC) is the underlying pathophysiological component of CMS. Taking this into consideration, we need to deploy techniques to limit the damage to the superior cerebellar peduncle and DTC using neurophysiological monitoring.

Effectiveness of four ultrasonographic parameters as predictors of difficult intubation in patients without anticipated difficult airway / 대한마취과학회지

Background@#Predicting difficult intubation (DI) is a key challenge, as no single clinical predictor is sufficiently valid to predict the outcome. We evaluated the effectiveness of four upper airway ultrasonographic parameters in predicting DI. The validity of the models using combinations of ultrasonography-based parameters was also investigated. @*Methods@#This prospective, observational, double-blinded cohort trial enrolled 1,043 surgical patients classified as American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status I–III without anticipated difficult airway. Preoperatively, their tongue thickness (TT), invisibility of hyoid bone (VH), and anterior neck soft tissue thickness from the skin to thyrohyoid membrane (ST) and hyoid bone (SH) were measured by sublingual and submandibular ultrasonography. The logistic regression, Youden index, and receiver operator characteristic analysis results were reported. @*Results@#Overall, 58 (5.6%) patients were classified as DI. The TT, SH, ST, and VH had accuracies of 78.4%, 85.0%, 84.7%, and 84.9%, respectively. The optimal values of TT, SH, and ST for predicting DI were > 5.8 cm (sensitivity, 84.5%; specificity; 78.1%; AUC, 0.880), > 1.4 cm (sensitivity, 81%; specificity, 85.2%; AUC, 0.898), and > 2.4 cm (sensitivity, 75.9%; specificity, 85.2%; AUC, 0.885), respectively. VH had a sensitivity and specificity of 72.4% and 85.6% (AUC, 0.790. The AUC values of the five models (with combinations of three or four parameters) ranged from 0.975–0.992. ST and VH had a significant impact on the individual models. @*Conclusions@#SH had the best accuracy. Individual parameters showed limited validity. The model including all four parameters offered the best diagnostic value.

Effectiveness of four ultrasonographic parameters as predictors of difficult intubation in patients without anticipated difficult airway / 대한마취과학회지

Background@#Predicting difficult intubation (DI) is a key challenge, as no single clinical predictor is sufficiently valid to predict the outcome. We evaluated the effectiveness of four upper airway ultrasonographic parameters in predicting DI. The validity of the models using combinations of ultrasonography-based parameters was also investigated. @*Methods@#This prospective, observational, double-blinded cohort trial enrolled 1,043 surgical patients classified as American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status I–III without anticipated difficult airway. Preoperatively, their tongue thickness (TT), invisibility of hyoid bone (VH), and anterior neck soft tissue thickness from the skin to thyrohyoid membrane (ST) and hyoid bone (SH) were measured by sublingual and submandibular ultrasonography. The logistic regression, Youden index, and receiver operator characteristic analysis results were reported. @*Results@#Overall, 58 (5.6%) patients were classified as DI. The TT, SH, ST, and VH had accuracies of 78.4%, 85.0%, 84.7%, and 84.9%, respectively. The optimal values of TT, SH, and ST for predicting DI were > 5.8 cm (sensitivity, 84.5%; specificity; 78.1%; AUC, 0.880), > 1.4 cm (sensitivity, 81%; specificity, 85.2%; AUC, 0.898), and > 2.4 cm (sensitivity, 75.9%; specificity, 85.2%; AUC, 0.885), respectively. VH had a sensitivity and specificity of 72.4% and 85.6% (AUC, 0.790. The AUC values of the five models (with combinations of three or four parameters) ranged from 0.975–0.992. ST and VH had a significant impact on the individual models. @*Conclusions@#SH had the best accuracy. Individual parameters showed limited validity. The model including all four parameters offered the best diagnostic value.

Randomized controlled trial to compare oral analgesic requirements and patient satisfaction in using oral non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs versus benzydamine hydrochloride oral rinses after mandibular third molar extraction: a pilot study

BACKGROUND: Third molar extraction is associated with considerable pain and discomfort, which is mostly managed with oral analgesic medication. We assessed the analgesic effect of benzydamine hydrochloride, a topical analgesic oral rinse, for controlling postoperative pain following third molar extraction. METHODS: A randomized controlled trial was conducted in 40 patients divided into two groups, for extraction of fully erupted third molar. Groups A received benzydamine hydrochloride mouthwash and group B received normal saline gargle with oral ibuprofen and paracetamol. Oral ibuprofen and paracetamol was the rescue analgesic drug in group A. Patients were evaluated on the 3(rd) and 7(th) post-operative days (POD) for pain using the visual analogue score (VAS), trismus, total number of analgesics consumed, and satisfaction level of patients. RESULTS: The VAS in groups A and B on POD3 and POD7 was 4.55 ± 2.54 and 3.95 ± 1.8, and 1.2 ± 1.64 and 0.95 ± 1.14, respectively and was statistically insignificant. The number of analgesics consumed in groups A and B on POD3 (5.25 ± 2.22 and 6.05 ± 2.43) was not statistically different from that consumed on POD7 (9.15 ± 5.93 and 10.65 ± 6.46). The p values for trismus on POD3 and POD7 were 0.609 and 0.490, respectively and those for patient satisfaction level on POD3 and POD7 were 0.283 and 0.217, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Benzydamine hydrochloride oral rinses do not significantly reduce intake of oral analgesics and are inadequate for pain relief following mandibular third molar extraction.

Lateral alveolar ridge augmentation procedure using subperiosteal tunneling technique: a pilot study / 대한악안면성형재건외과학회지

BACKGROUND: In this research article, we evaluate the use of sub-periosteal tunneling (tunnel technique) combined with alloplastic in situ hardening biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP, a compound of β-tricalcium phosphate and hydroxyapatite) bone graft for lateral augmentation of a deficient alveolar ridge. METHODS: A total of 9 patients with deficient mandibular alveolar ridges were included in the present pilot study. Ten lateral ridge augmentation were carried out using the sub-periosteal tunneling technique, including a bilateral procedure in one patient. The increase in ridge width was assessed using CBCT evaluation of the ridge preoperatively and at 4 months postoperatively. Histological assessment of the quality of bone formation was also carried out with bone cores obtained at the implant placement re-entry in one patient. RESULTS: The mean bucco-lingual ridge width increased in average from 4.17 ± 0.99 mm to 8.56 ± 1.93 mm after lateral bone augmentation with easy-graft CRYSTAL using the tunneling technique. The gain in ridge width was statistically highly significant (p = 0.0019). Histomorphometric assessment of two bone cores obtained at the time of implant placement from one patient revealed 27.6% new bone and an overall mineralized fraction of 72.3% in the grafted area 4 months after the bone grafting was carried out. CONCLUSIONS: Within the limits of this pilot study, it can be concluded that sub-periosteal tunneling technique using in situ hardening biphasic calcium phosphate is a valuable option for lateral ridge augmentation to allow implant placement in deficient alveolar ridges. Further prospective randomized clinical trials will be necessary to assess its performance in comparison to conventional ridge augmentation procedures.