Postoperative analgesia in herniated disk surgery. Comparative study of diclofenac , lysine acetylsalicylate, and ketorolac

INTRODUCTION: Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are effective in treating musculoskeletal pain and are theoretically ideal for treating postoperative pain of the lumbar column. OBJECTIVES: To compare the analgesic efficacy and side effects of treatment with 3 NSAIDs (lysine acetylsalicylate, ketorolac and diclofenac) in the treatment of pain after surgery for lumbar disc hernia. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We enrolled 75 ASA I-II patients undergoing discectomy because of lumbar disc hernia; balanced general anesthesia was used in all cases. The patients were randomly distributed in 3 groups based on type of analgesia given in the immediate postoperative period. Group A received lysine acetylsalicylate (1800 mg), group B received ketorolac (30 mg) and group C received diclofenac (75 mg). The analgesics were diluted in 100 mg of saline solution and administered through a peripheral vein over 10 min. We evaluated the analgesia attained on a visual analog scale (VAS) and the physiological response to pain was assessed by monitoring changes in arterial pressure, heart rate and breathing frequency. If analgesia was insufficient 30 min after administration of the drug, 200 mg of lysine cloximate was given as a top-up. The side effects of each drug were also recorded. RESULTS: VAS evaluation showed significant reductions in pain 60 min after administration in groups A and B and after 120 min in group C. Nine patients in each group required lysine cloximate. There were no significant differences in physiological response among the 3 groups. No patient suffered major side effects. Mild side effects were reported most often in group B. CONCLUSIONS: The NSAIDs studied were inadequately for treating pain after surgery for lumbar disc hernia. Ketorolac was no better than the other analgesics studied but was associated with a higher number of mild side effects.     

Memory facilitation by posttraining and pretest ACTH, epinephrine, and vasopressin administration: Two separate effects.

Rats were trained in a step-down inhibitory avoidance task using a 0.3-mA, 2-s, 60 Hz footshock and tested 24 hr later. The animals received, 1 min after training and/or 5 min before testing, an ip injection of saline, ACTH1–24 (0.2 μg/kg), lysine-vasopressin (10 μg/kg), epinephrine (5 μg/kg), naloxone (0.4 mg/kg), or a combination of naloxone with one of the hormones. Both the posttraining and the pretest injection of the hormones enhanced retention test performance; the enhancement was larger in animals that received the two treatments. Posttraining, but not pretest, naloxone administration also caused an enhancement. However, posttraining naloxone potentiated, and pretest naloxone antagonized, the effect of the concomitantly injected hormones. These data show that the posttraining and the pretest effect of the hormones are independent, are due to different mechanisms, and can be additive. In addition, it does not seem possible to explain posttraining memory facilitation by the hormones as owing to an addition to the reinforcement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Ethical and Legal Concerns of Spyware

Computer users are threatened by stealth invaders, in the form of spyware, which gather users' personal information for target marketing purposes, but can also disrupt the operation of the computer. This article examines the ethical and legal controversy within the United States surrounding spyware. the various methods of battling spyware, including approaches by individual users, organizations, and government oversight, legislation, and litigation, are discussed.     

The Degradation of Polyglycolide in Water and Deuterium Oxide. Part II: Nuclear Reaction Analysis and Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Water Distribution

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and scanning microbeam nuclear reaction analysis (NRA) were used to monitor changes of water ingress into polyglycolide (PGA) disks with degradation time. MRI detects H₂O, whereas NRA is sensitive to D₂O. The acid-catalysed hydrolysis of the ester is significantly slower in D₂O than H₂O because of the kinetic isotope effect. This behaviour was investigated in Part I. In this paper, NRA was used to investigate PGA hydration in buffers made from D₂O, and NRA and MRI experiments were performed on samples degraded buffers made from a 50% mixture of D₂O and H₂O (D₂O/H₂O 50:50) to allow a comparison between the two techniques. The NRA and MRI results provide direct evidence in support of the four-stage reaction-erosion model reported in previous literature, and show that this model applies to polymer degradation in heavy water and in a buffer made from D₂O/H₂O 50:50. It is believed that this is the first time that NRA and MRI have been compared for the same hydrating system.     

Urethral protrusion caused by blunt trauma of the anterior urethra

We report an uncommon case of complete rupture of the anterior urethra secondary to blunt trauma, with protrusion of the urethral mucosa through the urinary meatus. The singular images of this case are presented and the mechanisms involved in this unusual type of lesion are analyzed.     

Exposure to novelty induces naltrexone-reversible analgesia in rats.

The exposure of rats for 2 min to an open field, to a small box, or to inhibitory avoidance training in the small box was followed by a mild analgesia measured by the tail-flick method. The analgesia was observed as soon as 10 s after the exposure and lasted between 10 and 30 min. It was not observed in animals previously made familiar with the test situation, and it was reversed by the administration of naltrexone (0.1 mg/kg). The data suggest that novelty per se is a sufficient stimulus to activate an opioid-mediated analgesic stimulus. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Real time power supply quality measurement and monitoringmultichannel system

This paper describes a multi-channel system for measuring and monitoring electric power supply quality in real-time. The hardware is simple but powerful, because it is based on a PC with an acquisition card, and a development card with a single dedicated DSP (digital signal processor)     

Comparison of the in vitro and in vivo effects of meropenem and ciprofloxacin on the morphology of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus

Second-semester ultrasonography of a female fetus documented short femora and humeri and dislocation of the radii. Based on the clinical and postmortem radiological findings, autosomal-recessive omodysplasia was diagnosed. The physeal plates of the long tubular bones were assessed by computer-assisted image analysis. The dimensions and orientation of the chondrocytic lacunae in the physeal plates of the omodysplastic fetus were compared with those in the physeal plates of fetuses without gross limb abnormalities (oligohydramnios, n = 2; hydrocephalus, n = 2; Down syndrome, n = 1). The pathological characteristics of the omodysplastic physeal plates were an expanded zone of proliferating cartilage and an increased number of closely packed, small chondrocytes. We propose that a genetic, functional deficiency of the physeal cells, underlying the short-limbed dwarfism of autosomal-recessive omodysplasia, is partially compensated, albeit ineffectively, by an increased number of small chondrocytes in the proliferating zone of the physeal plate.