A survey of 108 patients with achalasia treated by cardiomyotomy is reported. All the operations were done by the abdominal approach and all the patients were followed up for a minimum of 4 years. Fifty-five patients had some form of hiatal reconstruction, 11 of these having a formal plastic repair as practised for oesophageal reflux problems. At 4 years after operation 71 patients (65-5 per cent) had entirely satisfactory results. Twenty-seven patients had recurrent dysphagia and 20 patients had symptoms of reflux oesophagitis. The group who had had a formal repair of the hiatus had no reflux symptoms after operation and also had better swallowing than the other groups. These results suggest that much of the dysphagia following Heller's operation is due to occult gastro-oesophageal reflux and can be avoided by a reflux-preventing procedure. Adequate hiatal repair after myotomy is strongly recommended.
Background.
The common technique using a basal infusion for an ambulatory continuous peripheral nerve blocks frequently results in exhaustion of the local anesthetic reservoir prior to resolution of surgical pain. We sought to improve and prolong analgesia by delaying initiation using an integrated timer and delivering a lower hourly volume of local anesthetic as automated boluses. We hypothesized that, compared with a traditional continuous infusion, ropivacaine administered with automated boluses at a lower dose and 5-hour delay would (1) provide at least noninferior analgesia [difference in average pain no greater than 1.7 points] while both techniques were functioning [average pain score day after surgery]; and, (2) result in a longer duration [dual primary outcomes].
Methods.
Participants (n = 70) undergoing foot or ankle surgery with a popliteal-sciatic catheter received an injection of ropivacaine 0.5% with epinephrine (20 mL) then were randomized to receive ropivacaine (0.2%) as either continuous infusion (6 mL/h) initiated prior to discharge, or automated boluses (8 mL every 2 h) initiated 5 hours following discharge using a timer. Both groups could self-deliver supplemental boluses (4 mL, lockout 30 min); participants and outcomes assessors were blinded to randomization. All randomized participants were included in data analysis.
Results.
The day following surgery, participants with automated boluses had a median [IQR] pain score of 0.0 [0.0 to 3.0] vs. 3.0 [1.8 to 4.8] for the continuous infusion group: odds ratio 3.1 (95% CI 1.23 to 7.84, p=0.033) adjusting for BMI. Reservoir exhaustion in automated boluses group occurred after a median [IQR] of 119 h [109,125] vs. 74 h [57,80] for continuous infusion group: difference 47h (95% CI: 38 to 55), P<0.001 adjusting for BMI.
Conclusions
For popliteal-sciatic catheters, replacing a continuous infusion initiated before discharge with automated boluses and a start-delay timer resulted in better analgesia and longer infusion duration.
graphic deterioration, in the patient and others affected by aerosols of contaminated water in other factories2 3 no radiographic changes were evident after several years' exposure, and no functional abnormalities persisted when away from work. Furthermore, the symptoms were prominent in the early part of the week, improving while continuing at work, but recurring on return to work after an absence. This pattern is similar to the "Monday fever" of byssinosis, but differs so far as we know in the site of reaction, being predominantly bronchial in byssinosis and peripheral in "humidifier fever." The source of the antigens was identified in this case but the precise causal agent was not, and it may, as Edwards suggested, be derived from free-living amoebae.4 Awareness of this unusual pattern of reaction should allow earlier identification of its cause, although confirmation may be obtained only by systematic observations at work or by inhalation testing.
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