Context Persistent pain and sensory disturbances following surgical treatment for breast cancer is a significant clinical problem. The pathogenic mechanisms are complex and may be related to patient characteristics, surgical technique, and adjuvant therapy.Objective To examine prevalence of and factors associated with persistent pain after surgical treatment for breast cancer. Design, Setting, and PatientsA nationwide cross-sectional questionnaire study of 3754 women aged 18 to 70 years who received surgery and adjuvant therapy (if indicated) for primary breast cancer in Denmark between January 1, 2005, and December 31, 2006. A study questionnaire was sent to the women between January and April 2008.Main Outcome Measures Prevalence, location, and severity of persistent pain and sensory disturbances in 12 well-defined treatment groups assessed an average of 26 months after surgery, and adjusted odds ratio (OR) of reported pain and sensory disturbances with respect to age, surgical technique, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy.Results By June 2008, 3253 of 3754 eligible women (87%) returned the questionnaire. A total of 1543 patients (47%) reported pain, of whom 201 (13%) had severe pain, 595 (39%) had moderate pain, and 733 (48%) had light pain. Factors associated with chronic pain included young age (18-39 years:

Educational programmes have a moderate effect on caregiver burden and a small effect on depression. Evidence of an effect on QoL and transitions to long stay care remains unclear.

Objective To investigate the effects of one and two doses of intravenous dexamethasone in patients after total knee arthroplasty. Design Randomised, blinded, placebo controlled trial with follow-up at 90 days. Setting Five Danish hospitals, September 2018 to March 2020. Participants 485 adult participants undergoing total knee arthroplasty. Intervention A computer generated randomised sequence stratified for site was used to allocate participants to one of three groups: DX1 (dexamethasone (24 mg)+placebo); DX2 (dexamethasone (24 mg)+dexamethasone (24 mg)); or placebo (placebo+placebo). The intervention was given preoperatively and after 24 hours. Participants, investigators, and outcome assessors were blinded. All participants received paracetamol, ibuprofen, and local infiltration analgesia. Main outcome measures The primary outcome was total intravenous morphine consumption 0 to 48 hours postoperatively. Multiplicity adjusted threshold for statistical significance was P<0.017 and minimal important difference was 10 mg morphine. Secondary outcomes included postoperative pain. Results 485 participants were randomised: 161 to DX1, 162 to DX2, and 162 to placebo. Data from 472 participants (97.3%) were included in the primary outcome analysis. The median (interquartile range) morphine consumptions at 0-48 hours were: DX1 37.9 mg (20.7 to 56.7); DX2 35.0 mg (20.6 to 52.0); and placebo 43.0 mg (28.7 to 64.0). Hodges-Lehmann median differences between groups were: −2.7 mg (98.3% confidence interval −9.3 to 3.7), P=0.30 between DX1 and DX2; 7.8 mg (0.7 to 14.7), P=0.008 between DX1 and placebo; and 10.7 mg (4.0 to 17.3), P<0.001 between DX2 and placebo. Postoperative pain was reduced at 24 hours with one dose, and at 48 hours with two doses, of dexamethasone. Conclusion Two doses of dexamethasone reduced morphine consumption during 48 hours after total knee arthroplasty and reduced postoperative pain. Trial registration Clinicaltrials.gov NCT03506789 .

RSL offers a major logistic advantage, as localization can be done several days before surgery without any increase in positive resection margins compared with WGL.

IntroductionCurrent pharmacological therapies in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) are challenged by lack of sustainability and borderline firm evidence of real long-term health benefits. Accordingly, lifestyle intervention remains the corner stone in the management of T2D. However, there is a lack of knowledge regarding the optimal intervention programmes in T2D ensuring both compliance as well as long-term health outcomes. Our objective is to assess the effects of an intensive lifestyle intervention (the U-TURN intervention) on glycaemic control in patients with T2D. Our hypothesis is that intensive lifestyle changes are equally effective as standard diabetes care, including pharmacological treatment in maintaining glycaemic control (ie, glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c)) in patients with T2D. Furthermore, we expect that intensive lifestyle changes will decrease the need for antidiabetic medications.Methods and analysisThe study is an assessor-blinded, parallel group and a 1-year randomised trial. The primary outcome is change in glycaemic control (HbA1c), with the key secondary outcome being reductions in antidiabetic medication. Participants will be patients with T2D (T2D duration <10 years) without complications who are randomised into an intensive lifestyle intervention (U-TURN) or a standard care intervention in a 2:1 fashion. Both groups will be exposed to the same standardised, blinded, target-driven pharmacological treatment and can thus maintain, increase, reduce or discontinue the pharmacological treatment. The decision is based on the standardised algorithm. The U-TURN intervention consists of increased training and basal physical activity level, and an antidiabetic diet including an intended weight loss. The standard care group as well as the U-TURN group is offered individual diabetes management counselling on top of the pharmacological treatment.Ethics and disseminationThis study has been approved by the Scientific Ethical Committee at the Capital Region of Denmark (H-1–2014–114). Positive, negative or inconclusive findings will be disseminated in peer-reviewed journals, at national and international conferences.Trial registration numberNCT02417012.

Occurrence of cancer in the contralateral breast seems to be rather independent of time passed since the first primary. The finding of a decreasing incidence of CBC after 1997 is likely to be due to more women receiving systemic adjuvant therapy such as tamoxifen and longer duration of this treatment as well as the introduction of aromatase inhibitors.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of pelvic floor muscle training in women with urinary incontinence after ischemic stroke measured by quality of life (QoL) parameters. Three hundred thirty-nine medical records of stroke patients were searched. Twenty-six subjects were randomised to a Treatment Group or a Control Group in a single blinded, randomised study design. The intervention included 12 weeks of standardised pelvic floor muscle training. The outcome was measured by the Short Form 36 (SF-36) Health Survey Questionnaire and The Incontinence Impact Questionnaire (IIQ). Twenty-four subjects completed the study. The SF-36 and IIQ did not show significant difference between the two groups. Despite the high prevalence of stroke with urinary incontinence, it is difficult to include these patients in such studies. The samples were too small to detect any significant differences. Development of specific instruments for QoL in stroke patients with urinary incontinence can be recommended.

We examined the association between the hormone receptor (HR) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) status of women with primary breast cancer and the risk of axillary lymph node (ALN) involvement at the time of diagnosis. Information on 20,009 women diagnosed with primary breast cancer between 2008 and 2012 was retrieved from the Danish Breast Cancer Cooperative Group database. The associations between clinical and pathological variables and ALN involvement at the time of diagnosis were evaluated in univariate and multivariate regression analyses, as well as the significance of tumor subtypes in ALN involvement. The risk of ALN metastases at the time of diagnosis was significantly reduced in HR-negative patients compared to HR-positive patients [adjusted odds ratio (OR) 0.69; 95 % CI 0.63-0.76; P = 0.0009]. A HER2-positive status was associated with an increased risk of ALN involvement at diagnosis compared to a HER2-negative status (OR 1.37; 95 % CI 1.24-1.50; P < 0.0001). An interaction between HER2 and HR was observed, with a HER2-positive status significantly associated with ALN involvement at the time of diagnosis only in HR-negative patients (P < 0.0001). The triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients showed a significantly reduced risk of ALN involvement at the time of diagnosis compared to patients with HR-positive/HER2-negative tumors (OR 0.55; 95 % CI 0.49-0.62; P < 0.0001). The HR and HER2 statuses are significantly associated with ALN involvement at the time of diagnosis. Despite the poor prognosis, TNBC patients have a reduced risk of ALN involvement at the time of diagnosis compared to patients with other subtypes, when adjusting for other risk factors. This may indicate that TNBC tends to spread hematogenously rather than lymphogenously.