Background: Thoracic paravertebral block (TPVB) technique for thoracotomy has seen increased application. The erector spinae plane block (ESPB) technique is simpler to perform than TPVB. However, whether it can be employed as a safe alternative analgesic technique has not been verified by a head-to-head clinical study. Methods: Ninety-four patients scheduled for thoracotomy lung surgeries were randomly allocated to an ESPB or TPVB group. Patients in both groups were provided with an intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) device containing sufentanil. Visual analogue scale (VAS) pain scores under the status of rest and cough were recorded at 1, 6, 12, and 24 h postoperatively. In addition, total press times of PCA were read from the PCA memory. The adverse effects, puncture time and success rate of one puncture were also recorded. Results: There were no significant differences in pain scores at rest and cough between the ESPB and TPVB groups in each of the first two days after surgery, and no difference between the two groups was identified regarding postoperative sufentanil usage (P>0.05). There was no statistical difference in postoperative nausea and vomiting. There was significantly less hypotension (6.7% vs. 21.7%, P=0.04), bradycardia (0 vs. 8.7%, P=0.04), hematoma (0 vs. 10.9%, P=0.02) and a higher success rate of one puncture (82.2% vs. 54.3%, P<0.001) in the ESPB group. Conclusions: Preoperative single-injection ESPB plus postoperative sufentanil PCA provided similar effects of pain relief for patients undergoing thoracotomy when comparing to TPVB. Yet, ESPB had the advantages of a lower adverse effect incidence.

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A novel miniaturized capillary electrophoresis (CE) system is described where a Teflon AF-coated silica capillary serves both as the separation channel and as a transversely illuminated liquid core waveguide. This device uniquely uses flow injection (FI)-based split-flow sample introduction through a falling-drop interface. An H-channel structure fixed on a microscope glass slide utilizes a horizontal separation capillary with tubular sidearms on each end that serve as inlet and outlet flow-through electrode reservoirs. The inlet reservoir also functions as a falling-drop interface for coupling to the FI system. A blue LED is used as excitation source. A large-core optical fiber takes the emitted fluorescence to an inexpensive PMT with two layers of green plastic used for optical filtering. No focusing arrangement is needed. Continuous FI introduction of a series of 30-microL samples containing a mixture of of fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-labeled amino acids allowed a throughput rate up to 144 samples/ h, with approximately 2% carryover and good precision (3.2% RSD). Baseline separation was achieved for FITC-labeled arginine, phenylalanine, glycine, and FITC in sodium tetraborate buffer (pH 9.5) with plate heights of 5.4-5.5 microm and plate numbers of 2.34 x 10(4)-2.37 x 10(4) under electrical field strengths of 214 V/cm for injection and 500 V/cm for separation (14-cm capillary, 48-microm i.d.). Detection limits (S/N = 3) were 1.3 microM for arginine and 1.9 microM for phenylalanine and glycine.

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AP may trigger a systemic immune response, impair remote organs, and affect the general health of patients.

BackgroundBlood Clot (BC) or platelet concentrates have been used as scaffold in regenerative endodontic treatment (RET). The aim of this retrospective study was to compare the performance of platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) with BC in inducing root development and periapical lesion healing after tooth revascularization.MethodsFive patients receiving RET using PRF as a scaffold were matched 1:1 to a previous cohort of 5 patients who underwent tooth revascularization by provoking periapical bleeding. Clinical signs and symptoms were examined at follow-ups. Periapical lesion healing and root development were monitored radiographically. The resolution of clinical signs and symptoms as well as periapical radiolucency was observed in all patients (100%).ResultsRoot elongation, dentinal wall thickening and apex closure were found in most cases (80% in both groups). There was no significant difference between the groups in terms of clinical sign resolution, root development and periapical healing.ConclusionsWithin the limits of this study, PRF achieved comparable outcomes to BC in terms of clinical sign and symptom resolution, periapical lesion healing and continued root development in RET.

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Activation of NaOCl with PIPS showed significantly better performance than sonic and ultrasonic techniques in removing the filling remnants following mechanical retreatment of oval root canals. The ultrasonic technique also performed better than the sonic technique. However, none of the additional activation procedures was able to completely eliminate the filling remnants.