Validation of the Persian version of COOP/WONCA functional health status charts in liver transplant candidates

Context-Health-related quality of life is a preferred outcome measure for patients with advanced liver disease. The functional health status charts developed by the Dartmouth Primary Care Cooperative Information Project (COOP)/World Organization of National Colleges, Academies and Academic Associations (WONCA) make up a generic instrument for assessing health-related quality of life. Objective-To translate and validate the Persian version of COOP/WONCA in liver transplant candidates and to assess the correlation of Child Pugh classification and Model of End Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score with quality of life. Setting-The Shiraz liver transplant center, the most active liver transplant center in the Middle East. Participants-Consecutive adult outpatients waiting for their-first liver transplant who attended follow-up visits in the pretransplant clinic. Main Outcome Measures-Patients completed COOP/WONCA along with the Short Form (SF)-36. Data on the underlying cause of cirrhosis, Child-Pugh classification, and MELD scores were collected from medical records. Results-A Persian version of the COOP/WONCA was accepted by liver transplant candidates and showed adequate reliability and validity. Similar domains in COOP/WONCA charts and the SF-36 were highly correlated, indicating that construct validity of the COOP/WONCA in relation to the SF-36 was good (77% of correlations were as expected). Moreover, the exploratory factor analysis could not extract 2 different quality-of-life factors. These findings provide sufficient evidence to conclude that the Persian versions of COOP/WONCA charts and the SF-36 measure the same constructs of health-related quality of life and can be used interchangeably. Four of the 6 COOP/WONCA charts did not allow discrimination between groups of patients according to Child Pugh classification, indicating poor known group validity. (C)2014 NATCO, The Organization for Transplant Professional

The Effect of Routine Maintenance Intravenous Therapy on Hemoglobin Concentration and Hematocrit during Anesthesia in Adults

Objective: To investigate the decrease in hemoglobin concentration and hematocrit during elective surgery. Methods: This was a prospective study being performed in Nemazee Hospital of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. We included a total of 50 American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA) I and II patients undergoing elective minor surgeries. Perioperative fluid administration was performed for all the patients and hemoglobin and hematocrit levels were measured three times: Once before the operation, once one hour after start of operation and once in the recovery room. Values were compared using paired sample t-test.Results: The mean age of the patients and controls was 39.66 ± 8.27 years. Hemoglobin level decreases significantly after one hour (p<0.001) and after the end of operation (p<0.001). In the same way hematocrit level was decreased significantly after one hour (p<0.001) and after the end of operation (p<0.001). Conclusion: In this patient population undergoing elective minor operations, there was significant decrease in the hemoglobin and hematocrit levels in response to the IV fluids administration

Efficacy of dexamethasone on postoperative analgesia in children undergoing hypospadias repair

Background and Objective: Management of post operative pain in children undergoing hypospadiasis repair, accounts for optimized surgery outcomes and improved patients' satisfaction. Thus, various studies have widely investigated the best approaches for the pain management. In this study our aim was to determine the effect of dexamethasone in combination with penile nerve block on the postoperative pain and complications in the children undergoing hypospadias surgery. Methods: In this randomized double-blind placebo controlled trial, after obtaining informed consent from parents or legal guardians, 42 children undergoing surgical treatment of hypospadias were randomized in two groups to receive either IV dexamethasone 0.5 mg/kg (n=23) or placebo (normal saline) (n=19) during the operation. Penile block was performed in both groups using Bupivacaine 0.5% (1mg/kg) at the end of the procedure. By the end of the operation, FLACC (Face, Leg, Activity, Cry, Consolability) pain score was assessed as the primary outcome of the study. Secondary outcomes includes timing and episodes of rescue medication consumption, post operative nausea \ vomiting and bleeding. All the outcomes were assessed in the recovery room and after 2, 6, 12, and 24 hours. Results: The median of FLACC pain scores at the recovery room and 2, 6, 12, and 24 hours post operation was 2, 1, 1, 1, and 2 for the dexamethasone group and 8, 8, 7, 7, and 8 for the placebo group respectively. This were significantly different (P<0.000). The median time of first rescue medication consumption was 8 hours post operation for the dexamethasone group and three hours for the placebo group which was significantly different (z=4.57, p<0.000). The maximum episode of post operative rescue medication consumption in dexamethasone group was 4 episodes in only one patient and the minimum was one episode in 11 patients. In comparison numbers in placebo group were five episodes in seven patients and three episodes in four patients. The result indicated that there was statistically significant difference between two groups in terms of episodes of rescue medication consumption (Chi2= 31.4, p<0.000). Conclusion: Single dose of intravenous dexamethasone (0.5 mg/kg) in combination with penile block decreased the post operative pain measures, and total post operative analgesic requirement. It also increased the onset of the first analgesic requirement compared to penile block alone

Laryngeal Mask Airway Prevented Pulmonary Aspiration in an Obese Patient with Massive Gastric Regurgitation

Laryngeal Mask Airway is used for airway management in anaesthesia and in emergency medicine. Aspiration of gastric contents with LMA occurs in 2 per 10000 patients. It is almost similar to tracheal intubation in elective patients with the incidence of 1.25 per 10000 patient

Music can effectively reduce pain perception in women rather than men

Objective: Nowadays music is used to decrease pain and increase relaxation in clinical settings. It is hypothesized that music can affect women more easily than men. We assessed the effect of two types of music (Iranian folkloric and preferred music) on pain tolerance and pain rating in cold pressor test. Methodology: A consecutive sample of 50 healthy Iranian medical students was enrolled. They reported pain tolerance and pain rating in cold pressor test in three different musical conditions served as the outcome measures. The results were analyzed with repeated measurement analysis of variance. Result: Mean tolerance time was significantly higher in preferred music compared to Iranian folkloric music (F (1,48) =25.44, p=0.0001) and no music (F(1,48)=3.51, p=0.0001) conditions. There was a significant interaction when tolerance time in no music condition was compared to preferred music condition, regarding sex; Tolerance time increased more in females (F(1,48)=5.53, p=0.023). The results also indicated that pain ratings, regardless of sex, were different in three musical conditions (F(1.7,81.34)=15.37, p=0.0001). Conclusion: Music distracted attention from pain and Women can be impressed and distracted more easily by music

Effects of N-Acetylcysteine Addition to University of Wisconsin Solution on the Rate of Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury in Adult Orthotopic Liver Transplant

Objectives: One of the main concerns in liver transplant is the prolonged ischemia time, which may lead to primary graft nonfunction or delayed function. N-acetylcysteine is known as a hepato-protective agent in different studies, which may improve human hepatocyte viability in steatotic donor livers. This study investigated whether N-acetylcysteine can decrease the rate of ischemia-reperfusion syndrome and improve short-term outcome in liver transplant recipients. Materials and Methods: This was a double-blind, randomized, control clinical trial of 115 patients. Between April 2012 and January 2013, patients with orthotopic liver transplant were randomly divided into 2 groups; in 49 cases N-acetylcysteine was added to University of Wisconsin solution as the preservative liquid (experimental group), and in 66 cases standard University of Wisconsin solution was used (control group). We compared postreperfusion hypotension, inotrope requirement before and after portal reperfusion, intermittent arterial blood gas analysis and potassium measurement, pathological review of transplanted liver, in-hospital complications, morbidity, and mortality. Results: There was no significant difference between the groups regarding time to hepatic artery reperfusion, hospital stay, vascular complications, inotrope requirement before and after portal declamping, and blood gas analysis. Hypotension after portal reperfusion was significantly more common in experimental group compared with control group (P = .005). Retransplant and in-hospital mortality were comparable between the groups. Conclusions: Preservation of the liver inside Univer-sity of Wisconsin solution plus N-acetylcysteine did not change the rate of ischemia reperfusion injury and short-term outcome in liver transplant recipients