Trends in long-term prescribing of dependence forming medicines

Using patient-level primary care data to estimate the extent to which antidepressant medicines are prescribed to people continuously for long periods of time. Aim This descriptive research used patient-level primary care data to estimate the extent to which antidepressant medicines are prescribed to people continuously for long periods of time. The study also drew on survey data and data on the number of prescriptions dispensed. Findings - The number of antidepressant prescriptions dispensed each year in England doubled between 2008 and 2018 - Survey data show that the proportion of adults reporting use of antidepressants in the past year increased in the 1990s, and again between 2007 and 2014 - The average length of time that antidepressants are continuously prescribed to people for has increased over time. - Some types of antidepressants (for example, tricyclics and other antidepressants) tend to be prescribed for longer periods than other types (such as SSRIs). - In 2014, one in twelve prescribing periods for tricyclics and other antidepressants lasted for three years or more Methods The analyses in this report are descriptive and show the overall prevalence of long-term prescribing in each year. We used a sample of around 50,000 patients prescribed at least one antidepressant medicine between 2000 and 2017. This was drawn from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD). The CPRD contains data about prescriptions issued by GPs (including the length and size of prescription) and characteristics of the patients prescribed to (such as their age, sex, and area where they live). Medicines were grouped for analysis into: tricyclics, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), and other ADMs. The length of individual prescriptions and continuous prescribing periods were derived using information on consultation dates, the quantity of tablets prescribed, and the numeric daily dose

The effects of indomethacin, diclofenac, and acetaminophen suppository on pain and opioids consumption after cesarean section

Background: Cesarean section is one of the common surgeries of women. Acute post-operative pain is one of the recognized post-operative complications. Aims: This study was planned to compare the effects of suppositories, indomethacin, diclofenac and acetaminophen, on post-operative pain and opioid usage after cesarean section. Materials and Methods: In this double-blind clinical trial study, 120 candidates of cesarean with spinal anesthesia and American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) I-II were randomly divided into four groups. Acetaminophen, indomethacin, diclofenac, and placebo suppositories were used in groups, respectively, after operation and the dosage was repeated every 6 h and pain score and opioid usage were compared 24 h after the surgery. The severity of pain was recorded on the basis of Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and if severe pain (VAS > 5) was observed, 0.5 mg/kg intramuscular pethidine had been used. Statistical Analysis Used: The data were analyzed in SPSS software version 15 and analytical statistics such as ANOVA, Chi-square, and Tukey's honestly significant difference (HSD) post-hoc. Results : Pain score was significantly higher in control group than other groups, and also pain score in acetaminophen group was higher than indomethacin and diclofenac. The three intervention groups received the first dose of pethidine far more than control group and the distance for diclofenac and indomethacin were significantly longer (P < 0.001). The use of indomethacin, diclofenac, and acetaminophen significantly reduces the amount of pethidine usage in 24 h after the surgery relation to control group. Conclusions : Considering the significant decreasing pain score and opioid usage especially in indomethacin and diclofenac groups rather than control group, it is suggested using of indomethacin and diclofenac suppositories for post-cesarean section analgesia

Intrapartum epidural analgesia and breastfeeding: a prospective cohort study

BACKGROUND Anecdotal reports suggest that the addition of fentanyl (an opioid) to epidural analgesia for women during childbirth results in difficulty establishing breastfeeding. The aim of this paper is to determine any association between epidural analgesia and 1) breastfeeding in the first week postpartum and 2) breastfeeding cessation during the first 24 weeks postpartum. METHODS A prospective cohort study of 1280 women aged > or = 16 years, who gave birth to a single live infant in the Australian Capital Territory in 1997 was conducted. Women completed questionnaires at weeks 1, 8, 16 and 24 postpartum. Breastfeeding information was collected in each of the four surveys and women were categorised as either fully breastfeeding, partially breastfeeding or not breastfeeding at all. Women who had stopped breastfeeding since the previous survey were asked when they stopped. RESULTS In the first week postpartum, 93% of women were either fully or partially breastfeeding their baby and 60% were continuing to breastfeed at 24 weeks. Intrapartum analgesia and type of birth were associated with partial breastfeeding and breastfeeding difficulties in the first postpartum week (p < 0.0001). Analgesia, maternal age and education were associated with breastfeeding cessation in the first 24 weeks (p < 0.0001), with women who had epidurals being more likely to stop breastfeeding than women who used non-pharmacological methods of pain relief (adjusted hazard ratio 2.02, 95% CI 1.53, 2.67). CONCLUSION Women in this cohort who had epidurals were less likely to fully breastfeed their infant in the few days after birth and more likely to stop breastfeeding in the first 24 weeks. Although this relationship may not be causal, it is important that women at higher risk of breastfeeding cessation are provided with adequate breastfeeding assistance and support.Christine Roberts is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia Public Health Practitioner Fellowship and Siranda Torvaldsen is supported by a NHMRC Australian Research Training Fellowship. The cohort study was supported by a project grant from The Canberra Hospital Private Practice Fund. Additional funding was provided by The Canberra Hospital Auxiliary, the Nurses' Board of the Australian Capital Territory, and the Australian Capital Territory Department of Health & Community Care

Comparison Efficacy of Topical Piroxicam Gel and Lidocaine with Intravenous Pethidine in Reducing Pain during ESWL

Introduction & Objective: ESWL is a non-invasive method of breaking stones, using acoustic shock waves. Shock waves cause temporary deep visceral pain and discomfort in entry; therefore, administration of sedatives is necessary. The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of topical lidocaine and piroxicam gel with intravenous pethidine in reducing pain during ESWL. Materials & Methods: This clinical trial study was performed on 159 patients who referred to Ayatollah Kashani Hospital in Shahrkord for ESWL in 2009. Patients were randomly divided into three-groups. For the first group, intravenous pethidine (0.5 mg/kg alone) was administered. The second group received topical piroxicam, and the third group received topical lidocaine in the area of flank for half an hour before ESWL. During the operation, those patients who had unbearable pain, received another 0.5 mg/kg of pethidine. Data was collected using MC Gill questionnaires and analyzed using the SPSS software, using parametric, nonparametric methods and Dunn's Multiple Comparisons tests. Results: The mean of pain scores in the first group (pethidine) was 6.2 ± 6.9 while these scores were 3.2 ± 2 .7 and 3.9 ± 3.1 for the second (piroxicam gel) and third group (lidocaine gel) respectively. The differences in the mean score of pain was significant in the pethidine group compared to the other groups (P <0.05). The average pethidin consumption were 24 ± 16 mg for the first group (pethidine), 10 ± 13 mg for the second group (piroxicam gel), and 5 ± 9 mg for the third group (lidocaine gel). The mean difference was significant in pethidine treated group in comparison with other two groups (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The use of topical piroxicam or lidocaine reduces pain in patients after ESWL It also reduces the need for sedative drugs

Sedation for Gastrointestinal Endoscopic Procedures in the Elderly: Getting Safer but Still Not Nearly Safe Enough

Previously published UK reports showed that excessively large doses of benzodiazepines and opiates were being commonly used to sedate elderly patients for gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy. This unsafe practice has lead to avoidable morbidity and mortality. We have taken the opportunity provided by recent reports to examine whether GI endoscopy sedation practice in the elderly has improved in the light of this evidence and the publication of guidelines in which specific recommendations on sedation dosage are given

A comparison of intramuscular diamorphine and intramuscular pethidine for labour analgesia: a two-centre randomised blinded controlled trial.

Intramuscular (i.m.) pethidine is used worldwide for labour analgesia and i.m. diamorphine usage has increased in the UK in the last 15 years. This trial aims to ascertain the relative efficacy and adverse effects of diamorphine and pethidine for labour pain

Patient-specific data fusion for cancer stratification and personalised treatment

According to Cancer Research UK, cancer is a leading cause of death accounting for more than one in four of all deaths in 2011. The recent advances in experimental technologies in cancer research have resulted in the accumulation of large amounts of patient-specific datasets, which provide complementary information on the same cancer type. We introduce a versatile data fusion (integration) framework that can effectively integrate somatic mutation data, molecular interactions and drug chemical data to address three key challenges in cancer research: stratification of patients into groups having different clinical outcomes, prediction of driver genes whose mutations trigger the onset and development of cancers, and repurposing of drugs treating particular cancer patient groups. Our new framework is based on graph-regularised non-negative matrix tri-factorization, a machine learning technique for co-clustering heterogeneous datasets. We apply our framework on ovarian cancer data to simultaneously cluster patients, genes and drugs by utilising all datasets.We demonstrate superior performance of our method over the state-of-the-art method, Network-based Stratification, in identifying three patient subgroups that have significant differences in survival outcomes and that are in good agreement with other clinical data. Also, we identify potential new driver genes that we obtain by analysing the gene clusters enriched in known drivers of ovarian cancer progression. We validated the top scoring genes identified as new drivers through database search and biomedical literature curation. Finally, we identify potential candidate drugs for repurposing that could be used in treatment of the identified patient subgroups by targeting their mutated gene products. We validated a large percentage of our drug-target predictions by using other databases and through literature curation

Gambaran Efektifitas Petidin 25 Mg Intravena Untuk Mengurangi Reaksi Menggigil Pada Pasien Seksio Sesarea Pasca Anestesi Spinal Di RSUD Arifin Achmad Provinsi Riau

Shivering is a common complication in patient who received general dan regional anesthesia. In caesarean section, anesthesia technique that usually used is spinal anesthesia. The Incidence of post spinal anesthesia shivering in caesarean section was 85%. This condition wasn't comfortable for patient and would affect the ECG, blood pressure and oxygen saturation. Increasing of oxygen saturation on shivering would make hypoxemia for both mother and fetus. This research is a descriptive prospective study with consecutive sampling methods to discover the effectiveness of pethidine 25 mg intravenouse to reduce post spinal anesthesia shivering in caesarean section in general hospital of Riau province. This study used 30 patients of caesarean section who had post spinal anesteshia shivering in operation room in general hospital of Riau province. The results of this research were petidhine 25 mg intravenous is effective in amongst 30 samples, 16 shivering has decrease in pethidine 10 mg and 14 patient with 25 mg pethidine intravenous. After the surgery, 2 samples had recurrent shivering. The Onset of pethidine amongst 30 patients were ceased in 5 minutes in 28 patients and 10 minutes in 2 patients

Effects of intrathecal opioids use in cesarean section on breastfeeding and newborns’ weight gaining

Objective: To assess the association between intrapartum intrathecal opioid use and breastfeeding and weight gain following cesarean section. Materials and methods: The prospective double-blinded study was conducted on term pregnant women, undergoing elective cesarean section under spinal anesthesia. They divided into two groups. In the first group, intrathecal Morphine was used to achieve analgesia during or after the operation. The remainder divided into two subgroups, those who did not receive any opioid or those received systemic opioids. Following labor breastfeeding accessed in a follow-up, two month latter. Results: There was no difference between the demographic variables of the mothers and newborns APGAR score and weight at the time of birth. Breastfeeding rate was similar in intrathecal group in compare with other patents (P value = 0.518). While, the infants’ weight at the end of second month was lower in spinal opioid group (P value = 0.036). Conclusion: The present study was the first to suggest that spinal (intrathecal) opioids do not have any impact on breastfeeding. However the relationship between spinal anesthesia on weight gaining needs more investigation

Anaesthesia and Intensive Care

The anaesthetist has seen his role steadily expand and it is hard to think of one medical specialty in which anaesthetists are not involved at least to some extent. We present a range of papers which demonstrates the breadth of anaesthesia: from its traditional realm in the operating theatre to critical care and resuscitation onto chronic pain and obstetric analgesia.peer-reviewe