BACKGROUND This study was undertaken to compare the effects of general anaesthesia (GA) and spinal anaesthesia (SA) on the need for postoperative hospitalization and early postoperative comfort in patients undergoing fast-track total knee arthroplasty (TKA). METHODS One hundred and twenty subjects were randomly allocated to receive either intrathecal bupivacaine (SA group) or GA with target c...

BACKGROUND Staphylococcus aureus native valve infective endocarditis (SA-NVIE) is not completely understood. The objective of this investigation was to describe the characteristics of a large, international cohort of patients with SA-NVIE. METHODS The International Collaboration on Endocarditis Merged Database (ICE-MD) is a combination of 7 existing electronic databases from 5 countries that ...

OBJECTIVES To define obstructive sleep architecture patterns in Down syndrome (DS) children as well as changes to sleep architecture patterns postoperatively. STUDY DESIGN The study was a retrospective review. METHODS Forty-five pediatric DS patients who underwent airway surgery between 2003 and 2014 at a tertiary children's hospital for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) were investigated. Post...

BACKGROUND Laparoscopic total extraperitoneal (TEP) inguinal hernia repair is a well-known approach to inguinal hernia repair that is usually performed under general anesthesia (GA). To date, no reports compare the efficacy of spinal anesthesia (SA) with that of GA for laparoscopic hernia repairs. The purpose of this study was to compare the surgical outcome of TEP inguinal hernia repair perfor...

Just 15 months after four highly sophisti cated robot­ assisted da Vinci Surgical Systems were introduced to South Africa (SA), nine local urologists are now 'flying' the ZAR23 mil­ lion devices 'solo' , while another ten are being mentored on the revolutionary robot­ ic­assisted laparoscopic tool. The surgical robotic system (four surgeon-controlled operating 'arms') was introduced via Earth M...

Effects of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) on colorectal cancer (CRC) have been largely studied, while its survival and surgical benefits remain controversial. This study aimed to perform a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs), comparing efficacy and safety of NAC plus surgery with surgery alone (SA) for CRC. We searched systematically databases of MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochra...

STUDY DESIGN A systematic review. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to determine the safety and efficacy of stand-alone anterior lumbar interbody fusion (sa-ALIF) for the treatment of symptomatic isthmic spondylolisthesis of L5-S1 by assessing the level of available clinical and radiographic evidence. METHODS A systematic review utilizing Medline, Embase, and Scopus online databases...

BACKGROUND We compared the efficacy of postoperative chemoradiation (POCRT) and surgery alone (SA) in patients with stage II-III esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). METHODS We analyzed the records of 265 patients with stage II-III ESCC who had undergone transthoracic esophagectomy and lymphadenectomy; 105 patients received POCRT, while 160 had SA. RESULTS The median disease-free surv...

BACKGROUND Smoking induces structural changes in the airways, and is considered a major factor in the development of airflow obstruction in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. However, differences in inflammatory cell distribution between large airways (LA) and small airways (SA) have not been systematically explored in smokers. HYPOTHESIS The content of cells infiltrating the airway wall ...