Attempts to achieve a fair metabolic equilibrium in a young woman with brittle diabetes by continuous subcutaneous, intramuscular, and continuous intravenous administration of insulin were unsuccessful. Continuous intraperitoneal administration of insulin through a permanently inserted polyethylene catheter connected to an open-loop peristaltic pump led to an appreciable improvement in mean blo...

BACKGROUND Continuous epidural anesthesia is useful for endoscopic urologic surgery, as mostly performed in the elderly patients. In such a case, it is necessary to obtain successful sacral anesthesia, and the insertion of epidural catheter in the caudad direction may be needed. However, continuous epidural catherization has been related to paresthesias. This study aimed to evaluate the effects...

Control of glycemia in hospitalized patients is important; hypoglycemia is associated with increased mortality, and hyperglycemia is associated with adverse outcomes. For these reasons, though no such device is currently available, continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) is an attractive option, especially in the critical care setting. Schierenbeck and coauthors, in this issue of Journal of Diabete...

An appropriate post operative analgesia after thoracotomies is mandatory to improve the patient's outcome, reduce complications rate, morbidity, hospital cost and length of stay. In this paper we review the evidences regarding the use of paravertebral block for thoracic surgery. In particular we examine the effect of paravertebral block compared to the other technique in four major issues: anal...

Computed tomography (CT) were performed in 17 adults with osteomyelitis of the spine. The dominant features were paravertebral soft-tissue swelling, abscess formation, and bone erosion. In two patients there were no findings indicative of osteomyelitis on conventional radiographs, but CT revealed paravertebral abscesses and bone lysis, helping to establish the diagnosis of osteomyelitis. CT was...

To the Editor:—I wish to congratulate Dr. Karmakar on his very thorough and informative review on paravertebral anesthesia and analgesia. 1Dr. Karmakar has overlooked one technique of paravertebral blockade that, in my opinion, has shown particular merit and is worthy of further investigation—the use of a nerve stimulator. To my knowledge, the use of a nerve stimulator as a guide to the perform...

Thorasic paravertebral block (PVB) thorasic epidural and pectoral nerve blocks can be used as a regional anesthetic option for breast surgery. Thorasic PVB is defined as injection of local anesthesthetic solution at the site where spinal nerves emerges from paravertebral foramen. It produces unilateral motor, sensory and sympathetic block, hence PVB could be an anesthetic choice in patients wit...