INTRODUCTION Open thoracotomy is one of the surgical procedures that is still very painful in the postoperative period, which, in this type of surgery can have on respiratory function and subsequent recovery of the patient. PATIENTS AND METHOD The aim of the study is to assess continuous paravertebral thoracic block as an analgesic technique in thoracotomy. A total of 139 patients undergoing ...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE There are few comparative studies regarding morphologic changes after kyphoplasty and vertebroplasty. The purpose of this study was to compare restoration of vertebral body height and wedge angle and cement leakage with kyphoplasty and vertebroplasty in osteoporotic compression fractures. MATERIALS AND METHODS Forty patients (57 vertebrae) were treated with kyphoplasty,...

Background and objectives: Post-thoracotomy pain management should be based on a multimodal approach that includes continuous regional analgesia. The objective of this study was to compare the analgesic efficacy of two concentrations of bupivacaine (0.2 % and 0.3 %) through a paravertebral catheter, both group plus fentanyl 2 mcg/ml. Methods: We conducted a randomized double-blind clinical tria...

We have undertaken a prospective, randomized comparison of the superficially similar techniques of interpleural and paravertebral (extrapleural) analgesia in 53 patients undergoing posterolateral thoracotomy. Local anaesthetic placed anterior to the superior costotransverse ligament and posterior to the parietal pleura produces a paravertebral block and instilled between the parietal and viscer...

BACKGROUND To identify and estimate the prevalence of mediastinal cysts lined by the epithelium expressing steroid receptors. METHODS We retrieved 19 mediastinal cysts from our pathology files from 1996 to 2004, and examined estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) expressions in the cysts. RESULTS Three paravertebral cysts, all in women, one bronchogenic cyst in a woman, nine ...

Extra-adrenal myelolipoma is a rare benign tumor which can occur in the abdomen, thorax, or even in the face. We present a case of 58-year-old woman patient with thoracic myelolipoma, which has manifested as three paravertebral masses at the level of T9 and T10. The computed tomography scan showed heterogenous enhancing masses, which contained fat component. She underwent video-assisted thoraco...

left ventricular outflow tract obstruction. In patients with predominant aortic regurgitation, especially those with bicuspid aortic valve or rheumatic fever associated with a geometric mismatch between the aortic and pulmonary valve due to dilated aortic annulus, the Ross procedure should be employed more selectively, and technical modifications that aim to prevent future annular and root dila...

BACKGROUND The spinal column including its vertebrae and disks has been well examined and extensively reported in relation to age-aggregated degeneration. In contrast, paravertebral muscles are poorly represented in describing normative degeneration. Increasing evidence points to the importance of paravertebral muscle quality in low back health, and their potential as a modifiable factor in low...

From the Department of Surgery (Patel, Urschel) and the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Management (Finlay, Schyra, Jones, Black, Dullye, Jennings, Hein, Ramsay), Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, Texas. This manuscript won the 2001 Institute of Surgical Pain Management Award for Excellence. Corresponding author: Amit N. Patel, Department of Surgery, Baylor University Medical Cent...