Tehran University Medical Journal

Background: Bier block is a reliable technique used in extremity surgeries. Typically, angiocatheters are palced in the distal portion of the extremity that is going to be operated. Although, it is not the case in every operation. Therefore, determining the effectiveness of the local anesthetic injection site on the quality of the upper-extremity block can be helpful.
Methods: In this double-blinded randomized clinical trial that took place in Kowsar Hospital (Sanandaj, Iran) at 2020, 60 patients after complete monitoring and sedation were assigned randomly into proximal bier block (32 in experimental) and distal bier block (28 in control) groups. 10ml/kg Ringer serum was prescribed for patients in both groups on the non-surgical hand. Depending on the patients’ placement in either group, an angiocatheter (22 or 24) was attached to the ante-cubital area (proximal bier block group) or on the back of the patient's hand (distal bier block group). Respectively, after blood was drained by a Smarch band from the extremity that was to be operated, the tourniquet was inflated up to 150mmHg above the patient’s systolic pressure and the smarch band is untied from the hand. For every patient regarding the group they were assigned, 3mg/kg lidocaine 0.5% was administered through an angiocatheter. After 5 minutes, the depth of patient's anesthesia and pain intensity were measured. Sensory and motor recovery was assessed every 10 minutes after surgery. Patient satisfaction with anesthesia was measured after the surgery and characterized by excellent, good, moderate (pain relief), and unsuccessful (need for pain medications) indicators. In case insufficient depth was reached, intravenous Remifentanil was injected.

Background: Spinal anesthesia is a type of neuraxial anesthesia that brings ample benefits. However, due to the fear of this type of anesthesia, many pregnant people refuse to experience it. In this study, we aimed to investigate the levels and causes of fear of spinal anesthesia in candidates for cesarean section.
Methods: The current study is a cross-sctional study performed on 67 patients undergoing cesarean section who were referred to the operation room of Shariati Hospital, in Tehran from September 2018 to September 2019. Matthey questionnaire, which consisted of three sections (demographic information, history of spinal anesthesia and fear of anesthesia), was filled out by candidates and after collecting information, the data were analyzed by SPSS software.

Today surgery is supposed as the cure for many diseases and the fear of post-operation pain burdens stress over the patients. Postoperative pain can, especially if severe, complicate the patient's condition and may lead to chronic postoperative pain. post-operation pain control is effective in the recovery process, hospitalization period and patients’ satisfaction. Insufficient post-operation pain control increases complications and care costs. Local analgesia is one of the components of multimodal postoperative. analgesic protocol to control pain. Local analgesia technique is a simple, accessible and feasible method for various surgeries. The opioid analgesics to control post-operation pain are associated with some complications such as opium addiction, nausea and vomiting, late return of bowel function and social costs. This review study aims. to review previous studies on the effect of injection of analgesic agents in the surgical incision in post-operation pain control. This is a Narrative review study. to related scientific documentaries a search was conducted in Persian and English using the keywords of local injection of the incision site, wound infiltration with analgesic agents and post-operation pain control in Google scholar, PubMed and Scopus database during the years 2000 to 2020. The obtained articles included systematic reviews, Meta-analyses and randomized clinical trials (RCT). We reviewed studies that had utilized single-dose injection of analgesic agents in surgical incisions at the end of surgery to control post-operation pain. A total of ten studies were reviewed. There were 4 studies in the field of laparoscopic gynecological and non-gynecological surgeries, three studies in the field of laparotomy and three review studies. injection of analgesic agents in the surgical incision to control post-operation pain is easily available and does not necessitate any special skill. On the other hand, it is a safe method without further complications and does not increase the duration of surgery. Regardless of the differences in various studies and the kind of analgesic agents, a general reduction in pain severity and consumption of opioid and non-opioid analgesic agents were observed using the injection of analgesic agents in surgical site incision.

Background: One of the most important issues for patients with osteoarthritis is reducing pain and returning them to normal life. In addition to losing weight and improving daily activities, pain management treatments may be needed. One of these treatments is the injection of hyaluronic acid gel into the knee joint, which has been studied in this study.

Background: Cataracts are the leading diseases that cause blindness. Cataracts can be treated with surgery. Pain, itching, burning, and a foreign body sensation in the eye are common ocular complaints of patients in recovery. In this study, we compared the effect of Ketorolac eye drops and naphazoline antazoline eye drops on reducing complaints of surgery.
Methods: This randomized clinical trial study was performed from February 2016 to March 2017 on patients who were candidates for cataract surgery at Feyz University Hospital in Isfahan, Iran.  In this study, 54 patients were enrolled in two groups receiving Ketorolac eye drops and naphazoline antazoline (NA) eye drops. After the operation, patients' ocular complaints such as burning, itching, pain, and severity were evaluated every 15 minutes in recovery and every half hour in the ward until discharge from the hospital.
Results: In this study, 54 patients in two groups of 27 were studied. In the post-anesthesia care unit, the burning sensation in the naphazoline-antazoline group was significantly lower than in the ketorolac group (P=0.02). Patients in the NA group had less foreign body sensation in the eye in recovery (P=0.97) and the ward (P<0.001) than in the ketorolac group. Mean Pain intensity in the recovery unit (P=0.39) and ward unit in the ketorolac group were less than NA (P<0.001). In the recovery unit in the NA group, the eye-burning sensation was significantly lower than in the ketorolac group. The foreign body sensation in the NA group was less than the ketorolac group but there was no significant difference between the two groups. In the NA group, itching of the eyes was less than in the ketorolac group.
Conclusion: It can be concluded that ketorolac drops have been more effective in reducing post-operative eye pain than NA and NA drops have been more effective in reducing burning, itching and foreign body sensation in the eyes than Ketorolac.

Background: There are many conservative interventions to reduce the symptoms of coccydynia, but it is not clear which treatment can be more effective. The aim of this review study was to evaluate the types of conservative interventions and the effectiveness of each of them in reducing coccydynia symptoms.
Methods: This systematic review was carried out based on PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) instruction. A search for research studies published up to October 2021 was conducted in Neuromusculoskeletal Research Center, Firoozgar General Hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, using Scopus, Science Direct, Web of Knowledge and Cochrane without data constraints. The search was carried out in October 2021 and continued for seven months. The quality of the articles was evaluated using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database scale (PEDro). All prospective randomized clinical trial studies in which participants suffered from coccydynia  and were treated with nonsurgical treatments  were included.

Results: 945 articles were found in the primary search of the databases. After eliminating 493 repetitive papers, 452 studies remained which were screened by the two researchers of this study in terms of the title and abstract. 40 studies were selected for full-text evaluation. Finally, 12 articles were included in the review study. Two papers used extracorporeal shockwave, two papers used impar ganglion block, three papers manual therapy, and four studies injection. The remaining four studies used iontophoresis with ketoprofen, biofeedback therapy, acupuncture, and physiotherapy with Kinesio taping. Conclusion: Treatment with extracorporeal shock wave and impar ganglion block significantly improve tailbone pain and show more permanent effects on patients' symptoms. Manual therapies are mostly used in cases where the tailbone is stable. It seems that achieving the desired response requires more than six sessions, which is not pleasant for patients. Injections, especially those performed under fluoroscopic guidance, require high skill in addition to being unpleasant and painful. However, this procedure is done in one session, so there is no need for the next visit.

Background: Fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) is usually used to distinguish the malignant and benign nodules. Applying a biopsy needle evokes a sense of fear and pain in the patients. Although some studies refute the usefulness of local anesthesia (LA) prior to fine needle aspiration biopsy, it is still debatable. This prospective cross-sectional study intended to evaluate the effect of LA prior to fine needle aspiration biopsy on pain and anxiety considering nodule size.
Methods: Amongst the patients who were referred to Shiraz Shahid Fagihi Hospital for Thyroid fine needle aspiration biopsy from August 2017 to January 2018, 114 patients participated in this study. LA was performed for 41 patients, and 73 underwent the thyroid nodule fine needle aspiration biopsy without LA. Patients' pain and anxiety were scored using the visual-analog-score and Spielberger anxiety scale. The nodules were categorized into five groups. Pain and anxiety of patients were compared considering their nodule sizes to assess the effects of LA in the reduction of pain and anxiety considering the nodule size.

Results: The patients undergoing LA had a mean age of 44.69 years old and average body mass index (BMI) of 26.7, the patients who performed thyroid nodule fine needle aspiration biopsy without LA had a mean age of 48.17 years old with an average BMI of 26.0. The patients with the maximum nodule size of<10 mm, experienced more pain during the fine needle aspiration biopsy without LA, but there was no significant difference between the S/T-anxiety of these patients. There was no significant difference between the pain and anxiety scores of the patients with larger nodules. Conclusion: The more pain experienced by the patients with the smallest nodules can be attributed to the need for more needle manipulation due to the small nodule size and less precision while piercing the needle into the nodule. Thus, it can be suggested that in patients with a small nodule size, less than 10mm, usage of LA prior to fine needle aspiration biopsy can reduce the pain significantly.

Background: Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is one of the most common spine disorders, which is seen in 65-80% of people. Knowing the normal patterns of spine and pelvic parameters is very helpful in determining the susceptible subjects for CLBP.
Methods: This study was conducted in healthy people during April 2017 until April 2018 in Golestan hospital of Ahvaz. Inclusion criteria include; Age group 20-65 years, no history of surgery, spine disorders, and having normal radiographs were performed. People who have complained of back pain in the last three months, neuromuscular disease, lumbosacral anomalies, kyphosis and obvious scoliosis, history of spine surgery and vertebral fracture, were excluded. A 36-inch radiology stereotype was prepared in the standing position. Pelvic and spine parameters that were investigated in this research included the following, Pelvic incidence, Pelvic tilt, Sagittal Vertical Axis, T9 Sagittal Angle, Thoracic Kyphosis, Lumbar Lordosis, and Sacral Slope. All data were analyzed with SPSS software, version 24 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA).

Results: 50 participants including 27(54%) men and 23(46%) women with an average age of 33±12.5 years and BMI of 25±5.5 kg/m2 were examined. After examining the vertebral and pelvic parameters, it was found that PI is significantly higher in women than in men (P=0.02). It was also found that with increasing age, the amount of Pelvic incidence also increases (P=0.043), so that in people over 60 years of age, the amount of pelvic incidence is significantly higher than other people (P<0.05). Further analyzes showed that BMI has a direct effect on the amount of Thoracic Kyphosis (P=0.03) and Lumbar Lordosis (P=0.04). Thus, the highest amount of Lumbar Lordosis and Thoracic Kyphosis was seen in people with BMI 30-34.9 Kg/m2. Conclusion: The findings of the present study showed that spine and pelvis indices have an important effect on the occurrence of CLBP. Hence, it is highly recommended to check these parameters in asymptomatic people, especially in older people.

Background: In this study, the effect of intravenous dexamethasone on pain, nausea and vomiting after laparoscopic ovarian surgery was investigated.
Methods: This randomized clinical trial was conducted from June 2019 to March 2019 on patients undergoing laparoscopic ovarian cystectomy in Beheshti Hospital, Isfahan. In this study, 88 patients aged 18 to 45 years were included in the study. Patients were randomly divided into two groups receiving dexamethasone (D) and normal saline (S). Two minutes before induction of anesthesia, the first group received 8 mg (2 ml) of dexamethasone and the second group received normal saline (2 ml). The duration of surgery and stay in recovery, the frequency of pain and nausea and vomiting, the need for analgesic and anti-nausea drugs, and the cardiovascular response during the study were evaluated and recorded.

Results:  No significant difference was seen in terms of demographic characteristics between the two groups (P>0.05). The frequency of pain during recovery (P=0.4) was not significantly different between the two groups, but at 2 hours (P=0.005), 12 hours (P<0.001) and 24 hours after the operation (P=0.005) (P=0) was significantly lower than S group. The frequency of nausea in group D during recovery (P=0.003), 2 hours later (P<0.001), and 12 hours (P=0.002) was significantly lower than group S, but 24 hours after the surgery, there was no significant difference between the two groups (P=0.15). During recovery, there was no vomiting in both groups (P=1), the frequency of vomiting in 2 hours (P=0.003), 12 hours (P<0.002) and 24 hours after the operation (P=0.48) in group D was lower than S. At the time of the study, the dose of diclofenac and metoclopramide received in group D patients was lower than group S. There was no significant difference in cardiovascular response between the two groups during the study (P>0.05). Conclusion: Dexamethasone with a dose of 8 mg before induction of anesthesia can be effective in reducing pain, nausea and vomiting after laparoscopic ovarian surgery and reducing the need for analgesics and anti-nausea drugs.

Background: Due to the prevalence of laparoscopic cholecystectomy, controlling common problems after this surgery is essential. This study aimed to determine the factors affecting pain after laparoscopic cholecystectomy.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 222 patients over 18 years old with symptomatic gallstones who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy from March 2021 to February 2022 in Mashhad Medical Sciences of Islamic Azad University Hospitals, were included. The amount of analgesic received after surgery was the same for all patients (Acetaminophen 1 gram intravenously every 8 hours and diclofenac 100 mg rectal every 8 hours). Demographic information of patients, body mass index, history of abdominal surgery, duration of surgery, carbon dioxide pressure, type of surgery (elective or emergency), number of surgical incisions, and pain intensity six and 24 hours after surgery (using a visual analog scale) were collected, and finally, the findings were statistically analyzed by SPSS version 26.

Results: Out of 222 patients, 179 cases were women (80.6%), and their average age and body mass index were 44.68±12.27 years and 27.08±4.7 kg/m2, respectively. In our study, 110 people (49.5%) had a history of abdominal surgery, of which cesarean section was the most common delete. Pain six and 24 hours after the operation was more common in women than in men, and surgery with three incisions was more painful than surgery with four incisions (P<0.05). In patients with a history of surgery, the pain was greater in six hours after surgery (P<0.05). Pain 24 hours after the operation in patients with gas pressure less than or equal to 14mmHg was greater than in patients with gas pressure greater than 14 mmHg (P<0.05). Pain six and 24 hours after surgery according to age, body mass index, type of surgery (emergency or elective), and duration of surgery had no statistically significant difference (P>0.05). Conclusion: In our study, female gender, use of three incisions for surgery, and history of previous surgery were associated with more pain after laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

Case Presentation: A 51-year-old male presented with sudden-onset left side hemiparesis and impaired sensation on the left side of the body, eight years ago. He complained of gradually developing pain on the left side of the body, adding to his symptoms. In his examination, he had dysarthria and his left extremities were spastic and their forces were decreased. Despite numerous medical treatments with gabapentin, pregabalin, duloxetine, carbamazepine and the replacement of an intrathecal baclofen pump during the last few years, he didn't respond very well. This goes so far as to induce severe depression symptoms, which disturbed his daily routine and even induced suicidal ideas. Due to the debilitating symptoms which were resistant to medical treatment, the patient underwent deep brain electrode implantation and deep brain stimulation in the ventral posterior lateral/posterior medial nucleuses in April 2023 at Imam Khomeini Hospital. No remarkable adverse effects were observed after implantation. In the patient’s follow-up, he had a significant improvement in pain and some other symptoms. Conclusion: Deep brain stimulation of the thalamus nucleus is a known treatment in patients with Parkinson's disease and dystonia. However, for patients with chronic refractory pain, deep brain stimulation is a controversial therapy and has been introduced recently as an effective alternative treatment. In our patient, who suffers from severe unilateral refractory pain after stroke, a deep brain electrode was implanted and after deep brain stimulation significant improvement in pain was seen.

Background: Cataract surgery is the most common surgery in the world. The prevalence of age-related cataract increases with age, and its prevalence increases with each decade of age after forty years. Various drugs are used to control analgesia and hemodynamics in patients undergoing cataract surgery. The purpose of this study is to compare dexmedetomidine and 2% lidocaine in the control of analgesia and hemodynamic changes in cataract surgery with local anesthesia.
Methods: In this double-blind clinical trial study, 52 patients with anesthesia class I and II underwent cataract surgery. Patients were randomly assigned to two groups: lidocaine (three cc) and dexmedomedin (five μg/kg + lidocaine). The information collection checklist in this study included: age, gender, history of aspirin use, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, intraocular pressure, postoperative complications, and postoperative pain.

Results:  The Mann-Whitney U test showed that the Dex-Metomedin group had less pain than the Lidocaine group in the first hour after the intervention (P=0.012). Two hours after the intervention, the dexmedemodin group had less pain than the lidocaine group (P=0.001). In the investigation of IOP after retrobulbar block in the dexmedetomidine group, we saw a significant increase in IOP from 16.56±3.12 to 17.96±2.68 mmHg compared to before the block (P=0.001). In the lidocaine group, we also saw a significant increase in IOP from 16.18±3.66 to 19.66±4.67 mm Hg compared to before the block (P=0.001). Before and after retrobulbar block, there was no significant difference between the two groups (P=0.694 and P=0.108, respectively). To investigate the effect of these interventions more precisely, the amount of IOP pressure change was also compared between the two groups, and we saw a greater increase in the lidocaine group than in the dexmedetomidine group (P=0.002). Conclusion: The results of the present study showed that dexmedetomidine + lidocaine in retrobulbar form compared to lidocaine was able to control the pain level of patients after surgery and systolic and diastolic blood pressure during surgery. It is suggested to use this drug as local anesthesia in cataract surgery.

Tendon ruptures may occur as a result of acute injuries or degenerative changes in the tendons caused by aging, excessive and long-term use of the shoulders, and sudden wear and tear. This tear may be partial or completely separate the tendon from its attachment to the bone. Rotator cuff tendinopathy of the shoulder is one of the common causes in patients that affect the daily performance and quality of life. Tendinopathy problems are one of the most common problems of people who refer to medical centers, and in some people, improvement is very important because of their job position. Platelet-rich plasma has received attention due to having growth factors involved in tissue repair in tendinopathy patients. This review study examined the clinical effect of platelet-rich plasma injection in rotator cuff tendinopathy, as well as other studies comparing it with corticosteroids. A literature search was conducted in various scientific databases to obtain articles up to 2022 examining the clinical effects of PRP injection on tendinopathy. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is one of the products derived from blood that contains a greater number of physiological platelets. PRP contains a large amount of growth factors such as TGF-β, platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and epidermal growth factor (EGF), which play an important role in cell proliferation, cell differentiation, chemotaxis and angiogenesis. These growth factors are significantly upregulated following tendon injury and are active at different stages of the healing process. Platelet-rich plasma is an autologous source of growth factors and has been shown to be beneficial in the treatment of tendinopathy and osteoarthritis. PRP injection can be recommended as a suitable and desirable method in tendinopathy and rotator cuff tear patients, especially in adults, and can be substituted for corticosteroids. PRP is a minimally invasive treatment method that is used to treat muscle diseases and tendon injuries. In this method, blood is taken from the person, and after that, the components of the blood are separated during a process, and the platelet-enriched plasma is re-injected into the muscles and tendons of the shoulder.

Results: In the study of baseline variables in the elderly with and without pain with diabetes, it was found that women reported more pain with 54.4% than men with 45.6% that there is a significant difference between the two sexes (P=0.0001). Education level was also associated with having pain so that 67.8% of the elderly with having pain were illiterate and this relationship was significant (P=0.006). 82.5% of the elderly with higher physical activity had less pain than the elderly with less physical activity. This indicates the effect of physical activity in reducing pain and the observed relationship was significant (P=0.001). Triglyceride levels and history of underlying disease were lower in painless elderly (P=0.009 and P=0.002). Physical activity in the elderly without pain was higher than the elderly who had pain and this significant difference was reported (P=0.002).
Conclusion: The results of this study indicate a high prevalence of chronic pain in the elderly in Amirkola. In the elderly without chronic pain, there were lower triglyceride levels, more physical activity and fewer underlying diseases. Attention to chronic pain features among elderly to identify vulnerable groups and providing better care can increase the quality of life in this group.
 

Background: The most common cause of Shoulder pain is inflammation in the subacromial bursa. Intra-bursal corticosteroid injections are one of the most common methods in cases of bursitis. Recently, botulinum toxin A injection has also been used as a safe treatment in these patients. This injection does not have many of corticosteroid disadvantages. The most important disadvantages of this method are its cost. This study was performed to compare corticosteroids with botulinum toxin A in the treatment of subacromial bursitis by single injection.
Methods: This study is a prospective randomized clinical trial performed on patients with rotator cuff tendinopathy who were referred to the physical medicine and rehabilitation clinic of Iran University of Medical Sciences from November 2020 to October 2021. 54 patients with signs and symptoms of rotator cuff tendinopathy, were randomly assigned to one of the two groups of botulinum toxin A or corticosteroid injection. Routine treatment included exercise training for all patients. Patient's symptoms were assessed using VAS, Constant Score and SPADI criteria before treatment, two weeks and two months after injection.
Results: In the VAS study, both groups showed an improvement over baseline (P=0.000), which was significantly greater in the corticosteroid group. VAS between the first and second follow-up showed a decrease in the botulinum toxin A group and an increase in the corticosteroid group. In the Constant Score and SPADI study, both groups showed an improvement over baseline.
Conclusion: This study showed that a single-session injection of botulinum toxin A is less effective than corticosteroid in controlling symptoms of these patients. However, the therapeutic effect of botulinum toxin A, remains 2 months and unlike corticosteroid, has more reliability and durability.

Background: Ankle sprain is one of the most common sports injuries and accounts for 10 to 30 percent of sports injuries, especially in athletes. This injury can lead to pain, imbalance, and movement restriction, and therefore has a significant impact on athletes' performance. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of dry needling on tissue repair of ligamentous injury in the acute phase of ankle sprain.
Methods: This double-blind clinical trial study was conducted on 52 patients with ankle sprains at Imam Reza Hospital in 2023. Patients were divided into two groups: control and intervention. The control group received conventional treatment including medication and splints, while the intervention group received dry needling in addition to conventional treatments. Data analysis was performed using SPSS version 21 software and descriptive statistics and inferential statistical tests at a significance level of P<0.05.
Results: The results showed that the intervention group showed significant improvement in pain (P=0.002), activities of daily living (P<0.001), sports activities (P<0.001), plantar flexion (P=0.027), dorsiflexion (P=0.003), inversion (P=0.012), and edema (P=0.005) compared to the control group. However, there was no significant difference in symptom severity (P=0.752) and quality of life (P=0.348) between the two groups. Overall patient change analysis showed that most patients in the intervention group improved, while only 7.7% in the control group improved.
Conclusion:  A combination of splinting, medication, and dry needling can be effective in improving pain, daily activities, exercise and recreation, range of motion, and edema in patients with ankle sprains. These findings can provide a basis for implementing new treatment protocols for the management of ankle sprains in athletes and other injured patients. It is recommended that further studies be conducted on the long-term effects of dry needling and other therapeutic interventions to further identify their potential to accelerate the recovery process in patients.
 

Background: Chronic abdominal pain, which is defined as long-term or intermittent abdominal pain, is a common problem in children. Helicobacter pylori infection is acquired in childhood and is one of the important causes of peptic ulcer disease (PUD) and stomach cancer, so this study was conducted with the aim of investigating the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori in children with chronic abdominal pain referred to Imam Hospital in 1402.
Methods: This study is descriptive-cross-sectional and the statistical population of children with chronic abdominal pain referred to Imam Khomeini Hospital in Ilam city in 1402 was tested for Helicobacter bacteria. Helicobacter pylori was checked using stool antigen test.
Results: This study was conducted on 140 children with chronic abdominal pain with an average age of 7.06 years in the age range of 2-16 years, the majority of children living in Ilam city were boys. The type of feeding was reported in all children as regular, and the majority of them were the result of cesarean delivery (67.9%). The prevalence of 40.7% showed HP positivity in children with chronic abdominal pain. The majority of children in the age group of 4-8 years had Helicobacter pylori positive, 20 people (35.7%) and in children older than 12 years, Helicobacter pylori had the lowest frequency. The prevalence of Helicobacter pylori was reported more in girls than in boys, and among the studied cities it was the highest. The outbreak was in the city of Ilam. There was no difference between the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori with age, sex, place of residence and type of delivery.
Conclusion: The general results of our study show that Helicobacter pylori is an important factor for chronic abdominal pain in children, but factors such as sex, place of residence and type of delivery do not affect its prevalence. It is suggested that in future studies, the family history, parents' infection with Helicobacter pylori and its relationship with transmission to the child should be measured.