Cluster headache is a variant of primary neurovascular headaches. some patients with cluster headache are not responsive to medical treatment and may benefit from interventional modalities, including sphenopalatine ganglion block and denervation.

Our purpose was to evaluate the efficacy of sphenopalatine ganglion block/denervation in the treatment of cluster headache.

In this study, we performed the sphenopalatine ganglion block for patients with cluster headaches, intractable to medical therapy, who were referred to our pain clinic between 2014 and 2018. We registered the following information for all patients demographic data, pain relief, and pain intensity. First, we conducted a prognostic C-arm-guided sphenopalatine ganglion block. If there was at least 50% pain relief within the first 5 h, then we denervated the ganglion by radiofrequency ablation. The main outcome of the study (dependent variable) was pain relief. We followed the patients for 6 months.

Among 23 enrolled patients, 19 consented to interventional treatment. Fifteen out of 19 patients (79%) had an acceptable response to the prognostic block. Ultimately, 11 patients underwent ganglion denervation, and 4 patients did not consent for ganglion ablation. Pain relief at intervals of 48 h, and 1, 3, and 6 months after ganglion denervation was 77, 59, 50, and 31 percent, respectively.

Sphenopalatine ganglion conventional radiofrequency denervation can effectively decrease the pain intensity of the patients with cluster headache for at least several months.

Sphenopalatine ganglion conventional radiofrequency denervation can effectively decrease the pain intensity of the patients with cluster headache for at least several months.

Prolotherapy, as an alternative therapy, has emerged as an effective treatment for chronic musculoskeletal injury, including knee osteoarthritis (OA). Several studies have mention ozone as a potential treatment for these diseases, which is based on analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-oxidant.

The current study aimed to investigate the effect of adding ozone gas to hypertonic dextrose and somatropin for knee prolotherapy in patients with knee OA. For this purpose, pain, knee stiffness, and physical activity are measured.

Sixty patients with chronic knee OA were randomly assigned into two groups of DS and DSO. The DS group received intra-articular hypertonic dextrose (10 ml) plus 4 IU somatropin (4 IU), and the DSO group received 10 ml ozone 25 mcg plus intervention in the DS group. click here This procedure was performed three times (first, third, and fifth weeks). WOMAC score was examined during the third, fifth, and sixteenth weeks.

The mean WOMAC score of the DS group was decreased significantly (P < 0.001) sixteen weeks after providing the intervention (before 64.9 ± 10.6, vs. after 49.2 ± 9.0). A similar decrease (P < 0.001) was observed in the DSO group (before 64.1 ± 11.3, vs. after 41.3 ± 8.0). The decrease of the WOMAC score in the third and sixteenth weeks after providing the intervention was significant in the DSO group compared to the DS group (P < 0.005).

For patients with knee OA, prolotherapy with ozone plus hypertonic dextrose and somatropin was more effective in sedating the pain and improving the stiffness and function of the knee than dextrose and somatropin alone.

For patients with knee OA, prolotherapy with ozone plus hypertonic dextrose and somatropin was more effective in sedating the pain and improving the stiffness and function of the knee than dextrose and somatropin alone.

Aspiration is one of the important complications of general anesthesia, although infrequent as well as accompanying high morbidity and mortality. The volume of gastric content is considered as a risk factor in this regard. Therefore, it is normally mostly recommend to consider proper fasting time before induction of general anesthesia.

This study was conducted to assess the effect of metoclopramide on reducing gastric contents in patients with incomplete fasting before induction of general anesthesia.

This quasi-experimental study was conducted on patients with urgent surgical indications with incomplete NPO time. Every other patient received metoclopramide or placebo. Patients in the intervention group received 10 mg (2 ml) of intravenous metoclopramide, and patients in the control group received 2 ml of distilled water as a placebo. Patients in both groups underwent ultrasonography before starting surgery by an expert radiologist to calculate gastric antral grade (GAG) and cross-sectional antral area re assessed as a suboptimal gastric emptying test method, it was found that metoclopramide could accelerate gastric emptying compared to placebo in patients with incomplete fasting before induction of general anesthesia.

In the current study in which ultrasonographic indexes, including GAG and CSA, were assessed as a suboptimal gastric emptying test method, it was found that metoclopramide could accelerate gastric emptying compared to placebo in patients with incomplete fasting before induction of general anesthesia.

Knowledge about clinical features of critically ill patients with COVID-19 still lacks adequate information up to now.

We aimed to describe and compare the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of critically ill patients with COVID-19 in Rasoul Akram Hospital.

In this case series, 70 critically ill patients with COVID-19 admitted in ICU wards of Rasoul Akram Hospital, Tehran, Iran, from 29 February to 25 April 2020 were enrolled. Demographic and clinical characteristics, laboratory data, and outcomes of the patients were all collected and compared between deceased and recovered patients.

Fifty-six cases had died of COVID-19, and 14 patients had fully recovered and discharged. The median age of the patients was 68 years old, ranging from 22 to 91 years, 66% were men, 80% had one or more comorbidities, and hypertension was the most common comorbidities (45% of deceased cases). The most common signs and symptoms at the onset of illness were SPO

depression (92%) and dyspnea (90%). Dyspnea was significantly more common in deceased patients (95%) than recovered patients (70%) (P = 0.048). Most patients had lymphopenia (80%). The number of patients who needed mechanical ventilation in the deceased patients was 53 (95%), which was significantly more than the recovered patients (10 [70%]) (P = 0.048).

The mortality rate of critically ill patients with COVID-19 is very high, and the patients with dyspnea and required mechanical ventilation are at higher risk for death.

The mortality rate of critically ill patients with COVID-19 is very high, and the patients with dyspnea and required mechanical ventilation are at higher risk for death.