Schroeder, Darrell R.

Abstract Background: Assessment of nicotine metabolism and disposition has become an integral part of nicotine dependency treatment programs. Serum nicotine concentrations or urine cotinine concentrations can be used to guide nicotine patch dose to achieve biological concentrations adequate to provide the patient with immediate relief from nicotine withdrawal symptoms, an important factor in nicotine withdrawal success. Absence of nicotine metabolites and anabasine can be used to document abstinence from tobacco products, an indicator of treatment success. Methods: The procedure was designed to quantify nicotine, cotinine, trans-3′-hydroxycotinine, anabasine, and nornicotine in human serum or urine. The technique required simple extraction of the sample with quantification by HPLC–tandem mass spectrometry. Results: The procedure for simultaneous analysis of nicotine, its metabolites, and tobacco alkaloids simultaneously quantified five different analytes. Test limit of quantification, linearity, imprecision, and accuracy were adequate for clinical evaluation of patients undergoing treatment for tobacco dependency. The test readily distinguished individuals who had no exposure to tobacco products from individuals who were either passively exposed or were abstinent past-tobacco users from those who were actively using a tobacco or nicotine product. Conclusions: Nicotine, cotinine, trans-3′-hydroxycotinine, nornicotine, and anabasine can be simultaneously and accurately quantified in either serum or urine by HPLC–tandem mass spectrometry with imprecision <10% at physiologic concentrations and limits of quantification ranging from 0.5 to 5 μg/L. Knowledge of serum or urine concentrations of these analytes can be used to guide nicotine replacement therapy or to assess tobacco abstinence in nicotine dependency treatment. These measurements are now an integral part of the clinical treatment and management of patients who wish to overcome tobacco dependence.

Background: Debate surrounds the issue of whether peripheral nerve blockade or periarticular infiltration (PAI) should be employed within a contemporary, comprehensive multimodal analgesia pathway for total hip arthroplasty. We hypothesized that patients treated with a continuous posterior lumbar plexus block (PNB) would report less pain and consume less opioid medication than those treated with PAI. Methods: This investigator-initiated, independently funded, 3-arm randomized clinical trial (RCT) performed at a single high-volume institution compared postoperative analgesia interventions for elective, unilateral primary total hip arthroplasty: (1) PNB; (2) PAI with ropivacaine, ketorolac, and epinephrine (PAI-R); and (3) PAI with liposomal bupivacaine, ketorolac, and epinephrine (PAI-L) using computerized randomization. The primary outcome was maximum pain during the morning (06:00 to 12:00) of the first postoperative day (POD) on an ascending numeric rating scale (NRS) from 0 to 10. Pairwise treatment comparisons were performed using the rank-sum test, with a p value of <0.017 indicating significance (Bonferroni adjusted). A sample size of 150 provided 80% power to detect a difference of 2.0 NRS units. Results: We included 159 patients (51, 54, and 54 patients in the PNB, PAI-R, and PAI-L groups, respectively). No significant differences were found with respect to the primary end point on the morning of the first POD (median, 3.0, 4.0, and 3.0, respectively; p > 0.033 for all). Opioid consumption was low and did not differ across groups at any intervals. Median maximum pain on POD 1 was 5.0, 5.5, and 4.0, respectively, and was lower for the PAI-L group than for the PAI-R group (p = 0.006). On POD 2, maximum pain (median, 3.5, 5.0, and 3.5, respectively) was lower for the PNB group (p = 0.014) and PAI-L group (p = 0.016) compared with the PAI-R group. The PAI-L group was not significantly different from the PNB group with respect to any outcomes: postoperative opioid use including rescue intravenous opioid medication, length of stay, and hospital adverse events, and 3-month follow-up data including any complication. Conclusions: In this RCT, we found a modest improvement with respect to analgesia in patients receiving PNB compared with those receiving PAI-R, but not compared with those who had PAI-L. Secondary analyses suggested that PNB or PAI-L provides superior postoperative analgesia compared with PAI-R. For primary total hip arthroplasty, a multimodal analgesic regimen including PNB or PAI-L provides opioid-limiting analgesia. Level of Evidence: Therapeutic Level I . See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

BACKGROUND: We evaluated the hypothesis that the rate of postoperative decline in global cognition is greater in older adults exposed to general anesthesia with nitrous oxide (N 2 O) compared to general anesthesia without N 2 O. METHODS: Longitudinal measures of cognitive function were analyzed in nondemented adults, 70–91 years of age, enrolled in the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging. Linear mixed-effects models with time-varying covariates assessed the relationship between exposure to surgery with general anesthesia (surgery/GA) with or without N 2 O and the rate of long-term cognitive changes. Global cognition and domain-specific cognitive outcomes were defined using z scores, which measure how far an observation is, in standard deviations, from the unimpaired population mean. RESULTS: The analysis included 1819 participants: 280 exposed to GA without N 2 O following enrollment and before censoring during follow-up (median [interquartile range {IQR}] follow-up of 5.4 [3.9–7.9] years); 256 exposed to GA with N 2 O (follow-up 5.6 [4.0–7.9] years); and 1283 not exposed to surgery/GA (follow-up 4.1 [2.5–6.4] years). The slope of the global cognitive z score was significantly more negative following exposure to surgery/GA after enrollment (change in slope of −0.062 [95% confidence interval {CI}, −0.085 to −0.039] for GA without N 2 O, and −0.058 [95% CI, −0.080 to −0.035] for GA with N 2 O, both P < .001). The change in slope following exposure to surgery/GA did not differ between those exposed to anesthesia without versus with N 2 O (estimated difference −0.004 [95% CI, −0.035 to 0.026], P = .783). CONCLUSIONS: Exposure to surgery/GA is associated with a small, but statistically significant decline in cognitive z scores. Cognitive decline did not differ between anesthetics with and without N 2 O. This finding provides evidence that the use of N 2 O in older adults does not need to be avoided because of concerns related to decline in cognition.

Background Women are entering medical school in record numbers, but multiple male-dominated medical specialties still exist, including pain medicine. It is not well-understood how gender diversity in academic pain medicine faculty affects fellow matriculation between female and male applicants. Objective We conducted a survey to ascertain whether gender diversity of those in leadership roles in pain medicine programs impacts the gender diversity of fellows in those programs. Methods A questionnaire was delivered to all Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-accredited pain medicine fellowships to assess their demographic data in 2018. Program characteristics are summarized using median (25th, 75th) for continuous variables and frequency counts and percentages for categorical variables. Analyses were then performed using a generalized linear mixed model with a logit link function and fellowship program included as a random effect. The gender of the fellow was the dependent variable and the program characteristics were the explanatory variables. Results Data from 45 of 104 fellowship programs (43% response rate) are included. From univariate analysis, the odds of a fellow being female were higher in programs with a female program director (OR=2.17, 95% CI 1.29 to 3.65, p=0.004) and in programs with a higher percentage of female faculty (OR=1.02, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.04, p=0.027). From multivariable analysis, having a female program director was the only program characteristic found to be significantly associated with female fellows (OR=2.07, 95% CI 1.05 to 4.11, p=0.037). Conclusions Pain medicine fellowship programs with a female program director were significantly more likely to have female fellows.

Objective: Much has been written about the patients’ perspective concerning weight management in health care. The purpose of this survey study was to assess perspectives of primary care providers (PCPs) and nurses toward patient weight management and identify possible areas of growth. Patients and Methods: We emailed a weight management–focused survey to 674 eligible participants (437 [64.8%] nurses and 237 [35.2%] PCPs) located in 5 outpatient primary care clinics. The survey focused on opportunities, practices, knowledge, confidence, attitudes, and beliefs. A total of 219 surveys were returned (137 [62.6%] from nurses and 82 [34.4%] from PCPs). Results: Among 219 responders, 85.8% were female and 93.6% were white non-Hispanic. In this study, PCPs and nurses believed obesity to be a major health problem. While PCPs felt more equipped than nurses to address weight management ( P < .001) and reported receiving more training than nurses (50.0% vs 17.6%, respectively), both felt the need for more training on obesity (73.8% and 79.4%, respectively). Although, PCPs also spent more patient contact time providing weight management services versus nurses ( P < .001), the opportunity/practices score was lower for PCPs than nurses (−0.35 ± 0.44 vs −0.17 ± 0.41, P < .001) with PCPs more likely to say they lacked the time to discuss weight and they worried it would cause a poor patient-PCP relationship. The knowledge/confidence score also differed significantly between the groups, with nurses feeling less equipped to deal with weight management issues than PCPs (−0.42 ± 0.43 vs −0.03 ± 0.55, P < .001). Neither group seemed very confident, with those in the PCP group only answering with an average score of neutral. Conclusion: By asking nurses and PCP general questions about experiences, attitudes, knowledge, and opinions concerning weight management in clinical care, this survey has identified areas for growth in obesity management. Both PCPs and nurses would benefit from additional educational training on weight management.

AbstractIntroductionOur aim was to examine whether surgery with regional anesthesia (RA) is associated with accelerated long‐term cognitive decline comparable with that previously reported after general anesthesia (GA).MethodsLongitudinal cognitive function was analyzed in a cohort of 1819 older adults. Models assessed the rate of change in global and domain‐specific cognition over time in participants exposed to RA or GA.ResultsWhen compared with those unexposed to anesthesia, the postoperative rate of change of the cognitive global z‐score was greater in those exposed to both RA (difference in annual decline of −0.041, P = .011) and GA (−0.061, P < .001); these rates did not differ. In analysis of the domain‐specific scores, an accelerated decline in memory was observed after GA (−0.065, P < .001) but not RA (−0.011, P = .565).ConclusionsOlder adults undergoing surgery with RA experience decline of global cognition similar to those receiving GA; however, memory was not affected.

SummaryObjectiveWeight perception and degree of confidence in achieving healthy lifestyle can be determinants of engagement in obesity interventions. This study explored patients' perceived need for weight loss and the degree of self‐confidence in ability to lose weight and sought to identify factors associated with patients' self‐confidence in ability to lose weight.MethodsThe authors analysed data from a survey mailed to primary care patients within five sites of the Learning Health Systems Network that explored participants' prior experience with weight management.ResultsAmong the 2,263 participants who completed the survey section on ‘Patients’ Experience with Weight Management’, perceived need to lose 51 lb or more was statistically significant among those with class III obesity compared with other body mass index (BMI) groups (p value < 0.001). Reported desire to lose weight was also significantly higher among those with the highest BMI than those who were overweight (p value < 0.001). However, this same group had the lowest belief in ability to lose weight (p value < 0.001). In a multiple regression analysis, female gender, higher BMI and need to lose >10 lb were each independently associated with less belief in being able to lose weight.ConclusionsPatients had varying perceptions on weight loss; those with category III obesity had the highest desire to lose weight but had the least confidence in ability to lose weight. Higher BMI, female gender and need to lose >10 lb were associated with decreased self‐confidence in ability to lose weight.

Objectives: Clinicians recommend diet and exercise for overweight/obese patients. We conducted a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled clinical trial evaluating goal setting and pedometer use versus usual care on weight, waist circumference, and blood pressure of patients with multiple chronic conditions. Methods: In this trial, we recruited and randomized patients over 18 years with multiple chronic conditions. There were two groups with an immediate intervention group who received behavioral coaching and a pedometer versus a delayed control who received the intervention after 2 months. We evaluated body weight, waist circumference, and blood pressure as outcomes. We used analysis of covariance to evaluate differences between the intervention and the control groups. Results: Of 130 patients, mean age was 63.4 years (SD, 17.3). At 2 months, intervention participants lost 0.2 kg versus a 0.1-kg gain in the control participants ( P = .44). The immediate intervention group had significantly smaller waist circumference change at 2-month follow-up compared to control at −1.6 cm (95% confidence interval = −3.1 to −0.1), which was driven by an increase in waist circumference in the delayed control group. No difference in systolic blood pressure was observed. Discussion: We observed no difference in weight or blood pressure between the groups with obesity and multiple chronic conditions.

Objectives: Patients requiring admission to an ICU may subsequently experience cognitive decline. Our objective was to investigate longitudinal cognitive trajectories in older adults hospitalized in ICUs. We hypothesized that individuals hospitalized for critical illness develop greater cognitive decline compared with those who do not require ICU admission. Design: A retrospective cohort study using prospectively collected cognitive scores of participants enrolled in the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging and ICU admissions retrospectively ascertained from electronic medical records. A covariate-adjusted linear mixed effects model with random intercepts and slopes assessed the relationship between ICU admissions and the slope of global cognitive z scores and domains scores (memory, attention/executive, visuospatial, and language). Setting: ICU admissions and cognitive scores in the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging from October 1, 2004, to September 11, 2017. Patients: Nondemented participants age 50 through 91 at enrollment in the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging with an initial cognitive assessment and at least one follow-up visit. Interventions: None. Measurements and Main Results: Of 3,673 participants, 372 had at least one ICU admission with median (25–75th percentile) follow-up after first ICU admission of 2.5 years (1.2–4.4 yr). For global cognitive z score, admission to an ICU was associated with greater decline in scores over time compared with participants not requiring ICU admission (difference in annual slope = –0.028; 95% CI, –0.044 to –0.012; p < 0.001). ICU admission was associated with greater declines in memory (–0.029; 95% CI, –0.047 to –0.011; p = 0.002), attention/executive (–0.020; 95% CI, –0.037 to –0.004; p = 0.016), and visuospatial (–0.013; 95% CI, –0.026 to –0.001; p = 0.041) domains. ICU admissions with delirium were associated with greater declines in memory (interaction p = 0.006) and language (interaction p = 0.002) domains than ICU admissions without delirium. Conclusions: In older adults, ICU admission was associated with greater long-term cognitive decline compared with patients without ICU admission. These findings were more pronounced in those who develop delirium while in the ICU.