Drug-Free Interventions to Reduce Pain or Opioid Consumption After Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

IMPORTANCE: There is increased interest in nonpharmacological treatments to reduce pain after total knee arthroplasty. Yet, little consensus supports the effectiveness of these interventions. OBJECTIVE: To systematically review and meta-analyze evidence of nonpharmacological interventions for postoperative pain management after total knee arthroplasty. DATA SOURCES: Database searches of MEDLINE (PubMed), EMBASE (OVID), Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Web of Science (ISI database), Physiotherapy Evidence (PEDRO) database, and ClinicalTrials.gov for the period between January 1946 and April 2016. STUDY SELECTION: Randomized clinical trials comparing nonpharmacological interventions with other interventions in combination with standard care were included. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: Two reviewers independently extracted the data from selected articles using a standardized form and assessed the risk of bias. A random-effects model was used for the analyses. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Postoperative pain and consumption of opioids and analgesics. RESULTS: Of 5509 studies, 39 randomized clinical trials were included in the meta-analysis (2391 patients). The most commonly performed interventions included continuous passive motion, preoperative exercise, cryotherapy, electrotherapy, and acupuncture. Moderate-certainty evidence showed that electrotherapy reduced the use of opioids (mean difference, -3.50; 95% CI, -5.90 to -1.10 morphine equivalents in milligrams per kilogram per 48 hours; P = .004; I2 = 17%) and that acupuncture delayed opioid use (mean difference, 46.17; 95% CI, 20.84 to 71.50 minutes to the first patient-controlled analgesia; P < .001; I2 = 19%). There was low-certainty evidence that acupuncture improved pain (mean difference, -1.14; 95% CI, -1.90 to -0.38 on a visual analog scale at 2 days; P = .003; I2 = 0%). Very low-certainty evidence showed that cryotherapy was associated with a reduction in opioid consumption (mean difference, -0.13; 95% CI, -0.26 to -0.01 morphine equivalents in milligrams per kilogram per 48 hours; P = .03; I2 = 86%) and in pain improvement (mean difference, -0.51; 95% CI, -1.00 to -0.02 on the visual analog scale; P < .05; I2 = 62%). Low-certainty or very low-certainty evidence showed that continuous passive motion and preoperative exercise had no pain improvement and reduction in opioid consumption: for continuous passive motion, the mean differences were -0.05 (95% CI, -0.35 to 0.25) on the visual analog scale (P = .74; I2 = 52%) and 6.58 (95% CI, -6.33 to 19.49) opioid consumption at 1 and 2 weeks (P = .32, I2 = 87%), and for preoperative exercise, the mean difference was -0.14 (95% CI, -1.11 to 0.84) on the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index Scale (P = .78, I2 = 65%). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In this meta-analysis, electrotherapy and acupuncture after total knee arthroplasty were associated with reduced and delayed opioid consumption.

Training to be an historian of anesthesia: options at universities in the United States.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To determine whether a lack of training opportunities explains the finding that few anesthesia historians have obtained formal training in history. DESIGN: Prospective study. SETTING: University hospital. MEASUREMENTS: A list of 128 medical schools within the United States (U.S.) was obtained from the Association of American Medical Colleges and information about graduate programs in history, history of science, and history of medicine was gathered. Editorial board members of journals affiliated with professional associations in history, history of science, and history of medicine were also queried. MAIN RESULTS: We were unable to identify any U.S. institution that offered graduate training in history of anesthesia, while only a handful offered such training in history of medicine. As a result, individuals wishing to pursue doctoral training in history of medicine often enroll in programs devoted to history of science, but with an emphasis on medicine. The vast majority of affiliated universities offer doctoral programs in history. We identified programs that may be considered centers of excellence based on affiliations of editorial board members. CONCLUSIONS: Graduate training in history of anesthesia is currently unavailable, and specific opportunities in history of medicine are quite limited. Individuals wishing to obtain formal training in history of anesthesia need to enroll in a history of science or history of medicine program, and choose a research topic in history of anesthesia.