Publications by authors named "Denis Frasca"

Importance: There is no consensus in the field for the management of postthyroidectomy unilateral vocal fold paralysis (VFP). In cases where recurrent laryngeal nerve transection is not present, a local inflammatory process is thought to cause VFP. The findings suggest that corticosteroids may have a beneficial effect in managing this phenomenon.

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Introduction: Techniques for measuring digestive motility are becoming increasingly precise and enable therapeutic interventions. However, while most of these interventions require general anesthesia, there is limited data on the impact of anesthetic agents on these measurements, and no standardized anesthesia protocol currently exists to guide such procedures. Our working group carried out two Delphi processes involving experts in neurogastroenterology and anesthesiology to reach a consensus on which drugs affect these measurements and to establish an anesthesia protocol.

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Introduction: Surgical site infections (SSIs) are the second leading cause of healthcare-associated infections in Europe with the highest rates being reported in colorectal surgery (ranging from 9% to 30%). Surgical antibiotic prophylaxis (SAP) is one of the most efficient measures for SSI prevention and should be started before surgical incision. Cefoxitin is an antibiotic widely used as SAP for colorectal surgery, but its continuous administration is currently the subject of debate due to its potential pharmacokinetic advantages.

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Background: Patients with acute brain injury are at high risk of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). The benefit of short-term antibiotic prophylaxis remains debated. We aimed to establish the effect of an early, single dose of the antibiotic ceftriaxone on the incidence of early VAP in patients with severe brain injury who required mechanical ventilation.

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Objective: To develop a multidisciplinary French reference that addresses initial pre- and in-hospital management of a mild traumatic brain injury patient.

Design: A panel of 22 experts was formed on request from the French Society of Emergency Medicine (SFMU) and the French Society of Anaesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine (SFAR). A policy of declaration and monitoring of links of interest was applied and respected throughout the process of producing the guidelines.

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Multivariate longitudinal data are used in a variety of research areas not only because they allow to analyze time trajectories of multiple indicators, but also to determine how these trajectories are influenced by other covariates. In this article, we propose a mixture of longitudinal factor analyzers. This model could be used to extract latent factors representing multiple longitudinal noisy indicators in heterogeneous longitudinal data and to study the impact of one or several covariates on these latent factors.

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Unlabelled: The use of arterial catheters is frequent in intensive care for hemodynamic monitoring of patients and for blood sampling, but they are often removed because of dysfunction. The primary objective is to compare the prevalence of radial arterial catheter dysfunction according to location in relation to the radiocarpal joint in intensive care patients.

Design: Prospective randomized, controlled, single-center study.

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Background: Postoperative morbidity and mortality after cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) remain high despite recent advances in both anesthesia and perioperative management. Among modifiable risk factors for postoperative complications, optimal arterial pressure during and after surgery has been under debate for years. Recent data suggest that optimizing arterial pressure to the baseline of the patient may improve outcomes.

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Barbiturates are proposed as a second/third line treatment for intracranial hypertension in traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients, but the literature remains uncertain regarding their benefit/risk balance. We aimed to evaluate the impact of barbiturates therapy in TBI patients with early intracranial hypertension on the intensive care unit (ICU) survival, the occurrence of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), and the patient's functional status at three months. We used the French AtlanREA prospective cohort of trauma patients.

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Persistent Spinal Pain Syndrome Type 2 (PSPS-T2), (Failed Back Surgery Syndrome), dramatically impacts on patient quality of life, as evidenced by Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) assessment tools. However, the importance of functioning, pain perception and psychological status in HRQoL can substantially vary between subjects. Our goal was to extract patient profiles based on HRQoL dimensions in a sample of PSPS-T2 patients and to identify factors associated with these profiles.

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Objectives: Patients with severe spontaneous intracranial haemorrhages, managed in intensive care units, face ethical issues regarding the difficulty of anticipating their recovery. Prognostic tools help clinicians in counselling patients and relatives and guide therapeutic decisions. We aimed to methodologically assess prognostic tools for functional outcomes in severe spontaneous intracranial haemorrhages.

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Article Synopsis
  • Doctors discovered that just having a TOF ratio of 0.90 after surgery isn’t enough to ensure patients won’t have breathing problems later.
  • They tested how well certain muscles reacted using special monitors while patients were under anesthesia and after being given a muscle relaxant.
  • The results showed that even if the TOF ratio was above 0.90, muscle strength was still lower than it should be, meaning some patients still had leftover muscle weakness, which could be risky during recovery.
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Background: Connected devices are dramatically changing many aspects in health care. One such device, the virtual reality (VR) headset, has recently been shown to improve analgesia in a small sample of patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation.

Objective: We aimed to investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of VR in patients undergoing atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation under conscious sedation.

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We report data regarding three countries with similar healthcare systems which had three different vaccinal strategies between 1st of January and 10th of April 2021: rapid full vaccination (Israel), rapid first-dose vaccination (United Kingdom) and a delayed vaccination strategy (France).

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Background: Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is the most frequent health care-associated infection in severely ill patients, and aspiration of contaminated oropharyngeal content around the cuff of the tracheal tube is the main route of contamination.

Research Question: Is continuous regulation of tracheal cuff pressure using a pneumatic device superior to manual assessment three times daily using a portable manometer (routine care) in preventing VAP in patients with severe trauma?

Study Design And Methods: In this open-label, randomized controlled superiority trial conducted in 13 French ICUs, adults (age ≥ 18 years) with severe trauma (Injury Severity Score > 15) and requiring invasive mechanical ventilation for ≥ 48 h were enrolled. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) via a secure Web-based random number generator in permuted blocks of variable sizes to one of two groups according to the method of tracheal cuff pressure control.

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Article Synopsis
  • The text discusses a study aimed at evaluating non-invasive oxygenation treatments for ICU patients with acute respiratory failure who have do-not-intubate orders, focusing on quality of life and discomfort, not just survival.
  • It outlines a multicentre observational study comparing different oxygenation strategies: high-flow nasal oxygen therapy (HFOT), NIV switching with HFOT, and NIV with standard oxygen, with a goal to include at least 330 patients.
  • The study has received ethical approval, will involve informed consent from participants, and aims to publish findings in peer-reviewed journals with trial registration number NCT03673631.
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Background: Two billion peripheral venous catheters are sold globally each year, but the optimal skin disinfection and types of devices are not well established. We aimed to show the superiority of disinfection with 2% chlorhexidine plus alcohol over 5% povidone iodine plus alcohol in preventing infectious complications, and of closed integrated catheters, positive displacement needleless-connectors, disinfecting caps, and single-use prefilled flush syringes used in combination (innovation group) over open catheters and three-way stopcocks for treatment administration (standard group) in preventing catheter failure.

Methods: We did an open-label, randomised-controlled trial with a two-by-two factorial design, for which we enrolled adults (age ≥18 years) visiting the emergency department at the Poitiers University Hospital, France, and requiring one peripheral venous catheter before admission to the medical wards.

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This randomized clinical trial investigates the efficacy of nasopharyngeal povidone iodine solutions in reducing the viral load of patients with COVID-19.

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Introduction: Prolonged fasting before surgery is common in pediatrics. In the literature, it is responsible for hypotension, irritability and postoperative nausea and vomiting. Despite clear instructions given during the preanesthetic consultation, fasting rules are respected in only 30%-40% of cases.

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Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the superiority of hypnosis versus placebo on pain perception and morphine consumption during typical atrial flutter (AFL) ablation.

Background: AFL ablation commonly requires intravenous opioid for analgesia, which can be associated with adverse outcomes. Hypnosis is an alternative technique with rising interest, but robust data in electrophysiological procedures are lacking.

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Background: Specify place of video-fluoroscopic swallowing study (VFS) in the decision of oral refeeding after total pharyngolaryngectomy.

Methods: At postoperative day 7, a blue dye testing was performed. If negative, a VFS was performed looking for a blind fistula.

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