Objective Physical Signs Research Articles

A Prospective, Multicenter, Single-Blind Study Assessing Indices of SNAP II Versus BIS VISTA on Surgical Patients Undergoing General Anesthesia.

BackgroundTraditionally, anesthesiologists have relied on nonspecific subjective and objective physical signs to assess patients’ comfort level and depth of anesthesia. Commercial development of electrical monitors, which use low- and high-frequency electroencephalogram (EEG) signals, have been developed to enhance the assessment of patients’ level of consciousness. Multiple studies have shown that monitoring patients’ consciousness levels can help in reducing drug consumption, anesthesia-related adverse events, and recovery time. This clinical study will provide information by simultaneously comparing the performance of the SNAP II (a single-channel EEG device) and the bispectral index (BIS) VISTA (a dual-channel EEG device) by assessing their efficacy in monitoring different anesthetic states in patients undergoing general anesthesia.ObjectiveThe primary objective of this study is to establish the range of index values for the SNAP II corresponding to each anesthetic state (preinduction, loss of response, maintenance, first purposeful response, and extubation). The secondary objectives will assess the range of index values for BIS VISTA corresponding to each anesthetic state compared to published BIS VISTA range information, and estimate the area under the curve, sensitivity, and specificity for both devices.MethodsThis is a multicenter, prospective, double-arm, parallel assignment, single-blind study involving patients undergoing elective surgery that requires general anesthesia. The study will include 40 patients and will be conducted at the following sites: The Ohio State University Medical Center (Columbus, OH); Northwestern University Prentice Women's Hospital (Chicago, IL); and University of Miami Jackson Memorial Hospital (Miami, FL). The study will assess the predictive value of SNAP II versus BIS VISTA indices at various anesthetic states in patients undergoing general anesthesia (preinduction, loss of response, maintenance, first purposeful response, and extubation). The SNAP II and BIS VISTA electrode arrays will be placed on the patient’s forehead on opposite sides. The hemisphere location for both devices’ electrodes will be equally alternated among the patient population. The index values for both devices will be recorded and correlated with the scorings received by performing the Modified Observer’s Assessment of Alertness and Sedation and the American Society of Anesthesiologists Continuum of Depth of Sedation, at different stages of anesthesia.ResultsEnrollment for this study has been completed and statistical data analyses are currently underway.ConclusionsThe results of this trial will provide information that will simultaneously compare the performance of SNAP II and BIS VISTA devices, with regards to monitoring different anesthesia states among patients.ClinicalTrialClinicaltrials.gov NCT00829803; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00829803 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6nmyi8YKO)

Practice nurses, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, fitness to drive, and Balint groups.

Practice nurses. In the UK, much like the rest of the world, a huge proportion of patients with mental health conditions are managed exclusively in primary care, with no specialist psychiatric input. Practice nurses make up a substantial part of the primary care workforce and are increasingly involved in managing long-term conditions. Traditionally, however, mental health has not often been part of their remit and training opportunities have been rare. In a recent study, a primary care mental health expert developed a programme of education designed specifically for practice nurses. 1 The 'train the trainer' model was used to prepare 24 mental health nurses in North London to deliver the teaching. Both the practice nurses and mental health nurses felt their clinical practice would improve as a result of taking part. As we move to more integrated models of mental healthcare delivery, these collaborations could prove invaluable. Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. An inherited, lifelong connective tissue disorder characterised by joint hypermobility and a number of possible systemic features, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) can have a significant impact on many aspects of patients' lives. Given the complexity of the condition, frequency of chronic pain, and absence of objective physical signs, individuals with EDS are often referred for psychiatric assessment. Researchers from Sweden recently sought to identify levels of anxiety in EDS patients using postal questionnaires. 2

Self-reported quality of life, anxiety and depression in individuals with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS): a questionnaire study

BackgroundMany individuals with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) are hypermobile, suffer from long term pain, and have complex health problems. Since these sometimes have no objective physical signs, individuals with EDS sometimes are referred for psychiatric evaluation. The aim was therefore to identify the level of anxiety and quality of life in a Swedish group of individuals with EDS.MethodsA postal survey in 2008 was distributed to 365 members over 18 years of the Swedish National EDS Association and 250 with EDS diagnosis responded. Two questionnaires, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and SF-36, were used. A Swedish population study was used to compare results from SF-36. Independent Student’s t-test was used to compare differences between groups, possible relationships were tested using Spearman’s correlation coefficient and the General Linear Model was used for regression analyses. Higher scores on HADS represent higher levels of anxiety and depression and higher scores on SF-36 represent higher quality of health.ResultsOf the respondents 74.8% scored high on anxiety and 22.4% scored high on depression on the HADS. Age, tiredness and back pain was independently associated with the HAD anxiety score in a multiple regression analysis, When comparing the SF-36 scores from the EDS group and a Swedish population group, the EDS group scored significantly lower, indicating lower health-related quality of health than the general population (p < 0.001).ConclusionsIn comparison with a Swedish population group, a lower health-related quality of life was found in the EDS group. Also, higher levels of anxiety and depression were detected in individuals with EDS. The importance to explore the factors behind these results and what initiatives can be taken to alleviate the situation for this group is emphasized.

Inactive disease and remission in childhood‐onset systemic lupus erythematosus

To define inactive disease (ID) and clinical remission (CR) and to delineate variables that can be used to measure ID/CR in childhood-onset systemic lupus erythematosus (cSLE). Delphi questionnaires were sent to an international group of pediatric rheumatologists. Respondents provided information about variables to be used in future algorithms to measure ID/CR. The usefulness of these variables was assessed in 35 children with ID and 31 children with minimally active lupus (MAL). While ID reflects cSLE status at a specific point in time, CR requires the presence of ID for >6 months and considers treatment. There was consensus that patients in ID/CR can have <2 mild nonlimiting symptoms (i.e., fatigue, arthralgia, headaches, or myalgia) but not Raynaud's phenomenon, chest pain, or objective physical signs of cSLE; antinuclear antibody positivity and erythrocyte sedimentation rate elevation can be present. Complete blood count, renal function testing, and complement C3 all must be within the normal range. Based on consensus, only damage-related laboratory or clinical findings of cSLE are permissible with ID. The above parameters were suitable to differentiate children with ID/CR from those with MAL (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve >0.85). Disease activity scores with or without the physician global assessment of disease activity and patient symptoms were well suited to differentiate children with ID from those with MAL. Consensus has been reached on common definitions of ID/CR with cSLE and relevant patient characteristics with ID/CR. Further studies must assess the usefulness of the data-driven candidate criteria for ID in cSLE.

Assessing Fatigue in Multiple Sclerosis: Shedding Light on the Elephant in the Dark

Assessing Fatigue in Multiple Sclerosis: Shedding Light on the Elephant in the Dark

Major depression: An illness with objective physical signs

Major depression is an illness with objective physical signs occurring with some consistency. These signs are retardation of movements and diminished gestures and expressions. The patient may appear tired, self-concerned, bored, and inattentive and display a loss of interest in the surroundings. Anxiety is a conspicuous and an integral element of affective state and may be expressed by severe restlessness and agitation. Muscle tension, wringing of hands, weeping and moaning, repeating over and over in a monotonous and stereotyped way phrases expressive of misery are all important clinical signs of major depression. Similarly tachycardia, dry tongue/mouth, sweaty palms and/or bodily extremities, cold clammy skin, pallor, pupillary dilatation, tremor, and the fluctuations in blood pressure with wide pulse pressure are all important and give away the underlying distress. These signs have formed an integral part of both the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and the Montgomery–Asberg Depression Rating Scale as they have a positive correlation with the diagnosis and the severity of illness. Current practice of operational criteria does not help exclude patients with subjective perception of distress and also fails to make room for aetiopathogenesis. The DSM-IV does not include these physical signs as an integral part of the clinical picture of depression, consequently leaving the diagnosis of MDE to subjective criteria and perceptions. This could also explain a large placebo response in recent randomised controlled clinical trials.

Neurological status of Australian veterans of the 1991 Gulf War and the effect of medical and chemical exposures

Since the 1991 Gulf War, concerns have been voiced about the effects on the health of veterans of Gulf War related medical and chemical exposures. Our cross-sectional study compared 1424 male Australian Gulf War veterans and a randomly sampled military comparison group (n = 1548). A postal questionnaire asked about the presence of current neurological type symptoms, medically diagnosed neurological conditions, and medical and chemical exposures. A neurological examination was performed as part of a physical assessment. Veterans have a higher prevalence of neurological type symptoms (ratio of means 1.4, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.2-1.5). Although the odds ratio (OR) of lower limb neurological type symptoms and signs in veterans compared with the comparison group was increased (OR = 1.6, 95% CI 1.0-2.7), it was of borderline significance, and there was no difference between groups according to a Neuropathy Score based on neurological signs alone (ratio of means 1.1, 95% CI 0.9-1.3). The increased OR of neurological type symptoms and signs suggestive of a central nervous system disorder (OR = 1.8, 95% CI 1.0-3.1) was also of borderline significance. Veterans were not more likely to have self-reported medically diagnosed neurological conditions, or to have neurological type symptoms and signs suggestive of an anterior horn cell disorder (OR = 0.9, 95% CI 0.5-1.6). The total number of neurological type symptoms reported by veterans, but not the Neuropathy Score, was associated with Gulf War related exposures including immunizations and pyridostigmine bromide in dose-response relationships, anti-biological warfare tablets, solvents, pesticides, and insect repellents. This study shows increased reporting of neurological type symptoms in Gulf War veterans, but no evidence for increased neurological effects based on objective physical signs. There may be a number of factors, including information bias, relating to increased neurological type symptom reporting in veterans.

The Clenching-Grinding Spectrum and Fear Circuitry Disorders: Clinical Insights from the Neuroscience/Paleoanthropology Interface

This review discusses the clenching-grinding spectrum from the neuropsychiatric/neuroevolutionary perspective. In neuropsychiatry, signs of jaw clenching may be a useful objective marker for detecting or substantiating a self-report of current subjective emotional distress. Similarly, accelerated tooth wear may be an objective clinical sign for detecting, or substantiating, long-lasting anxiety. Clenching-grinding behaviors affect at least 8 percent of the population. We argue that during the early paleolithic environment of evolutionary adaptedness, jaw clenching was an adaptive trait because it rapidly strengthened the masseter and temporalis muscles, enabling a stronger, deeper and therefore more lethal bite in expectation of conflict (warfare) with conspecifics. Similarly, sharper incisors produced by teeth grinding may have served as weaponry during early human combat. We posit that alleles predisposing to fear-induced clenching-grinding were evolutionarily conserved in the human clade (lineage) since they remained adaptive for anatomically and mitochondrially modern humans (Homo sapiens) well into the mid-paleolithic. Clenching-grinding, sleep bruxism, myofacial pain, craniomaxillofacial musculoskeletal pain, temporomandibular disorders, oro-facial pain, and the fibromyalgia/chronic fatigue spectrum disorders are linked. A 2003 Cochrane meta-analysis concluded that dental procedures for the above spectrum disorders are not evidence based. There is a need for early detection of clenching-grinding in anxiety disorder clinics and for research into science-based interventions. Finally, research needs to examine the possible utility of incorporating physical signs into Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition posttraumatic stress disorder diagnostic criteria. One of the diagnostic criterion that may need to undergo a revision in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition is Criterion D (persistent fear-circuitry activation not present before the trauma). Grinding-induced incisor wear, and clenching-induced palpable masseter tenderness may be examples of such objective physical signs of persistent fear-circuitry activation (posttraumatic stress disorder Criterion D).

Idiopathic small-fiber sensory neuropathy in childhood: A diagnosis based on objective findings on punch skin biopsy specimens

Idiopathic small-fiber sensory neuropathy (SFSN) has not previously been reported in children. Although affected patients complain of neuropathic pain, this condition is often difficult to diagnose because of the few objective physical signs and normal nerve conduction studies. We report a girl with idiopathic SFSN in whom the results of a sural nerve biopsy were normal, but punch skin biopsy revealed reduced intraepidermal nerve fiber density and established the diagnosis. Idiopathic SFSN should be considered in the differential diagnosis of children who have burning limb pain with no routine electrophysiologic or pathologic abnormalities. (J Pediatr 1999;135:257-60)

Inflicted Submersion in Childhood

To improve characterization and recognition of inflicted pediatric submersions. Retrospective case series, records review. A regional children's hospital and the King County (Washington) Medical Examiner's office. Children younger than 19 years who sustained submersion injury between 1983 and 1991 and were hospitalized or autopsied. Two pediatricians, using preestablished criteria, categorized abstracted case scenarios as either inflicted or unintentional events. The two groups were compared. Of 205 submersions, 16 (8%) were judged to have been inflicted. Objective physical signs of abuse and incompatibilities between the history and the child's stage of development or physical findings were common (69% and 50%, respectively). Inflicted submersion victims were likely to be young (median age, 2.1 years). They tended to be the youngest sibling in a large (three or more children) household. Social and demographic attributes of inflicted and unintentional submersion victims did not differ significantly. Bathtubs were the most common site for inflicted submersions (9/16 [56%]), and submersions in bathtubs were frequently inflicted (9/34 [26%]). Compared with unintentional submersion victims, children who were inflicted submersion victims were less likely to be revived by bystanders (relative risk, 0.10; confidence interval, 0.01 to 0.72) and were more likely to die (relative risk, 4.32; confidence interval, 1.40 to 21.43). Enough childhood submersions are inflicted to warrant careful case evaluation. Bathtub submersion victims and children with physical and historical findings common to other forms of abuse are most likely to be the victims of inflicted submersion.

Multiple chemical sensitivity multiorgan dysesthesia, multiple symptom complex, and multiple confusion: problems in diagnosing the patient presenting with unexplained multisystemic symptoms.

Patients are presenting in increasing numbers with multiorgan symptoms allegedly resulting from exposure to environmental chemicals. Among the symptoms expressed by patients with alleged multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS) are profound fatigue, mental confusion, myalgia, depression, anxiety, dizziness, headache, insomnia, loss of appetite, and numbness of the extremities, all in the absence of objective physical signs. Diagnostic criteria to assess the effects of environmental agents on organ systems are sorely needed because patients with MCS often have no tissue pathology or physiological abnormalities, but often do have diagnosable psychiatric illnesses. In treating patients with MCS, the physician should first perform a complete history and physical examination, including a comprehensive evaluation of chemical exposure. If the findings strongly suggest the presence of disease related to particular organ systems, further diagnostic evaluation should be undertaken. If abnormal findings are absent, psychiatric advice may be useful. The physician should keep an open mind about MCS but must also remember that a cause-effect relationship between exposure to multiple chemicals and symptoms has not been established.

Host susceptibility to indoor air pollution

Host susceptibility to indoor air pollution

Fibrositis (fibromyalgia). A common non-entity?

The literature on fibrositis (fibromyalgia), which originated in the early years of the last century in the UK and proliferated there in the first half of this century, has since diminished there in the last 30 years or so, but has increased in Canada and the US. Criteria suggested for diagnosis have created a syndrome with no diagnostic tests, serological or radiological signs, and no truly objective physical signs, but with predictable tender spots on pressure. The syndrome is largely, but not completely, confined to females, mostly of middle age; the symptoms include widespread aching of more than 3 months' duration, disturbed sleep, morning fatigue and stiffness, a failure to respond satisfactorily to any one form of therapy and a tendency to persist over long periods, but without permanent tissue changes. Features of psychological disturbance are present in many patients but not in all or even the majority. Definition of the condition as a disorder of pain modulation - a pain amplification syndrome - would seem to fit the facts best. Most would agree that an abnormal response to stress is an important factor in the appearance of the syndrome, as other stress related disorders, such as the irritable bowel syndrome and tension headaches, may coexist. Response to therapy, whether physical or pharmacological, is on the whole unsatisfactory. This type of patient has been well recognised in hospital clinic and general practice for many years.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)