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Biomedical subjects

O Roikjaer

Publications and source records attributed to O Roikjaer.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

A double-blinded multicenter trial of somatostatin in the treatment of acute pancreatitis.

To evaluate the effect of somatostatin in the treatment of acute pancreatitis, 63 patients were randomly allocated to continuous intravenous infusion for three days of 250 micrograms of somatostatin (Dura Scan, Odense, Denmark) per hour (n = 33), or placebo (n = 30). Patients with a first attack of pancreatitis, serum amylase level of more than 450 units per liter and symptoms for less than 24 hours were eligible for participation in the study. Apart from a slightly significant faster decrease in serum amylase concentrations, we were unable to demonstrate any significant benefit from somatostatin with regard to paraclinical values and clinical course.

Acute Disease

[Splenic infarction].

Splenic infarction is a recognized sequel of a number of diseases but, until recently, it has been difficult to verify. Employing the new imaging techniques, the spleen has become diagnostically more accessible and increase in the number of splenic infarctions diagnosed must be anticipated. The commonest basic cause is cardiovascular disease but the etiology may be manifold. Whereas the infarct as such is of lesser significance, splenic abscess, eg after bacterial endocarditis, is a life-threatening condition. The treatment consists of surgical drainage and, frequently, splenectomy. The lethality is reduced from nearly 100% to approximately 10% when the correct treatment is employed.

Humans

Epidural bupivacaine and morphine plus systemic indomethacin eliminates pain but not systemic response and convalescence after cholecystectomy.

We studied 24 patients undergoing elective cholecystectomy and randomized to either conventional postoperative pain treatment, with intermittent nicomorphine (10 to 15 mg) and acetaminophen (1 gm) on request, or thoracic epidural analgesia with plain bupivacaine for 48 hours and epidural morphine 4 mg every 8 hours for 96 hours plus systemic indomethacin 100 mg every 8 hours for 96 hours. Epidural analgesia for pin prick extended from the fourth thoracic to the first lumbar nerve for 48 hours. Assessments of pain, various injury response parameters, peak flow, and subjective feeling of fatigue were performed preoperatively, 3 and 6 hours after skin incision, and 1, 2, 4, and 8 days postoperatively. The epidural analgesia-systemic indomethacin treatment eliminated postoperative pain during rest and coughing. In contrast, only a minor and clinically unimportant modulation of the conventional perioperative and postoperative changes in plasma cortisol, glucose, transferrin, orosomucoid, leukocyte and differential counts, rectal temperature, peak flow, and fatigue was observed. Our results suggest that factors other than pain per se must be controlled in order to reduce postoperative morbidity.

Adult

Plasmacytoma of the lung. A case report describing two tumors of different immunologic type in a single patient.

Two pulmonary plasmacytomas of different immunologic type, occurring with an interval of 5 years in the same 65-year-old woman are reported. Both displayed identical light chain types, but different heavy chains. The immunoperoxidase staining technique was used. The patient underwent segmental resection, and no evidence of recurrence or multiple myeloma was found 4 years later. Differential diagnoses are discussed, and the importance of immunologic staining is stressed.

Aged

Ultrasonic visualisation of the inflamed appendix.

A prospective ultrasonic study of the right lower abdominal quadrant was performed in 46 patients prior to appendicectomy. Ultrasonography revealed an inflamed appendix in 24 out of 29 patients with appendicitis and excluded its presence in 16 out of 17 patients without appendicitis. The ultrasonic pattern of the inflamed appendices appeared as echo-poor/echo-free lesions with lack of movement. In six of seven patients with perforated appendices, ultrasonography revealed free intra-abdominal fluid in addition to bowel disease. The possible value of abdominal ultrasound in patients with suspected acute appendicitis is discussed.

Adolescent