Post-Op Pain Control More Challenging for Cannabis Users
NEW ORLEANS — Cannabis users reported somewhat worse postoperative pain compared with people who did not use cannabis before surgery, according to a large observational study. The difference was modest, however, as cannabis users had time-weighted average pain scores after surgery that were 0.58 higher on a scale from 0 to 10 (P<0.001), and they […]
Low-Dose Cariprazine for MDD Tied to Anxiety Reduction
NEW ORLEANS — Low-dose cariprazine (Vraylar) was associated with reductions in anxiety for patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), and the potential adjunctive therapy for this population also demonstrated improvements across most individual symptoms of depression, according to two post hoc analyses of a phase III trial. When combined with an antidepressant for MDD patients […]
A Light at the End of the Tunnel for Low-Risk Prostate Cancer?
At the American Urological Association (AUA) meeting in New Orleans in May, there was seemingly a “light at the end of the tunnel” moment. Matthew Cooperberg, MD, MPH, a leading advocate for active surveillance (AS) from the University of California San Francisco, announced that the AUA’s own data from its AQUA registry showed that, for […]
Opioid Use Disorder Training in Med School Improves Awareness of Patient Needs
NEW ORLEANS — Adding opioid use disorder (OUD) training to the third-year medical school curriculum improved students’ understanding on how to manage these patients, according to a study presented at the American Psychiatric Association annual meeting. Third-year students’ knowledge of OUD treatments significantly increased from a pre-training assessment (mean score 18.34/23) to a post-training assessment […]
Add-On Vraylar Tied to Easing of Recurrent Depressive Symptoms
NEW ORLEANS — Adjunctive cariprazine (Vraylar) was linked with a reduction in depressive symptoms for patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), who had an inadequate response to current therapy, according to a phase III study. When added to a first-line antidepressant, 1.5 mg of once-daily cariprazine resulted in significantly greater average reductions in Montgomery-Åsberg Depression […]
Just How Effective Is PSA Screening?
NEW ORLEANS — Prostate cancer screening with prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood testing appears to have a more favorable benefit-to-harm trade-off than originally estimated, particularly among Black men, according to research presented here. Using the most conservative assumptions about the benefits of screening, investigators found that among men of all races, one death was prevented for […]
Mental Health Issues Common, Often Overlooked in Prostate Cancer
NEW ORLEANS — More than a third of men with newly diagnosed prostate cancer had at least one mental health issue, which had a strong association with prior psychological wellbeing, a prospective cohort study showed. Almost 30% of the men had a fear of cancer recurrence or poor prognosis, and 22% met diagnostic criteria for […]
Drastic Drop in Antibiotic Overuse for Common Urology Procedure: How They Did It
NEW ORLEANS — Using a tool to classify patients’ infection risk and providing education and systems-level changes in the urology department safely reduced prophylactic antibiotic use around cystoscopy, according to a single-center study. Total antibiotic use dropped nearly 30% with the combined approach, a significant difference compared with before the intervention, said Kelly R. Pekala, […]
Robotic Surgery Wins for Keeping Bladder Cancer Patients Alive, Out of Hospital
NEW ORLEANS — Robot-assisted radical cystectomy with intracorporeal urinary diversion compared with open radical cystectomy among patients with non-metastatic bladder cancer resulted in a statistically significant increase in days alive and out of the hospital, according to results from the iROC trial. Within 90 days of surgery, patients undergoing robotic surgery spent a median of […]
Good Vibrations: The Transition from Sex Toy to Medical Device
NEW ORLEANS — Formal medical studies of vibrators have revealed positive effects on multiple sexual and urinary outcomes in women, a review of published literature showed. Though limited in number, the studies induced favorable changes in blood flow and muscle tone of genital tissues, improved multiple aspects of sexual arousal and satisfaction, increased orgasmic response, […]