Ropivacaine infusion in diabetics subject with peripheral arterial disease. A prospective study

BACKGROUND

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) predicts cardiovascular and cerebrovascular ischemic events. PAD treatment is aimed at reducing clinical symptoms, local tissue loss and at preventing complications.

AIMS

To evaluated the effect of peridural analgesia on peripheral perfusion and pain control.

METHODS

In 280 diabetic subjects with severe limb ischemia (65.7% males and 34.3% females, mean age 59.3±14.4 years) with a failure of medical treatment and contraindications to endovascular and/or surgical reperfusion, we performed a 30-day long peridural ropivacaine infusion, monitoring blood pressure, VAS and ABI periodically.

RESULTS

During ropivacaine infusion VAS significantly decreased (from 4.06±0.343 to 1.96±0.413, p<0.001). Furthermore, in the 261 (93.2%) subjects achieving a VAS value ≤2 during infusion, the effect was maintained after infusion withdrawing. ABI significantly improved both during infusion (from 0.30±0.04 at baseline to 0.65±0.05 at T30, p<0.001) and after infusion withdrawing as compared with baseline values.

CONCLUSIONS

30-day peridural analgesia with ropivacaine is a valuable therapeutic option in severe peripheral limb ischemia subjects with contraindication to surgery and with pharmacological therapy failure.

Sarcopenia: age-related skeletal muscle changes from determinants to physical disability

Human aging is characterized by skeletal muscle wasting, a debilitating condition which sets the susceptibility for diseases that directly affect the quality of life and often limit life span. Sarcopenia, i.e. the reduction of muscle mass and/or function, is the consequence of a reduction of protein synthesis and an increase in muscle protein degradation. In addition, the capacity for muscle regeneration is severely impaired in aging and this can lead to disability, particularly in patients with other concomitant diseases or organ impairment. Immobility and lack of exercise, increased levels of proinflammatory cytokines, increased production of oxygen free radicals or impaired detoxification, low anabolic hormone output, malnutrition and reduced neurological drive have been advocated as being responsible for sarcopenia. It is intriguing to notice that multiple pathways converge on skeletal muscle dysfunction, but the factors involved sometimes diverge to different pathways, thus intersecting at critical points. It is reasonable to argue that the activity of these nodes results from the net balance of regulating mechanisms, as in the case of the GH/IGF-1 axis, the testosterone and cortisol functions, the pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines and receptors. Both genetic and epigenetic mechanisms operate in regulating the final phenotype, the extent of muscle atrophy and reduction in strength and force generation. It is widely accepted that intervention on lifestyle habits represents an affordable and practical way to modify on a large scale some detrimental outcomes of aging, and particularly sarcopenia. The identification of the molecular chain able to reverse sarcopenia is a major goal of studies on human aging.