Objective To compare the effect of postoperative intercostal nerves cryoanalgesia and patient controlled epidural analgesia (PCEA) in patients undergoing thoracic surgery. Methods From April 2006 to May 2008,89 patients undergoing thoracic surgery were randomly divided into intercostal nerves cryoanalgesia group (group A,47 cases) and PCEA group (group B,42 cases). The scores of pain, use of pain medication and time of out-of-bed activity after the operation were used to evaluate the effect of pain between two groups. Results The scores of pain in group A and group B were (1.49 ± 0.80) and (2.43 ± 1.21) scores respectively. There were significant differences in the scores of pain. The use of pain medication [(1.28 ± 0.62) times vs (2.02 ± 1.05) times]and time of out-of-bed activity after the operation [(43.15 ± 12.22) h vs (64.10 ± 14.25) hi were significant difference between the two groups(P< 0.05). Conclusions For reducing the post- thoracotomy pain,intercostal nerves cryoanalgesia is superior to PCEA. Intercostal nerves cryoanalgesia can provide satisfactory analgesia after thoracic surgery.

Objective To evaluate the prognostic value of intraoperalive detection in rib bone marrow micmmetastasis(BMMs)of patients with non-small-cell lung cancer(NSCLC)and the relationship between the micROmetast ases and clinicopathologic factors.Method From April 2004 to May 2007,146 patients undergoing surgical treatment for NSCLC were prospectively investigated for the presence of BMMs by the immunohistochemisury method.Remits 30.82%(45/146)of NSCLC patients were detected with BMMs,15(33.33%)patients developed remote metastases of the 45 patients with BMMs,14(13.86%)patients developed metastases of the 101 patients without BMMs.Patients with BMMs demonstrated an earlier metastasis and a lower survival rate compared with patients without BMMs(P＜0.05).There Was trend for ahigher frequency and the occurrence of BMMs changed with tumor stages and the histologic differentiation of the tumor.No relationship was found between BMMs and age,T grade,as well as tumor dimension.Conclusions The detection of BMMs can predict the prognosis of NSCLC patients and identifies patients withNSCLC who are at significantly increased risk for metastasis and survival,which may be useful in evalnatingpatients for adjuvant treatment