Objective To investigate the efficacy and safety of artificial liver support therapy with an Evanure-4A selective membrane plasma separator and its influence on platelet count in the treatment of patients with acute-on-chronic liver failure(ACLF)patients with different platelet counts.Methods A total of 302 patients with ACLF who were hospitalized in Department of Hepatology,Chengdu Public Health Clinical Medical Center,from January 2021 to May 2023,were enrolled,and according to the platelet count(PLT),they were divided into group A(25×109/L—50×109/L)with 101 patients,group B(51×109/L—80×109/L)with 98 patients,and group C(81×109/L—100×109/L)with 103 patients.In addition to medical treatment,all patients received different modes of artificial liver support therapy based on their conditions,including plasma perfusion combined with plasma exchange,double plasma molecular adsorption combined with plasma exchange,and bilirubin system adsorption combined with plasma exchange.The paired t-test was used for comparison of continuous data before and after treatment in each group;an analysis of variance was used for comparison between multiple groups,and the SNK-q test was used for further comparison between two groups;the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between multiple groups.Results Of all 302 patients,268(88.74%)achieved varying degrees of improvement in clinical symptoms after artificial liver support therapy.After treatment,all three groups had varying degrees of reductions in alanine aminotransferase(t=14.755,21.614,and 15.965,all P＜0.001),aspartate aminotransferase(t=11.491,19.301,and 13.919,all P＜0.001),total bilirubin(t=19.182,17.486,and 21.75,all P＜0.001),and international normalized ratio(INR)(t=3.497,3.327,and 4.358,all P＜0.05).After artificial liver support therapy with an Evanure-4A selective membrane plasma separator,PLT in group A decreased from(37.73±6.27)×109/L before treatment to(36.59±7.96)×109/L after treatment,PLT in group B decreased from(66.97±7.64)×109/L before treatment to(62.59±7.37)×109/L after treatment,and PLT in group C decreased from(93.82±5.38)×109/L before treatment to(85.99±12.49)×109/L after treatment;groups B and C had significant reductions in PLT after treatment(t=12.993 and 8.240,both P＜0.001),but there was no significant difference in group A(P＞0.05).There was no significant difference in the incidence rate of adverse reactions during artificial liver support therapy between the three groups(P＞0.05).Conclusion Artificial liver support therapy can improve liver function and INR in patients with ACLF.The use of Evaure-4A selective membrane plasma separator during artificial liver support therapy has little influence on platelets,and it is safe in the treatment of ACLF patients with a significantly lower level of platelets.

Objective     To analyse the consistency of perioperative self-reported pain scores of lung cancer patients with clinical records to provide a basis for optimal pain management. Methods    The patients with lung cancer who underwent surgical treatment in the Department of Thoracic Surgery, Sichuan Cancer Hospital from November 2017 to January 2020 were selected. They were divided into two groups based on the source of pain data. The self-report group used a questionnaire in which patients self-reported their pain scores, and the pain scores for the clinical record group were extracted from the electronic medical record system. Kappa test was used to compare the concordance of pain scores between the two groups preoperatively, on postoperative 1-6 days and on the day of discharge. McNemar's paired χ2 test was used to compare the differences in pain intensity levels between the two groups. Binary logistic multi-factor regression was used to analyse the factors influencing the concordance of severe pain (7-10 points) between the two groups. Results     Totally 354 patients were collected, including 191 males and 163 females, with an average age of 55.64± 10.34 years. The median postoperative hospital stay was 6 days. The consistency of pain scores between the two groups was poor (Kappa=–0.035 to 0.262, P<0.05), and the distribution of pain levels at each time point was inconsistent and statistically significant (P<0.001). The percentage of inconsistent severe pain assessment ranged from 0.28% to 35.56%, with the highest percentage of inconsistent severe pain assessment on postoperative day 1 (35.56%). Single-port thoracoscopic surgical access was an influencing factor for inconsistent assessment of severe pain on postoperative day 3 (OR=2.571, P=0.005). Conclusion     Self-reported perioperative pain scores of lung cancer patients are poorly aligned with clinical records. Clinical measures are needed to improve the accuracy of patient pain data reporting by choosing the correct assessment method, increasing education, and developing effective quality control measures.

The number of investigator initiated research (IIR) is increasing. But the recognition and management of IIR in China is still in its infancy, and there is a lack of specific and operable guidance for the implementation process. Based on our practical experiences, previous literature reports, and current policy regulations, the authors took prospective IIR as an example to summarize the implementation process of IIR into 14 steps, which are as the following: study initiation, ethical review, study registration, study filing, case report form design, database establishment, standard operating procedure making, investigator training, informed consent, data collection, data entry, data verification, data locking and data archiving.

Telephone follow-up is one of the important ways to follow up patients. High-quality follow-up can benefit both doctors and patients. However, clinical research-related follow-up is often faced with problems such as time-consuming, laborious and poor patient compliance. The authors belong to a team that has been committed to the study of patient-reported outcomes for a long time. The team has carried out long-term follow-up of symptoms, daily function and postoperative complications of more than 1 000 patients after lung cancer surgery, and accumulated certain experience. In this paper, the experience of telephone follow-up was summarized and discussed with relevant literatures from the aspects of clarifying the purpose of clinical research follow-up, understanding the needs of patients in follow-up, and using follow-up skills.