Renal colic caused by ureteral stone obstruction is the main cause for emergency treatment of patients with urinary tract stones, and drug expulsion therapy plays a vital role in the treatment.This article delves into a variety of drugs, including α1 adrenergic receptor blockers, β adrenergic receptor agonists, calcium channel blockers, prostaglandin synthetase inhibitors, corticosteroids, phosphodiesterase isoenzyme 5 inhibitors, and Chinese herbal medicines, exploring their mechanisms and applications in the treatment of distal ureteral stones.Currently, α1 adrenergic receptor blockers are still preferred for the treatment of distal ureteral stones due to their significant efficacy.It is worth noting that various drugs work through different mechanisms, and combining drugs with different mechanisms is expected to improve the efficiency of stone expulsion.This method may become the mainstream choice for stone expulsion drugs in the future.This article aims to provide new perspectives and ideas for the drug treatment of urinary tract stones.

Objective:To investigate the clinical features of patients with epilepsy in Neurosurgery Outpatient and influencing factors for their seizure control.Methods:Six hundred and seventy-three epilepsy patients admitted to Neurosurgery Outpatient of 6 hospitals including Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from September 2017 to December 2022 were chosen. Clinical data (including general demographic data, education level, onset age, onset cycle and duration, course of onset, family annual income and seizure control) were collected using a questionnaire prepared by He'nan Epilepsy Systematic Diagnosis and Treatment Center to summarize the clinical features. Univariate and multivariate Logistic regressions were used to analyze the influencing factors for their seizure control.Results:(1) In these 673 epilepsy patients, 50 (7.4%), 78 (11.6%), 192 (28.5%), 100 (14.9%), 68 (10.1%), 72 (10.7%) and 113 (16.8%), respectively, were <1 year old (infant stage), 1-2 years old (children stage), 3-5 years old (preschool stage), 6-16 years old (juvenile stage), 17-39 years old (young stage), 40-64 years old (middle-aged stage) and ≥65 years old (elderly stage). In the past medical treatment history, 23.0% (155/673) patients did not receive intervention, 72.4% (487/673) received medication, and 4.6% (31/673) received surgical treatment; 55.9% (376/673) had good seizure control and 44.1% (297/673) had poor seizure control. (2) Secondary education ( OR=2.199, 95% CI: 1.037-15.221, P=0.033), primary education or below ( OR=3.544, 95% CI: 2.101-21.343, P=0.012), daily seizures ( OR=4.788, 95% CI: 1.369-33.103, P=0.011), each seizure lasted ≥3 min ( OR=4.179, 95% CI: 3.338-18.550, P=0.003), course of disease≥3 years ( OR=0.199, 95% CI: 0.077-0.602, P=0.001), course of disease for 1-3 years ( OR=0.379, 95% CI: 0.108-0.882, P=0.031), and currently taken antiepileptic drugs for 3 or more ( OR=6.237, 95% CI: 2.195-17.837, P=0.001) were independent risk factors for poor seizure control in epilepsy patients. Conclusion:In Neurosurgery Outpatient, children with diseases before childhood enjoy the largest proportion; drug therapy remains the main treatment; low education level, short seizure cycle, long duration of attack, long course of disease, and multiple drugs used in these patients imply poor anti-epileptic effecacy.

【Objective】 To explore the predictive value of preoperative liver function for massive blood transfusion (MBT) in patients undergoing ascending aorta surgery. 【Methods】 Data from 238 patients undergoing ascending aorta surgery in the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery at The Affiliated Lihuili Hospital of Ningbo University were collected. Preoperative liver function tests were performed for all patients. Based on the perioperative transfusion volumes of red blood cell suspension, patients were divided into the MBT group, non-MBT group, and no blood transfusion (NBT) group. Clinical data during the perioperative period were compared among different groups. Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC curve) analysis was used to assess the predictive value of liver function indicators for MBT and determine cut-off values. 【Results】 Compared with the non-MBT group and NBT group, the MBT group showed statistically significant differences in preoperative levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), direct bilirubin (DBIL), and serum albumin (SA) (P<0.05). ROC curve analysis revealed that AST had the largest area under the curve (AUC) for predicting MBT, with a value of 0.723. ALT had the highest specificity for predicting MBT at 86.7%, and SA had the highest sensitivity at 89.7%. When AST >28.50 U/L, ALT >40.00 U/L, SA ≤34.55 g/L, and DBIL >4.25 μmol/L, there was a significant increase in the transfusion volume of various blood components and the incidence of MBT. 【Conclusion】 Preoperative liver function indicators (AST, ALT, SA, DBIL) have a moderate predictive value for MBT in patients undergoing ascending aorta surgery.

Total knee arthroplasty， as a common treatment option for advanced knee osteoarthritis， can alleviate the clinical symptoms of patients. Deep vein thrombosis of the lower extremity is the most common complication of total knee arthroplasty. Previous studies have shown that the occurrence of deep vein thrombosis after total knee arthroplasty is mostly related to the overexpression of inflammatory factors in vivo. Nuclear transcription factor-κB， Toll-like receptor 4， phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B， tumor necrosis factor， and nuclear transcription factor E₂-related factor 2 are typical signaling pathways related to inflammation. Regulating the expression of the signaling pathways can intervene the formation of inflammatory factors. Inhibiting the formation of inflammatory factors can help suppress the activation of platelets， thereby blocking thrombosis. According to previous research， Chinese medicine monomers， Chinese medicine extract， and compound Chinese medicine prescriptions all directly or indirectly inhibit the expression of inflammatory factors by regulating the above signaling pathways， thereby suppressing the occurrence of deep vein thrombosis after total knee arthroplasty. Therefore， Chinese medicine can reduce postoperative complications and promote postoperative recovery of patients at low cost with small side effects. This article summarizes the research on Chinese medicine intervention on deep vein thrombosis-related signaling pathways after total knee arthroplasty， which is expected to lay a basis for the in-depth study and clinical application of Chinese medicine in deep vein thrombosis.

China ; Manganese/toxicity* ; Stainless Steel

Background Occupational noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is one of the most prevalent occupational diseases in the world. With the development of industry, noise sources in the workplace have become increasingly complex. Objective To apply kurtosis-adjusted cumulative noise exposure (CNE) to assess the occupational hearing loss among furniture manufacturing workers, and to provide a basis for revising noise measurement methods and occupational exposure limits in China. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted to select 694 manufacturing workers, including 542 furniture manufacturing workers exposed to non-Gaussian noise, and 152 textile manufacturing workers and paper manufacturing workers exposed to Gaussian noise. The job titles involving non-Gaussian noise were gunning and nailing, and woodworking, while those involving Gaussian noise were weaving, spinning, and pulping. High frequency noise-induced hearing loss (HFNIHL) and noise exposure data were collected for each study subject. Noise energy metrics included eight-hour equivalent continuous A-weighted sound pressure level (L_{Aeq,8 h}) and CNE. Kurtosis was a noise temporal structure metric. Kurtosis-adjusted CNE was a combined indicator of noise energy and temporal structure. Results The age of the study subjects was (35.64±10.35) years, the exposure duration was (6.71±6.44) years, and the proportion of males was 75.50%. The L_{Aeq,8 h} was (89.43±6.01) dB(A). About 81.42% of the study subjects were exposed to noise levels above 85 dB(A), the CNE was (95.85±7.32) dB(A)·year, with a kurtosis of 99.34 ± 139.19, and the prevalence rate of HFNIHL was 35.59%. The mean kurtosis of the non-Gaussian noise group was higher than that of the Gaussian noise group (125.33±147.17 vs. 5.86±1.94, t=−21.04, P<0.05). The results of binary logistic regression analysis showed that kurtosis was an influential factor of workers' HFNIHL after correcting for age, exposure duration, and L_{Aeq,8 h} (OR=1.49, P<0.05). The results of multiple linear regression analysis showed that the effects of age, exposure duration, L_{Aeq,8 h}, and kurtosis on noise-induced permanent threshold shift at frequencies of 3, 4, and 6 kHz of the poor hearing ear were statistically significant (all P<0.05). The results of chi-square trend analysis showed that when CNE ≥ 90 dB(A)·year, the HFNIHL prevalence rate elevated with increasing kurtosis (P<0.05). The mean HFNIHL prevalence rate was higher in the non-Gaussian noise group than in the Gaussian noise group (31.7% vs. 22.0%, P<0.05). After applying kurtosis-adjusted CNE, the linear equation between CNE and HFNIHL prevalence rate for the non-Gaussian noise group almost overlapped with that for the Gaussian noise group, and the mean difference in HFNIHL prevalence rate between the two groups decreased from 9.7% to 1.4% (P<0.05). Conclusion Noise kurtosis is an effective metric for NIHL evaluation. Kurtosis-adjusted CNE can effectively evaluate occupational hearing loss due to non-Gaussian noise exposure in furniture manufacturing workers, and is expected to be a new indicator of non-Gaussian noise measurement and assessment.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the safety and feasibility of posterior pars interarticularis screw fixation on axis by CT measurement. METHODS: The CT data of 137 patients with complete upper cervical spine who underwent full cervical spine CT examination from January 2016 to December 2019 were collected, including 71 males and 66 females, aged from 22 to 65 years old with an average of (41.8±17.4) years old. Mimics 19.0 software was used to measure anatomical data related to the pars interarticularis screw, including the pars width, pars vertical length, pars vertical height, length of pars screw trajectory, upward inclination angle of pars screw trajectory. And the correlation between each index was analyzed. RESULTS: The axis pars has an average width of (9.05±1.63) mm, an average vertical length of (11.21±1.43) mm, and an average vertical height of (17.53±2.93) mm. The mean length of pars screw trajectory was(19.07±3.20) mm. Regarding to the length of pars screw trajectory, 94.53% of pars measured more than 14 mm, 82.12% of pars measured at 14-16 mm, 63.14% of pars measured at 16-18 mm, 39.78% of pars measured at 18-20 mm. The upward inclination angle of pars screw was 30°-68° with an average of (46.06±8.06) °. There was a highly positive correlation between the length of screw trajectory and upward inclination angle(r=0.965, P=0.000). The vertical length of pars was weakly positively correlated with length of screw trajectory and upward inclination angle(r=0.240, P=0.000;r=0.163, P=0.007). Pars width was moderately negative correlated with length of scrwe trajectory and upward inclination angle(r =-0.333, P=0.000;r=-0.380, P=0.000). CONCLUSION The posterior pars interarticularis screw fixation is safe and reliable. It has a more wider applicability than pedicle screw fixation and can be used as an alternative to pedicle screws.
Adult ; Aged ; Cervical Vertebrae/surgery* ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pedicle Screws ; Software ; Spinal Fusion/methods* ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVE: To explore clinical efficacy of staged surgery in treating complex closed Pilon fracture. METHODS: From June 2019 to January 2021, 29 patients with complex closed Pilon fracture were treated by staging surgery, including 18 males and 11 females, aged ranged from 31 to 68 years old with an average of (43.50±6.62) years old;7 cases were typeⅡand 22 cases were type Ⅲ according to Ruedi-Allgower classification. All patients had fresh closed fractures without talus and calcaneal fractures. The time from injury to closed reduction and external fixation, the interval between two stages of surgery, fracture healing time and complications were recorded. American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society(AOFAS) was used to assess clinical effects. Burwell-Charnley system was used to evaluate radiological reduction. RESULTS: All 29 patients were followed up from 13 to 30 months with an aver age of (15.43±5.31) months. All fractures healed well from 2 to 6 months with an average of (3.77±1.22) months. No internal fixation fracture, screw loosening, infection, internal fixation irritation, ankle stiffness occurred. The time from injury to closed reduction and cross-ankle fixation ranged from 1.22 to 7.34 h with an average of(2.31±3.52) h, the interval between two stages ranged from 5 to 9 days with an average of (5.98±2.11) days. AOFAS score was improved from 34.11±6.89 before operation to 90.10±10.11 after oepration at 12 months(P<0.05). According to AOFAS grading, 16 patients got excellent result, 9 good and 4 moderate. Fifteen patients got anatomic reduction, 12 patients were good reduction, and 2 cases were poor reduction according to Burwell-Charnley system. CONCLUSION Staged surgery for complex closed Pilon fracture has advantages of less complications, statisfied reduction, stable fixation, which could obtain good recovery of ankle joint.
Adult ; Aged ; Ankle Fractures/surgery* ; Ankle Injuries/surgery* ; Female ; Fracture Fixation, Internal ; Fracture Healing ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Tibial Fractures/surgery*

Objective: To study the infection rate of secondary close contacts of COVID-19 patients, and assess the infection risk in the contacts. Methods: COVID-19 patients' close contacts (with a clear exposure time to index case) with negative nucleic acid test results and secondary close contacts were surveyed in continuous isolation and medical observation in this prospective study. The dynamic nucleic acid test results of the close contacts and secondary contacts of COVID-19 patients were collected to assess their risk of infection. Results: A total of 4 533 close contacts were surveyed, in whom 14 were confirmed as COVID-19 patients with overall secondary attack rate of 0.31%, and 4 201 secondary contacts were tracked, in whom no subsequent infections occurred. Conclusion: Close contacts of COVID-19 patients entered in centralized isolation for medical observation with negative nucleic acid tese results,the secondary close contacts of COVID-19 patients have no risk of infection.
COVID-19/epidemiology* ; Contact Tracing ; Humans ; Incidence ; Nucleic Acids ; Prospective Studies ; SARS-CoV-2

Objective: To understand the epidemiological characteristics of a local clustered epidemic caused by 2019-nCoV Delta variant in Ningbo and provide reference for the improvement of COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control. Methods: Case finding was conducted based on case definitions, and field epidemiological investigation of COVID-19 cases was carried out. In which Nasal and oropharyngeal swabs of the cases were collected for pathogen testing, and the results were analyzed with descriptive epidemiological methods. Results: A total of 74 COVID-19 cases were reported in this epidemic, and the cases were mainly mild ones, accounting for 87.84% (65/74), and there were no severe or critical cases. The epidemic curve showed a human-to-human transmission mode, indicating that a transmission for at least six generations had occurred. The age of the COVID-19 patients ranged from 2 years to 80 years, and 27.03% (20/74) of the cases were older than 60 years. The cases were mainly workers (55.41%, 41/74) and housework/the unemployed (27.03%, 20/74). The COVID-19 epidemic was limited, and no further spread to other areas occurred. The transmission chain among the cases was clear, and the gene sequencing results confirmed that the current epidemic was caused by 2019-nCoV Delta variant, which was highly homologous to the strains from other province. Conclusion: The local COVID-19 epidemic in Ningbo was caused by imported cases of COVID-19 from other province, and local community spread occurred through daily contacts between cases and contacts.
COVID-19/epidemiology* ; Child, Preschool ; Data Collection ; Epidemics ; Humans ; SARS-CoV-2