This review and meta-analysis examined forty-six studies involving 11 077 participants.
Key findings:
At 6 months, behavior weight management programs (BWMPs) using motivational interviewing (MI) were more effective than no/minimal intervention (−0.88) but were not statistically significantly more effective than lower-intensity (−0.88 ) or similar-intensity (−1.36 ) BWMPs.
“At 1 year, data were too sparse to pool comparisons with no/minimal intervention, but MI did not produce statistically significantly greater weight change compared with lower-intensity”
My take: Several years ago our hospital system strongly encouraged practitioners to learn motivation interviewing techniques. However, based on this review, “there is no evidence that MI increases effectiveness of BWMPs in controlling weight.”
This study evaluated the effects of IB-stim® (Innovative Health Solutions, Versailles, IN, USA) in 20 patients (11-19 years old) with functional pain. This external auricular device with a battery powered generator that creates percutaneous electrical nerve field stimulation (PENFS), targeting cranial nerves V, VII, IX, and X. This device which has been associated with improvement in functional abdominal pain previously was evaluated for its effects on resting and evoked pain and nausea, sleep and psychological functioning, and long-term outcomes.
Key Findings:
During pain evoked by Water Load Symptom Provocation Task (WL-SPT), visual analog scale (VAS) pain intensity and nausea were lower following PENFS compared with baseline (p = 0.004 and p = 0.02, respectively)
After PENFS, resting VAS pain unpleasantness (p = 0.03), abdominal pain (p < 0.0001), pain catastrophizing (p = 0.0004), somatic complaints (0.01), functional disability (p = 0.04), and anxiety (p = 0.02) exhibited significant improvements, and some were sustained long-term.
Self-reported sleep improved after PENFS (p’s < 0.05) as well as actigraphy-derived sleep onset latency (p = 0.03). The authors note that, paradoxically, patients receiving neuromodulators had more trouble with sleep at baseline. “It is hard to tease out if these differences are due to the medications themselves or if the patients on these medications have more severe symptoms that may have a bigger impact on their life”
In assessing predictors of response to PENFS therapy, those with higher pain catastrophizing and somatization had lesser reduction in VAS pain scores, while those with high anxiety had lesser improvements in functioning.
Study limitations: small sample size and lack of control/sham group
In this limited study, PENFS was associated with improvements in pain intensity and nausea through visual analog scales and validated questionnaires. Disability, pain catastrophizing, somatization, and anxiety reduced after four weeks of PENFS and effects were sustained at 6–12 months post-treatment.
My take: Auricular stimulation if feasible (in terms of cost) is a good alternative to pharmacologic therapy. It would be of interest to study outcomes of patients who received this treatment modality compared with those who were treated by well-qualified pain psychologists.
Link: COVID-19 Government website. This site has information on (free) masks, free tests (up to 2 sets of 4 kits), vaccines and treatments.
The website is available in English, Spanish and Chinese. The administration is also making all of these tools available over the phone through the national vaccine hotline at 1-800-232-0233 (TTY 1-888-720-7489), which supports over 150 languages.
Similar to the constipation action plan (see blog link below), the authors have created a stepwise pictographic CVS action plan (CVSAP).
Image is from Pat Reeves twitter feed and corresponds to figure in study (pg 175)
Key points:
A composite readability score of 5.32 was consistent with a fifth-grade level.
Patients/caregivers (n = 70) judged the CVSAP to be of high quality with consumer information rating form rating of 84.2%
Six medical librarians rated the CVSAP to have 93% understandability and 100% actionability, and 33 clinicians completing the SAM generated a suitability rating of 87.5%
On the listed ED management, the authors note “consider fosaprepitant…and can give oral aprepitant on days 2 and 3.” It should be noted that oral dosing afterwards is generally not required as fosaprepitant can last 2-3 days after a single dose. In addition, many use a maximum dose of 150 mg rather than 115 mg. Also, the ED dosage of several agents need to be tailored to the individual based on weight and other medications. Lower doses of many of the medications in the protocol are often effective.
My take: Patients with cyclic vomiting syndrome, like those with constipation, are likely to benefit from clearly articulated plans for maintenance treatment, escalation approaches and for ED management. The need for ED management may lessen with more consistent treatment approaches.
Disclaimer: This blog, gutsandgrowth, assumes no responsibility for any use or operation of any method, product, instruction, concept or idea contained in the material herein or for any injury or damage to persons or property (whether products liability, negligence or otherwise) resulting from such use or operation. These blog posts are for educational purposes only. Specific dosing of medications (along with potential adverse effects) should be confirmed by prescribing physician. Because of rapid advances in the medical sciences, the gutsandgrowth blog cautions that independent verification should be made of diagnosis and drug dosages. The reader is solely responsible for the conduct of any suggested test or procedure. This content is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment provided by a qualified healthcare provider. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a condition
This retrospective study (n=45) shows that supplemental water added to blenderized tube feeds may have detrimental effects.
Key finding:
Patients receiving <20% thin liquids were less likely to undergo chest X-rays during follow-up than patients receiving larger amounts of thin liquids (10% in the minimal thin group versus 48% in the greater thin group, P = 0.03)
This relationship remained significant after controlling for underlying pulmonary disease, aspiration, method of feed administration (bolus or continuous feeds), fundoplication status, and oral intake status. CXRs likely indicate concern for pulmonary outcomes related to feedings.
From JPGN twitter feed
My take: Many thick formulas may be difficult to administer via GT. However, using too much water may hinder the benefits of a blenderized diet. Larger prospective studies are needed to determine optimal viscosity diets in these vulnerable populations.
The Boston group has several related articles (Thanks to Alison Miller for sharing these articles):
B Hron et al. J Pediatr 2019;211:139-45. Health Outcomes and Quality of Life Indices of Children Receiving Blenderized Feeds via Enteral Tube
Blenderized diets were associated with decreased healthcare use, improved symptom scores, and increased patient satisfaction compared with conventional formulas.
B Hron, R Rosen. JPGN 2020; 70: e124–e128. Viscosity of Commercial Food-based Formulas and Home-prepared Blenderized Feeds
This article shows that adding 90 mL of water can reduce viscosity of blenderized formula from >6000 cP to ~1000 cP. The authors suggest that those patients with significant reflux may benefit from higher viscosity formulas: “Low viscosity formulas such as Kate Farms and Compleat may not be ideal for patients fed via gastrostomy with significant reflux, in whom extremely thick or possibly moderately thick liquids may have a beneficial impact.”
Commercial food-based formulas vary even more widely, with some meeting criteria for thin liquids (Kate Farms Pediatric 1.2 and Compleat Pediatric), slightly thick (Harvest), mildly thick (Nourish), moderately thick (Compleat Organic Blends, Liquid Hope), and extremely thick (Real Food Blends).
Specific viscosity (cP) listed in Table 1 of this article:
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted approval to AbbVie’s Rinvoq (upadacitinib) to treat adult patients with moderate-to-severe active ulcerative colitis (UC).
A selective inhibitor of Janus kinase (JAK), Rinvoq is indicated to treat UC patients who had reduced response or are not tolerant to one or more tumour necrosis factor (TNF) blockers.
Per David Rubin: This treatment is a once a day oral pill. In adults, induction consists of 45 mg daily for 8 weeks, then 15 mg or 30 mg for maintenance treatment.
Disclaimer: This blog, gutsandgrowth, assumes no responsibility for any use or operation of any method, product, instruction, concept or idea contained in the material herein or for any injury or damage to persons or property (whether products liability, negligence or otherwise) resulting from such use or operation. These blog posts are for educational purposes only. Specific dosing of medications (along with potential adverse effects) should be confirmed by prescribing physician. Because of rapid advances in the medical sciences, the gutsandgrowth blog cautions that independent verification should be made of diagnosis and drug dosages. The reader is solely responsible for the conduct of any suggested test or procedure. This content is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment provided by a qualified healthcare provider. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a condition.
In this single-center retrospective study (2017–2020), the authors reviewed the extent of testing and yield in children with suspected NAFLD. Criteria:
BMI >85th percentile
Persistently (>3 months) elevated ALT more than twice the ULN for age
Radiographic (ultrasound, computed tomography, and MRI) features of hepatic steatosis.
Key findings:
Eleven (11.6%) patients were ultimately diagnosed with a condition resulting from their abnormal bloodwork: infectious hepatitis (3, 9.8%), thyroid disease (2, 3.4%), celiac disease (4, 7.7%), AIH (1, 1.7%; diagnosis based on liver biopsy), and A1AT deficiency (1, 2.0%). It is likely that the yield would have been higher if all patients had more extensive testing
Only 9.5% of patients had comprehensive, additional testing performed per the 2017 North American Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition guidelines: infectious hepatitis serologies (Hepatitis A virus IgM, Hepatitis B surface antigen, anti–Hepatitis C virus), thyroid studies (thyroid-stimulating hormone [TSH]), ceruloplasmin, A1AT, liver autoantibodies (antinuclear antibody; anti-smooth muscle antibody; liver kidney microsome type 1 antibody), tissue transglutaminase IgA (TTG-IgA), total IgA, total IgG, and LAL blood spot
The costs of performing the recommended testing was estimated as $397.30 Canadian dollars
My take: In those with persistently elevated liver enzymes, additional blood tests are important to evaluate for chronic liver diseases, even in those suspected of NAFLD.
GI eosinophilia was patchy and that examination of multiple biopsies was required for diagnosis—an average of only 2.6 per 8 gastric biopsies and 2.2 per 4 duodenal biopsies per subject met thresholds for EG/EoD.
Evaluation of multiple nonoverlapping hpfs in each of 8 gastric and 4 duodenal biopsies was required to capture 100% of EG/EoD cases.
gutsandgrowth 