Dexamethasone Treatment Options in Philadelphia, PA

Background: The research study is being conducted to see if using the liposomal Bupivacaine for the Interscalene block will improve the patient pain control and the whole patient's experience 48 hours after surgery when compared to using the regular Marcaine (bupivacaine hydrochloride) in addition to the dexamethasone. All preoperative, surgical, post-operative care in the recovery room, and discharge instructions will be the same as any other patient undergoing this surgery. Study procedures: 1. After obtaining informed consent, an anesthesiologist will receive an envelope with result of randomization. Patients will receive a single injection interscalene nerve block prior to surgery 2. Patients will be randomized to one of two groups: * GROUP 1 liposomal Bupivacaine - will receive a 20 ml mixture of 10 ml of Liposomal Bupivacaine 1.3% and 10 ml of Bupivacaine HCl 0.5%. * GROUP 2 Bupivacaine with dexamethasone - will receive 20 ml of Bupivacaine HCl 0.5% with 4 mg of preservative-free dexamethasone. 4. Patients will undergo general endotracheal anesthesia with inhaled anesthetic (Sevoflurane) for a goal MAC 1.0. Other than the aforementioned interscalene nerve block, patients will not receive any other local anesthetic. 5. Patients will receive a multimodal analgesic and antiemetic regimen standardized for shoulder arthroscopies at our institution. Preoperatively, all patients will receive 300 mg of gabapentin and 1,000 mg of acetaminophen orally. Intraoperatively, patients will receive 4 mg of ondansetron and 15 mg of ketorolac intravenously. Postoperatively, patients will remain on an oral regimen of 300 mg of gabapentin three times daily for one week, and 1,000 mg of acetaminophen and 10 mg of ketorolac every 8 hours for 48 hours after surgery. 6. Additional intraoperative or postoperative opioid analgesics will be administered as needed. Patients with a history of PONV or otherwise deemed high risk for PONV by the attending anesthesiologist will receive a scopolamine patch before induction of general anesthesia. Read Less

This randomized phase III trial is studying low-dose vincristine to see how well it works compared with high-dose vincristine when given together with different combination chemotherapy regimens in treating young patients with intermediate-risk relapsed B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Drugs used in chemotherapy work in different ways to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Giving more than one drug (combination chemotherapy) and giving the drugs in different ways and different doses may kill more cancer cells.. Read Less

This was a randomized, controlled, open-label, Phase 3 multicenter study which enrolled patients with RRMM following 2-4 lines of prior therapy and who were refractory to lenalidomide in the last line of therapy as demonstrated by disease progression on or within 60 days of completion of the last dose of lenalidomide. Patients received either melflufen+dex or pomalidomide+dex. Read Less

Compare the outcome following manipulation under anesthesia for stiffness in a randomized controlled fashion with one group receiving IV dexamethasone and oral celecoxib at the time of manipulation to a control group receiving manipulation alone. Outcomes will include pain, range of motion, as well as subjective outcome scores. Read Less

The addition of dexamethasone to non-liposomal bupivacaine in perineural blocks has been shown to enhance pain control and prolong the time until first request for postoperative narcotics in the fields of orthopedic, thoracic, and gynecologic surgery. This has not been investigated in any types of breast surgery. The investigators assessed if the combination of dexamethasone to bupivacaine in the preoperative field block prior to bilateral breast reduction surgery resulted in improved pain control relative to bupivacaine alone. Read Less

Health care providers are seeking methods to limit post-operative pain and opioid prescriptions to reduce the burden of the national opioid use epidemic. Adductor canal block (ACB) is a peripheral nerve block that has been shown to reduce pain and opioid usage with minimal effect on quadriceps function in patients undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery. Infiltration between Popliteal Artery and Capsule of the Knee (iPACK) block has also shown promise in reducing pain and opioid usage, specifically reducing posterior knee pain, which ACB is not able to achieve. To our knowledge, there is currently no study in the orthopedic literature comparing post-operative pain and opioid consumption in ACL reconstruction (ACLR) patients who received isolated ACB versus ACB with IPACK. The primary aim of this study is to investigate the role of IPACK in combination with ACB in reducing peri-operative (14-days) pain levels in ACLR patients. The secondary aim is to determine the effectiveness of IPACK in reducing post-operative opioid use. The tertiary aim is to determine any effect of IPACK on post-operative functional outcomes. Read Less

The Macular Edema Ranibizumab v. Intravitreal anti-inflammatory Therapy (MERIT) Trial will compare the relative efficacy and safety of intravitreal methotrexate, intravitreal ranibizumab, and the intravitreal dexamethasone implant for the treatment of uveitic macular edema persisting or reoccurring after an intravitreal corticosteroid injection. MERIT is a parallel design (1:1:1), randomized comparative trial with an anniversary close-out after 6 months of follow-up. The primary outcome is percent change in central subfield thickness from the baseline OCT measurement to the 12 week visit. Read Less

RATIONALE: Epoetin alfa may stimulate red blood cell production and may help improve cancer-related anemia and fatigue. Steroid therapy with dexamethasone may increase the effectiveness of epoetin alfa. It is not yet known if epoetin alfa is more effective with or without dexamethasone in treating anemia-related fatigue in patients with prostate cancer. PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is studying epoetin alfa and dexamethasone to see how well they work compared to epoetin alfa alone in treating anemia-related fatigue in patients with prostate cancer that is refractory to treatment with hormone therapy. Read Less

RATIONALE: Monoclonal antibodies, such as rituximab, can block cancer growth in different ways. Some find cancer cells and kill them or carry cancer-killing substances to them. Others interfere with the ability of cancer cells to grow and spread. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as methotrexate, leucovorin, vincristine, procarbazine, dexamethasone, and cytarabine, work in different ways to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Giving rituximab together with combination chemotherapy may kill more cancer cells. PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well giving rituximab together with combination chemotherapy works in treating patients with primary central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma. Read Less

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy work in different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Combining chemotherapy with allogeneic or autologous stem cell transplantation may allow the doctor to give higher doses of chemotherapy drugs and kill more cancer cells. It is not yet known whether stem cell transplantation is more effective than standard chemotherapy in treating acute lymphoblastic leukemia. PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is studying how well stem cell transplantation works compared to standard combination chemotherapy in treating patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in first remission. Read Less

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Combining more than one drug may kill more cancer cells. It is not yet known which regimen of combination chemotherapy is more effective for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is comparing different regimens of combination chemotherapy to see how well they work in treating children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Read Less

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Combining more than one drug may kill more cancer cells. It is not yet known which regimen of chemotherapy is more effective for acute lymphoblastic leukemia. PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is comparing four regimens of combination chemotherapy to see how well they work in treating children with newly diagnosed acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Read Less