International journal of surgery (London, England)
January 1, 2025
Jing-Hui Hu, Zhang-Zhen Zhong, Hai-Jing Shi et al.
21 citations
Adding a low dose of the anesthetic esketamine to a multimodal pain regimen improved the quality of recovery for patients after thoracoscopic lung surgery, while two different regional nerve blocks—erector spinae plane block and intercostal nerve block—provided similar benefits. In a randomized trial of 100 adults, those receiving intravenous esketamine (0.3 mg/kg) scored an average of 111.5 on the quality-of-recovery scale at 24 hours, compared with 105.4 for placebo, a difference exceeding the minimal clinically important threshold of 6.0 points. The esketamine group also had higher scores at 48 hours and hospital discharge. No significant interaction occurred between esketamine and the type of nerve block, and the two blocks yielded comparable recovery scores, suggesting they can be used interchangeably.
Scientific Reports
February 19, 2025
Xue Zhang, Xin Zhao, Jiaxin Xu et al.
8 citations
For emergency intubation in critically ill adults, using esketamine for induction results in higher mean arterial pressure during and after the procedure compared to a midazolam/sufentanil admixture, with no significant difference in heart rate. Patients receiving esketamine required less norepinephrine, had a shorter duration of ventilation support (median 105 vs. 212 hours), and a shorter ICU stay (median 7 vs. 15 days). 28-day mortality did not differ between groups, and no serious adverse events occurred. Esketamine appears to be a hemodynamically stable induction agent for this population.
Annals of medicine
December 1, 2025
Ya-Juan Zhu, Yao-Yu Ying, Hua-Yue Liu et al.
7 citations
Opioid-free anaesthesia (OFA) reduces postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) compared with opioid-inclusive anaesthesia in adults undergoing lower extremity wound surgery. In a randomized double-blind crossover trial, 66 patients each received both OFA (lidocaine, esketamine, dexmedetomidine, propofol) and opioid-inclusive anaesthesia (sufentanil, propofol) for two separate surgeries. OFA lowered the incidence of PONV during the first 48 hours after surgery (5% vs. 23%), and also reduced the severity of PONV and rate of hypotension, though time to extubation was longer. Postoperative pain and need for rescue analgesia did not differ between the two techniques.
Stress and health : journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress
August 1, 2025
Jianhao Zhou, Xin Zhao, Cheng Fan et al.
2 citations
A single session of mindfulness meditation quickly lowers blood pressure and shifts heart rate variability toward a more relaxed state in college students under stress. An eight-week standardized mindfulness program further reduces stress-induced blood pressure, improves emotional well-being, and increases mindfulness, with benefits still present twelve weeks later. A sham meditation group also showed emotional and mindfulness improvements, but only the real meditation group had lower blood pressure during stress after training. The findings suggest that brief meditation can calm the body's immediate stress response, while regular practice builds lasting resilience, allowing students to choose different techniques for different stress scenarios.
Biological Psychology
January 1, 2026
Xiaonan Zhan, Huibiao Li, Ke Chen et al.
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) reduces depressive symptoms in university students by altering brain activity and connectivity. In a randomized controlled trial, 42 healthy students completed an 8-week MBSR program or served as controls. MBSR participants showed greater improvement in depression scores. Brain imaging revealed reduced Amplitude of Low-Frequency Fluctuations (ALFF), fractional ALFF, and Regional Homogeneity in the right middle cingulate cortex (MCC). Functional connectivity between the right MCC and the left hippocampus and bilateral precuneus also decreased. These connectivity changes correlated with depression improvement, suggesting MBSR promotes adaptive neural reorganization in emotional regulation networks.
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews
July 1, 2024
Cheng Fan, Mengjiao Wu, Hong Liu et al.
A systematic review of 18 fMRI studies found that meditation alters brain activity in regions associated with pain, mood, and cognition. Activation of the insula, anterior cingulate cortex, and orbitofrontal cortex was positively linked to pain relief, while activity in the amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex was negatively correlated. Meta-analyses consistently implicated the insula, putamen, amygdala, anterior cingulate cortex, precentral gyrus, postcentral gyrus, inferior parietal lobule, superior temporal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, and caudate nucleus. These findings suggest meditation relieves pain by acting on specific neural circuits involved in both sensory and emotional pain processing.