Ugeskrift for laeger
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Ugeskrift for laeger · May 2009
[Reporting of patient safety incidents: experience from five years with a national reporting system].
A national reporting system for patient safety incidents (PSI) was introduced in Denmark in 2004. This article describes the experience of the first five years of reporting. The Danish reporting system has the following characteristics: Reporting is mandatory for all healthcare professionals employed at hospitals; reporting is confidential with an option for anonymous reporting; reporting takes place in a non-punitive system. It is concluded that PSI reporting is an important element of a mature safety culture and an important source for qualitative data on an organization's patient safety performance.
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Ugeskrift for laeger · May 2009
[Organisation and reimbursement of surgical practice in Denmark 2004-2008].
The organisation and the reimbursement pattern for surgery in Denmark are relatively unknown. ⋯ The results show increased surgical activity in five common operations and call for intensified monitoring of activity and quality to secure research and further development on a nationwide basis.
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Radical prostatectomy has been offered as curative treatment for localized prostate cancer at Rigshospitalet since August 1995. We here report on postoperative complications in 719 patients operated during the 12-year-period from August 1995 to August 2007 with special emphasis on developments over time. ⋯ Our results demonstrate that radical prostatectomy can be performed with a minimal mortality and an acceptable morbidity.
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Surgery for perforated ulcers is one of the most common emergency surgical procedures. Approximately 400 procedures are performed each year in Denmark and mortality is high, reaching close to 30% at 30 days postoperatively. The importance of perioperative fluid administration during the perioperative course remains unclear. The purpose of this study is to describe the perioperative fluid management in these patients in order to identify problem areas (if any) and to create a basis on which future trials on fluid management in this patient group may be designed. ⋯ Both the preoperative fluid management and the postoperative monitoring of the fluid balance are suboptimal and should be optimized. Individualized (goal-directed) fluid administration aiming at optimizing the oxygen supply to the peripheral tissues is warranted and is recommended to high-risk emergency surgery patients.
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A 76-year-old female was referred because of violaceous dermatitis on sun-exposed skin. She had associated muscle weakness, dysphagia, dysarthria and reported an unintended weight loss. ⋯ Despite intended curative treatment, she died of the cancer six months later. This case emphasizes the importance of a thorough examination for an underlying cancer, in patients diagnosed with dermatomyositis.