Postgraduate medical journal
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Multicenter Study
Evaluation of the need for endoscopy to identify low-risk patients presenting with an acute upper gastrointestinal bleed suitable for early discharge.
To audit the safety of differing protocol-driven early-discharge policies, from two sites, for low-risk acute upper gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding and determine if default early (<24 h) in-patient endoscopy is necessary. ⋯ Patients admitted with a low-risk acute upper GI bleeding can be managed safely by a nurse-led process-driven protocol, based on readily available clinical and laboratory variables, with early discharge <24 h. Avoiding in-patient endoscopy appears to be safe but at the price of greater clinic follow-up.
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Biliary tract infection is a common cause of bacteraemia and is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Few papers describe blood culture isolates, underlying structural abnormalities and clinical outcomes in patients with bacteraemia. ⋯ The proportion of bacteraemias caused by biliary tract infection was 5.5%. The most common infecting organisms were E coli and K pneumoniae. There was a strong association with choledocholithiasis and malignancies, both pre-existing and newly diagnosed. Death was uncommon but when it occurred was often caused by septic shock within 48 h of presentation.
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Learning curves are often referred to in the context of medical education and training, though their trajectories and natures are a matter of debate. The origins of this concept derive from industry and its relevance to contemporary medicine and surgery remains controversial. We describe the history, derivation, character and possible mechanisms to deal with the implications of learning curves in the current climate of clinical governance and modernizing medical careers.
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To determine the incidence and character of drink spiking in an urban population of patients within the UK presenting to an emergency department concerned they had consumed a deliberately contaminated drink. ⋯ Use of sedative drugs to spike drinks may not be as common as reported in the mainstream media. A large number of study participants had serum ethanol concentrations associated with significant intoxication; the source (personal over-consumption or deliberate drink spiking) is unclear.
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The worldwide prevalence of vitamin D deficiency is reported to be high. ⋯ In spite of abundant sunlight, healthy individuals in Kashmir valley are vitamin D deficient, particularly women. Serum 25 (OH) D concentrations are significantly related to sun exposure.