American family physician
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Many patients require sedation during diagnostic or therapeutic procedures. Ideally, procedural sedation minimizes the patient's awareness and discomfort while maintaining the patient's safety. Appropriate monitoring by trained personnel is the key to successful procedural sedation. ⋯ Common sedative agents include etomidate, ketamine, fentanyl, and midazolam. These have become the agents of choice for procedural sedation because of their ease of use, predictable action, and excellent safety profiles. All patients requiring procedural sedation should be monitored by qualified staff at the bedside until they have recovered to an age-appropriate baseline mental status and function.
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Although hypothermia is most common in patients who are exposed to a cold environment, it can develop secondary to toxin exposure, metabolic derangements, infections, and dysfunction of the central nervous and endocrine systems. The clinical presentation of hypothermia includes a spectrum of symptoms and is grouped into the following three categories: mild, moderate, and severe. Management depends on the degree of hypothermia present. ⋯ Mild to moderate hypothermia is treated easily with supportive care in most clinical settings and has good patient outcomes. The treatment of severe hypothermia is more complex, and outcomes depend heavily on clinical resources. Prevention and recognition of atypical presentations are essential to reducing the rates of morbidity and mortality associated with this condition.
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Preeclampsia is a pregnancy-specific multisystem disorder of unknown etiology. The disorder affects approximately 5 to 7 percent of pregnancies and is a significant cause of maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. Preeclampsia is defined by the new onset of elevated blood pressure and proteinuria after 20 weeks of gestation. ⋯ Management during delivery includes seizure prophylaxis with magnesium sulfate and, if necessary, medical management of hypertension. Delivery remains the ultimate treatment. Access to prenatal care, early detection of the disorder, careful monitoring, and appropriate management are crucial elements in the prevention of preeclampsia-related deaths.
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The American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology developed guidelines in 2001 for the management of cervical cytologic abnormalities. The guidelines incorporate the Bethesda System 2001 terminology and data from randomized studies of atypical squamous cells, low-grade intraepithelial lesions, human papillomavirus testing, and liquid-based cytology to formulate evidence-based recommendations. Each recommendation is graded according to the strength of the recommendation and the quality of the evidence, and specific terminology is added to highlight management options. ⋯ Colposcopy and endocervical sampling are recommended in women with all subcategories of atypical glandular cells. Endometrial sampling and colposcopy are recommended in women older than 35 years with atypical glandular cells and in younger women with unexplained vaginal bleeding. Women with a diagnosis of "atypical glandular cells-favor neoplasia" or adenocarcinoma-in-situ who are not found to have invasive disease on colposcopy should undergo a diagnostic excisional procedure, preferably a cold-knife conization.