European journal of pediatrics
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A mesenteric hernia is one type of intraperitoneal hernia. There is no hernia sac in this situation but only a mesenteric defect, which is present at birth. Strangulated mesenteric hernia is a rare cause of intestinal obstruction especially in the pediatric population. Between January 1996 and January 2006, four patients with intestinal obstruction were determined to have congenital mesenteric hernia at Chang Gung Children's Hospital. Patients consisted of three boys and one girl, ranging in age from 2 years 5 months to 5 years 4 months. All patients presented with symptoms and signs indicative of intestinal obstruction. On physical examination, all patients appeared to be severely ill. A shock-like state was associated with necrosis of the strangulated bowel in two patients. A palpable abdominal mass was present in one patient with volvulus of small bowel. The plain abdominal radiography and the ultrasound scan also showed dilatation of the small bowel and excluded intussusception. All the patients underwent laparotomy after initial resuscitation. During laparotomy, three patients had incarceration of small bowel through the small mesenteric defect, and another one had volvulus with gangrenous bowel entrapped within a large mesenteric defect. The defects ranged in size are from 2 to 7 centimeters in diameter. Simple reduction of the incarcerated bowel with repair of the defect was performed in two patients, resection of gangrenous bowel and primary anastomosis was required in one patient, and resection with end ileostomy was needed in another one patient. There was no postoperative mortality in our patients. ⋯ A mesenteric hernia is a rare cause of intestinal obstruction, especially in children. Open exploration is the only way to establish a clear anatomic diagnosis.
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Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Analgesia in preterm newborns: the comparative effects of sucrose and glucose.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of different oral carbohydrate solutions for alleviation of pain in healthy preterm babies. Thirty-one preterm infants who were having blood drawn by heel prick were given 2 ml of solution A (20% sucrose), solution B (20% glucose) or solution C (placebo, sterile water) into the mouth, 2 min before lancing. Behavioural responses to this painful stimulus were measured by duration of crying and facial expressions (Neonatal Facial Coding System, NFCS) and physiological responses were measured by heart rate (HR), respiratory rate (RR), and oxygen saturation changes (SaO(2)). ⋯ When the babies received placebo they showed a significantly higher NFCS score at 4 and 5 min after the heel prick (P = 0.009 and 0.046 respectively). Following painful stimulus HR increased significantly in the first 3 min compared with baseline, and at the first minute the mean of the HR was found to be significantly higher in the placebo group than in the sucrose and glucose groups (P = 0.007). We concluded that both sucrose and glucose administered orally before a heel prick reduce the pain response in preterm infants.
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Our aim was to determine whether starting inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) on critically ill neonates with severe hypoxemic respiratory failure and/or persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPH), at a referring hospital at the start of transport, decreases the need for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), lessens the number of hospital days and improves survival in comparison with those patients who were started on iNO only at the receiving facility. The study was a retrospective review of 94 charts of neonates that had iNO initiated by the transport team at a referring hospital or only at the tertiary neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of the receiving hospital. Data collected included demographics, mode of transport, total number of hospital days, days on inhaled nitric oxide and ECMO use. ⋯ Overall, patients who died were younger and had lower birth weights and Apgar scores. For all surviving patients who did not require ECMO, the length of total hospital stay (median days 22 versus 38, P = 0.018), and the length of the hospital stay at the receiving hospital (median days 18 versus 29, P = 0.006), were significantly shorter for the Field-iNO patients than for the CHLA-iNO patients, respectively. Earlier initiation of iNO may decrease length of hospital stay in surviving neonates with PPH not requiring ECMO.