Irish journal of medical science
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Urology cover is commonly available out-of-hours in most teaching hospitals. However, increased pressure to reduce hospital expenditure has forced many institutions to consider removing middle grade cover outside of normal working hours. The aim of this study was to audit the emergency urology activity in our institution over a 12-month period. ⋯ Emergency urology activity constitutes a large proportion of the workload at our institution. Restricting emergency urology cover would limit essential training opportunities for urology trainees, increases length of stay and delay treatment of urological emergencies. Urology "out of hours" cover is a cost-efficient method of service provision.
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High incidence of difficult or failed intubation in obstetric patients is still a major problem to challenge anaesthesiologists. Although the probability of difficult intubation is impossible to predict preoperatively, some simple, practical bedside tests may help. This study used five simple tests in an attempt to better evaluate airway changes in pregnant women before and after delivery. ⋯ Within 24 h after delivery, Mallampati scores changed in one-third (n 21, 36.6%) of the patients. Significant differences between the two measurements of thyromental and sternomental distances, mouth opening, and the degree of neck extension confirm difficult airway management in pregnant women.
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Although the General Medical Council has published guidelines for procedural consent, there is evidence to suggest that deficiencies still occur in completion demographics, documentation of procedural risks and information regarding alternative therapies. We assessed the accuracy and completeness of vascular consent within our unit. ⋯ Vascular consent is a complex process involving a number of discussions and meetings with patients. Our unit has demonstrated compliance of nearly 90% for all consent-related processes and remains consistent with current GMC guidance. However, further improvement including the documentation of intended benefits, provision of additional written information whilst reducing the use of abbreviations is desired.
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Numerous studies have demonstrated that elevated serum uric acid concentration (SUA) is correlated with lipid profile in hypertensive or obese patients. However, the relationship between serum uric acid levels and lipid profile in non-obese late adolescent population was not examined before. ⋯ In summary, the results of our study confirm higher prevalence of hyperuricemia in males when compared to females and a stronger association of HU with BMI-Z-score and lipid profile in male adolescents. Nevertheless, multiple regression does not confirm the independent association of SUA with lipid profile.
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Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a common complication of hospital admission. The incidence of hospital-acquired deep vein thrombosis is approximately 10-40% amongst medical and general surgical patients without prophylaxis. Pulmonary embolism accounts for 5-10% of deaths in hospitalised patients, making hospital-acquired VTE the most common preventable cause of in-hospital death. Studies suggest that prophylactic measures are widely under- and inappropriately used. ⋯ Compliance with VTE guidelines is inadequate. Medication charts with specific sections on VTE assessment and prophylaxis may increase compliance with guidelines.