Digestive diseases and sciences
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The objective of this study is to evaluate the utility of gastric electrical stimulation (GES) in the subgroup of patients with refractory nausea and vomiting in the presence of normal gastric emptying. Eighteen patients (15 females) underwent GES implantation for dyspeptic symptoms in the presence of normal gastric emptying. Upper gastrointestinal (UGI) symptom score, health-related quality of life (HR-QOL), nutritional status and weight, and medication use (prokinetics and antiemetics) were assessed at baseline and at 1 year after GES placement. ⋯ Gastric emptying actually became slower in 29% of those who repeated the test after 1 year. No adverse events related to GES placement were recorded. Results of our study suggest that GES improves dyspeptic symptoms in patients with medically refractory nausea and vomiting independent of its effect on gastric emptying and could be considered as a potential therapy in this clinical setting.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Efficacy and safety of lubiprostone in patients with chronic constipation.
The aim of this study is to assess the efficacy and safety of lubiprostone in adults with chronic constipation. ⋯ In patients with chronic constipation, lubiprostone produced a bowel movement in the majority of individuals within 24 h of initial dosing, with sustained improvement in frequency as well as other constipation symptoms over 4 weeks of treatment.
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BACKGROUND The endoscopy unit before remediation may be a high-risk area for slip and fall injuries due to a large number of exposed above-the-floor wires in the endoscopy rooms, dimmed lighting during endoscopic procedures, and staff inattention to obstacles due to preoccupation with the endoscopic patient. AIM To describe a novel, previously unappreciated workplace hazard to endoscopic personnel: Exposed wires in the endoscopy unit. METHODS This study is a retrospective review of 110,000 endoscopic procedures performed during the last 5 years at an academic, teaching hospital with a high-volume endoscopy unit. ⋯ Remediation of exposed wires included: bundling related wires together in a cable to reduce the number of independent wires, covering exposed wires on the floor with a nonslip heavy mat, and running wires from ceiling outlets to equipment high above ground (e.g. mounted endoscopy video monitors). CONCLUSIONS Tripping, slipping, and falling over exposed wires can cause significant injury to endoscopic personnel. This previously undescribed hazard should be preventable by simple remediation, and all endoscopic personnel, hospital architects, hospital administrators, and governmental regulators should be alerted to this potential hazard
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Previous studies have shown that gastric tone is inhibited by the electrical stimulation of some parts of the gut. The aims of this study were to investigate the effects of gastric electrical stimulation (GES), duodenal electrical stimulation (DES), ileal electrical stimulation (IES), and colonic electrical stimulation (CES) on gastric tone and the possible mechanism of electrical stimulation on gastric tone. Experiments were performed to study: (1) the effects of the four stimulations (GES, DES, IES, CES) on gastric tone; (2) the role of the nitrergic pathway's involvement in the effect of IES on gastric tone. ⋯ It was concluded that electrical stimulation of the stomach, intestine, or colon with long pulses has an inhibitory effect on gastric tone, and the most effective stimulation is CES. The inhibitory effect is not organ-specific and is unrelated to the distance between the stimulation site and the affected organ. The inhibitory effect of IES on gastric tone is mediated by the nitrergic pathway.