Acta clinica Croatica
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Acta clinica Croatica · Apr 2023
ReviewEARLY TEACHING AND ADOPTION OF VIDEOLARYNGOSCOPY IN EMERGENCY MEDICINE TRAINING.
The aim of this paper is to gather and evaluate available literature about using videolaryngoscopy as a training tool for novice learners and compare it to direct laryngoscopy. Search of the available literature was performed using the MEDLINE database, through the PubMed searching tool. The inclusion criteria were that papers had to be original research and participants had to be novices in the field of airway management. ⋯ Five studies were identified that fitted the inclusion criteria, all of which showed a statistically significant difference in first attempt success at endotracheal intubation in favor of videolaryngoscopy when compared to direct laryngoscopy. One of the studies also demonstrated a faster skill acquisition rate when using videolaryngoscopy. The use of videolaryngoscopy in teaching airway management to trainees (emergency medicine residents included) is a viable option and should be encouraged and researched further.
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Acta clinica Croatica · Apr 2023
ASSOCIATION BETWEEN HIGH MOBILITY GROUP BOX 1 PROTEIN GENE (rs41369348) POLYMORPHISM AND IMMUNOGLOBULIN A VASCULITIS IN CHILDREN.
Immunoglobulin A vasculitis (IgAV) or Henoch-Schönlein purpura is the most prevalent systemic small vessel vasculitis in childhood. High mobility group box 1 protein (HMBG1) is a pleiotropic cytokine that functions as a pro-inflammatory signal, important for the activation of antigen-presenting cells and propagation of inflammation. HMGB1 is implicated in the pathophysiology of a variety of inflammatory diseases. ⋯ Although there was a higher frequency of heterozygous A/delA genotype of this gene polymorphism in IgAV group as compared with control group, no genotype difference was observed between these two groups. No statistically significant genotype differences were disclosed when patients with different IgAV clinical features were compared. In conclusion, in this study, polymorphism rs41369348 for HMGB1 was not associated with increased susceptibility to childhood IgAV, its severity or different clinical manifestations.
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Acta clinica Croatica · Apr 2023
Comparative StudyCOMPARISON OF TRACHEAL ASPIRATES IN THE PERIOD BEFORE AND AFTER THE START OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN THE INTENSIVE CARE UNIT IN A TERTIARY HOSPITAL.
Changes in working methods and diagnostics using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF) diagnostics that occurred after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic could show differences in the prevalence of positive microbiological samples. In a retrospective study, a total of 442 tracheal aspirates in the pre-pandemic period (Period A, 2018, 198 patients, age median 69 (57-78)) and 277 samples in the pandemic period (Period B, 2021, 147 patients, age 68 (56-77) (p=0.585) obtained after the start of the pandemic were analyzed. A total of 176 patients had at least 1 positive result. ⋯ The most frequently isolated pathogens were Acinetobacter baumannii in 86 patients from Period A and 32 patients from Period B, i.e., 43% vs. 21.7% of all positive isolates (p=0.247), followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa in 29 patients in Period A (14.6%) vs. 7 (3%) (p=0.112) in Period B. A statistically significant increase was observed in the incidence of Enterobacterales (16.6% vs. 32.6%, p=0.002), especially Klebsiellae spp. Although overall mortality decreased in Period B, changes in the working methods and diagnostics did not result in changes in the mortality of patients whose tracheal aspirates were sampled.
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Acta clinica Croatica · Apr 2023
VALIDATION OF THE CROATIAN VERSION OF THE SURGICAL FEAR QUESTIONNAIRE (SFQ) IN ADULT PATIENTS WAITING FOR ELECTIVE SURGERY.
The Surgical Fear Questionnaire (SFQ) is an instrument for self-assessment of surgical fear and consists of two subscales, one assessing the fear of short-term consequences (SFQ-s) and another one of long-term consequences (SFQ-l) of surgery. The aim of this study was to test the Croatian version of the SFQ with regard to its psychometric properties. This prospective cohort study included patients who presented to the Department of Surgery for elective surgery in the inpatient setting at a tertiary health care facility in Croatia between April 1 and May 31, 2019. ⋯ Significant correlations of the SFQ with the NRS and HADS-anxiety subscale were demonstrated. Our study demonstrated the Croatian version of the SFQ to have a high level of reliability and hence can be used as a self-report instrument for surgical fear with two subscales. Convergent validity of the SFQ with other self-report instruments is shown.
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Acta clinica Croatica · Apr 2023
CHRONIC MULTIMORBIDITY OF LOW BACK PAIN OR OTHER CHRONIC BACK DISORDERS IN THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA.
The aim was to assess the prevalence of chronic multimorbidity in patients with chronic low back pain or other chronic back disorders (BD). We analyzed data from the population-based cross-sectional European Health Interview Survey (EHIS) performed in the Republic of Croatia 2014-2015 by the Croatian Institute of Public Health. Outcome was the point-prevalence of chronic multimorbidity defined as having ≥2 chronic illnesses out of 14 contained in the EHIS questionnaire, after adjustment for ten sociodemographic, anthropometric and lifestyle confounders. ⋯ All chronic comorbidities except for asthma and liver cirrhosis were significantly more prevalent in participants with BD than in participants without BD. In the population with BD, the participants with multimorbidity had three to four times higher odds for unfavorable self-reported health outcomes than the participants with no comorbid conditions, whereas the existence of only one comorbidity was not significantly associated with a worse outcome compared to the population with no comorbidities. In conclusion, the population suffering from BD has a higher prevalence of chronic multimorbidity than the population without BD and this multimorbidity is associated with unfavorable health outcomes.