Singap Med J
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Comparative Study
Clinical outcomes and hospital length of stay in 2,756 elderly patients with hip fractures: a comparison of surgical and non-surgical management.
The purpose of this study was to compare the clinical outcomes of elderly hip fracture patients who received surgical treatment with those who received non-surgical treatment. ⋯ Surgical management of hip fractures among the elderly is associated with a lower complication rate, as well as a reduced length of hospital stay.
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Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is an infection that has a role in causing dyspepsia and complications such as peptic ulcer disease and gastric malignancies. In the primary care setting, one can adopt a stepwise approach with the 'test-and-treat' strategy to manage H. pylori-associated dyspepsia in young patients without alarm symptoms. Empiric first-line therapies should be for a two-week duration; options include clarithromycin-containing triple therapy alone or with the addition of bismuth, concomitant therapy and bismuth quadruple therapy. ⋯ Options for empiric second-line treatment include bismuth quadruple therapy and levofloxacin-containing triple therapy. Patients with persistent or alarm symptoms should be referred for further evaluation. Patients with persistent infection should be referred for gastroscopy so that gastric biopsies can be obtained for H. pylori culture and antibiotic susceptibility testing.