The New Zealand medical journal
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A survey was done of 250 patients with low back pain and sciatica, treated as outpatients in a pain relief practice, with epidural steroid injections. Repeated injections improved the success rate and provided a safe, cost effective means of treatment without the necessity of hospital admission.
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First year mortality and hospital morbidity were studied in 4678 surviving infants liveborn at National Women's Hospital during 1980, of whom 1113 had been admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit. Of children born there, but never admitted to the neonatal unit, 8.3% were hospitalised in their first year for a mean of 6.7 days per admission or 0.8 days per child. Hospitalisation rates were increased in neonatal unit survivors, ranging from 11.6% in normal birthweight to 15.5% in very low birthweight survivors. ⋯ Deaths in normal birthweight survivors were due to congenital abnormalities. No VLBW survivor died after discharge from National Women's Hospital. Children surviving neonatal unit care in Auckland in 1980 appeared to have less continuing first year morbidity and mortality than has been reported elsewhere.
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A survey of 1826 women in the Wellington region was carried out. Participants were asked about their general and gynaecological health and their menstrual, contraceptive and obstetric history. ⋯ The achieved sample is not intended as a cross-section of the Wellington community, but is nevertheless reasonably representative of the general adult female population aged 20 to 45. Most women volunteered one or more premenstrual symptoms; and about half of the women said these symptoms were such that they affected their lives.
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Data are presented on all 569 subjects who, as a result of trauma, either died or were admitted to hospital in Auckland over a four week period. Median age was 23 with an overall 3:2 male:female ratio. Median injury severity score (ISS) was five with 9% of subjects having an ISS of 16 or more (major trauma). ⋯ The 561 patients used 6380 hospital days (including 314 intensive care days) and the following services--operating room 63%, orthopaedic ward 45%, plastic surgical ward 17%, paediatric ward 15%, neurosurgical ward 10%, general surgical ward 5%, intensive care 5% and CT scanner 4%. Only one hospital death was judged potentially preventable. This study reveals areas where trauma care could be improved, demonstrates the large amount of hospital resources required to treat trauma and particularly highlights the urgent need for studies into strategies for trauma prevention in New Zealand.