The New Zealand medical journal
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Comparative Study
Ten-year review of intussusception at Starship Hospital: 1998-2007.
To review the demographics, presenting features, rates of air enema reduction success, prevalence of pathological lead points and surgical intervention rates and outcomes in patients with intussusception at Starship Children's Hospital (Auckland, New Zealand). To use this data to guide management of children at a national level in New Zealand. ⋯ Intussusception only occasionally presents with the typical triad of abdominal pain, rectal bleeding and abdominal mass. Air enema reduction is successful at this institution with a low level of complication. Maori and Pacific patients had higher rates of failed enema reduction and need for surgery compared to European patients. Further research is needed from peripheral centres to evaluate outcomes of children treated in district hospitals to identify how and where these children are best managed.
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Comparative Study
Introduction of continuous regional analgesia via wound catheters in a peripheral hospital.
To review the effectiveness of continuous regional analgesia (CRA) via wound catheters after abdominal surgery in a district general hospital (Wanganui, New Zealand). ⋯ Continuous regional analgesia via wound catheters provides effective and safe postoperative analgesia for surgical patients in a small district general hospital. Used as part of a multimodal approach it allows easy step-down from HDU to surgical wards. This technique has been readily accepted over the year by theatre, HDU, ward, and anaesthetics colleagues.
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Comparative Study
Task Manager: an innovative approach to improving hospital communication after hours.
To improve communication between doctors and nurses after hours, by developing a tool to display ward tasks, allowing staff to prioritise their work, without constant interruption from pagers (beepers). ⋯ Task Manager is a simple yet powerful tool for prioritising routine tasks after hours. It allows staff to quickly create tasks, and communicate effectively with other members of the team. It has reduced the frequency of junior doctors paging so that they can continue their work with fewer interruptions. Whilst it was introduced to improve effective communication after hours, it has become apparent that there are multiple 'tasks' that are ordered in a multitude of ways in our hospital and many could be served by Task Manager.