BMJ open
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In 2010, a total of 385 natural disasters killed more than 297 000 people worldwide and affected over 217 million others. More standardised reporting of major incident management have been advocated in the previous years. Prevention, mitigation, preparedness and major incident response may be improved through collection and analysis of high-quality standardised data on medical management of major incidents. Standardised data may elevate the level of scientific evidence within disaster medicine research. ⋯ This review is registered in PROSPERO (registration number: CRD42012002051).
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To evaluate and compare the effectiveness and tolerability of preoxygenation with the self-inflating bag-valve-mask (BVM) and non-rebreather mask (NRM) as are used before emergency anaesthesia. ⋯ In healthy volunteers, the NRM performs comparably to the BVM in terms of the degree of denitrogenation achieved although neither performed well. Although it was well tolerated, the BVM was subjectively more difficult to breathe through and was associated with greater mask pressures and a small increase in F(E)CO(2) consistent with hypoventilation or rebreathing. Our results suggest that preoxygenation with the NRM may be a preferable approach in spontaneously breathing patients.
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WHO case management algorithm for paediatric pneumonia relies solely on symptoms of shortness of breath or cough and tachypnoea for treatment and has poor diagnostic specificity, tends to increase antibiotic resistance. Alternatives, including oxygen saturation measurement, chest ultrasound and chest auscultation, exist but with potential disadvantages. Electronic auscultation has potential for improved detection of paediatric pneumonia but has yet to be standardised. The authors aim to investigate the use of electronic auscultation to improve the specificity of the current WHO algorithm in developing countries. ⋯ This study will develop standardised methods for electronic auscultation and chest ultrasound and compare their utility for detection of pneumonia to standard approaches. Utilising signal processing techniques, the authors aim to characterise lung sounds and through machine learning, develop a classification system to distinguish pathologic sounds. Data will allow a better understanding of the benefits and limitations of novel diagnostic techniques in paediatric pneumonia.
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To characterise the prevalence of burnout syndrome in a sample of family doctors (FDs) working in the Portuguese National Health System. ⋯ High burnout is relatively common among Portuguese FDs. Burnout relief measures should be developed in order to prevent a further increase of burnout syndrome among Portuguese FDs.
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To assess the evidence for the safety and effectiveness of antiemetics on gastroenteritis-induced vomiting in children and adolescents. ⋯ This systematic review used a method novel to this clinical area and found clear evidence that ondansetron was the most likely treatment to allow oral rehydration therapy to commence. Given the significance of these results, the authors urge healthcare policy makers to consider the wider use of ondansetron in secondary care. Furthermore, randomised controlled trials are needed to investigate the effectiveness of antiemetic treatment in primary care (including ambulatory care interventions).