JPMA. The Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association
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To determine the frequency, types (disease states) and outcome of severe obstetric morbidity in patients presenting at a public-sector tertiary care hospital. ⋯ Haemorrhage, hypertensive disorders and ruptured uterus were the leading causes of obstetric near-miss, whereas sepsis, acute fatty liver of pregnancy and peripartum cardiomyopathy resulted in the highest case fatalities.
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To evaluate the etiologic and demographic characteristics of acute adult poisoning cases and to obtain up-to-date information on acute poisonings. ⋯ Pharmaceutical agents, carbon monoxide and pesticides are the three most common poisoning agents. Deliberate self-poisoning is common in adults in the area of the study; the risk being highest in females and younger adults. These up-to-date data provide important information on the characteristics of acute poisonings and can guide activities such as professional training, preventive measures, community education and new research.
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To estimate the frequency of different forms of tobacco intake such as smoker's tobacco, chewable tobacco and snuff tobacco among shisha smoker's and to study the patterns and predictors of shisha smoking affecting youth from different cities of Pakistan. ⋯ There is high frequency of tobacco usage in the form of cigarettes, chewable tobacco and snuff tobacco among shisha smokers of Pakistan. The highest frequency is for cigarette smoking. The rise in Shisha smoking as a trendy social habit appears to be occurring despite emerging scientific evidence of its potential health risks.
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Case Reports
Management of chronic symphysis pubis pain following child birth with spinal cord stimulator.
The case of a 39 year old woman who had diastasis of pubic symphysis following childbirth and later developed severe chronic neuropathic pain and disability is presented. She received extensive surgical and medical treatment for 6 years with no improvement of symptoms. The VNRS (Visual Numerical Rating Scale) pain score was 7/10 or more most of the time. ⋯ A spinal cord stimulator was inserted after failure of other modalities of pain management which resulted in dramatic improvement in the quality of life measured with SF-36 questionnaire. Her pain score became 0/10 VNRS and she was free from opioids and psychotropic medications within 3 months post insertion. Spinal cord stimulator can be considered for the management of pain due to diastasis of pubic symphysis, not amenable to other therapies.
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Comparative Study
Assessing two spirometric criteria of pre-bronchodilator and post-bronchodilator FEV1/FVC ratio in detecting air flow obstruction.
To assess the Pre-bronchodilator criteria and the Post-bronchodilator criteria of FEV1/FVC ratio in diagnosing Airflow obstruction. ⋯ Pre bronchodilator criteria for detection of airflow obstruction overestimate the diagnosis of airflow obstruction and by using post bronchodilator criteria for airway obstruction on spirometry, decreases this over diagnosis of the condition