Irish medical journal
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Irish medical journal · Nov 2007
Case ReportsEx utero intrapartum treatment (EXIT) procedure and simultaneous excision of oral teratoma.
We report a case of a large oral teratoma in a foetus diagnosed on antenatal ultrasound. Due to the anticipated difficulty in securing the airway at birth an ex-utero intrapartum treatment (EXIT) procedure was planned. In this case simultaneous excision of the tumour mass was carried out while on placental support this allowed safe procurement of the airway and successful delivery of an otherwise healthy infant. This case highlights the challenge presented by such unusual cases and illustrates the successful treatment of this condition.
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Irish medical journal · Nov 2007
Why are we waiting? A study of the patients' perspectives about their protracted stays in an emergency department.
The overcrowding of Emergency Departments compromises their critical function and the safety of patients and staff. This study asked the patients how the wait in overcrowded conditions impacted on them and the care they received and what they believed the reasons for the overcrowding were. ⋯ An overwhelming 85.9% felt that the Health Authorities were not doing enough to address the overcrowding issue. Overcrowding of Emergency Departments has been identified as a major problem the solution is to be found in increasing the capacity of the acute hospital system according to the majority of our study population.
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Convulsive status epilepticus is a relatively common life-threatening illness requiring prompt intervention. There has been much debate about the appropriate protocol for management of convulsive status epilepticus. Published data on the management of this condition in Ireland is limited. ⋯ The drugs of first choice varied between diazepam and lorazepam in most cases. Although phenytoin was used as second line drug, the dose used was frequently suboptimal. We have developed a protocol for the management for convulsive status in our centre.