South African medical journal = Suid-Afrikaanse tydskrif vir geneeskunde
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Case Reports
Quadriplegia following venous air embolism during posterior fossa exploration. A case report.
A frequent complication of posterior fossa exploration with the patient in the sitting position is venous air embolism. Spinal cord deficits following such a mishap have rarely been reported. We report a case in which a patient who suffered venous air embolism developed quadriplegia from the C6 level. The mechanisms of passage of air into the arterial system are discussed.
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In a time-and-motion study in family practice it was found that 35,8% of all patient contact was per telephone. The study further revealed that 12,3% of total practice time was spent on the telephone, stressing its importance as a useful tool in family practice. The study supports others which suggest that 'telephone medicine' is worthy of careful examination in terms of cost-effectiveness. The implications for the doctor-patient relationship are also considered.
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Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical Trial
Low spinal anaesthesia combined with local anaesthesia for caesarean section--an evaluation.
A combination of low spinal anaesthesia using hyperbaric cinchocaine (Nupercaine; Ciba) 0,25% and local anaesthetic abdominal wall infiltration for caesarean section was evaluated for use in peripheral hospitals in the developing world. The technique described is not suitable for this purpose. Further research into this technique is desirable, and recommendations regarding an improved protocol are made.