Southern medical journal
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The clinical presentation and results of management of septic thrombophlebitis in 35 patients over a seven-year period are reviewed. There were 25 men and ten women; 20 patients were over age 50. At diagnosis, fever was present in 33 patients (94%), and 33 (94%) had local signs of inflammation. ⋯ Other infections were responsible for persistent fever after total excision. Septic thrombophlebitis is best prevented by strict asepsis in catheter placement and rotation of infusion sites every 48 hours. Total excision of the infected vein remains the treatment of choice.
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Southern medical journal · Aug 1982
Medical illness in psychiatric patients: barriers to diagnosis and treatment.
We report a study of 102 consecutive admissions to the acute medical care unit of a large psychiatric hospital. The study was designed to investigate the epidemiology and the barriers to diagnosis and treatment of medical illness among female psychiatric inpatients. ⋯ Ninety-two percent of the sample were found to have at least one with an average of three previously undiagnosed physical diseases not predicted by their symptoms on referral. We advocate a high index of suspicion of physical disease in the psychiatric population, and recommend an aggressive multidisciplinary diagnostic and therapeutic approach.