East African medical journal
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To determine the accuracy and sensitivity of diagnostic peritoneal lavage in the assessment of intra-abdominal injury using the dipstick method. ⋯ Diagnostic peritoneal lavage is a cheap, safe and reliable method for assessment of abdominal trauma. The method is easy to perform by trained junior doctors in the OPD, or as a bedside procedure. Use of this method reduced negative laparotomy rate from 50% to 6.9% and average duration of stay from 6.5 days to 1.9 days. This method is recommended as a basic tool in the assessment of abdominal trauma patients.
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Patients with diabetes mellitus in Kenya come to the hospital for follow-up visits very infrequently. For most of these patients their blood glucose monitoring is done only on the day of visit to the doctor. ⋯ Morning random blood glucose in the ambulatory diabetic patients related well to simultaneously assayed HbA1c. Blood glucose within usual therapeutic targets of 4-8 mmol/l predicted good glycaemic control (HbA1c < or = 7.8%) with high sensitivity at the range of 86.3-98.4%. In resource-poor settings, the morning random blood glucose assay, which is done in patients who may attend the diabetic clinic in the morning hours, may be used to predict the quality of their diabetic control. However caution should be exercised in its widespread use because its overall applicability may be clinic-specific depending largely on the average metabolic control of the diabetic population using that clinic. Further studies need to be done to relate HbA1c to blood glucose levels obtained at different times of the day in this population to determine the best predictor of good glycaemic control.
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Neonatal pneumonia is a common cause of morbidity and mortality all over the world. The problem is known to be higher in resource poor third world countries. Organisms (such as chlamydia) not covered by routine laboratory tests and regular antibiotic regimes may frequently contribute towards the causation of late neonatal pneumonia. It is therefore useful to gather epidemiological evidence to guide in the routine diagnosis and treatment of such infections. ⋯ The prevalence of chlamydia associated infection among newborns with late neonatal pneumonia at Kenyatta National Hospital is 51%, eight times more than that reported elsewhere. Chest X-rays appear to be a reliable diagnostic tool in this group. The use of antichlamydial drugs in addition to the regular antibiotics whenever a diagnosis of late neonatal pneumonia is made is justifiable.