Curēus
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Omental evisceration due to abdominal stab injuries connotes peritoneal penetration and translates to around 70% risk of intra-abdominal injury. Such cases are being managed with mandatory laparotomy at the Philippine General Hospital. This study aims to review the patient profile and laparotomy outcomes in such cases. ⋯ The rate of therapeutic laparotomy remains to be significantly higher among patients with omental evisceration. Hence, omental evisceration, particularly those associated with peritonism, should continue to prompt operative management.
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Introduction The long-term patency of the grafts used during the coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is one of the most significant predictors of the clinical outcomes. The gold standard graft used during CABG with the best long-term patency rate and the better clinical outcomes is left internal thoracic artery (LITA) grafted to the left coronary artery (LCA). The controversy lies in choosing the second-best conduit for the non-left coronary artery (NLCA) with similar patency rate as LITA. ⋯ There was no difference between the long-term patency rate (relative risk (RR) = 1.050, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.949 to 1.162, and p = 0.344), overall mortality rate (RR = 1.095, 95% CI = 0.561 to 2.136, and p = 0.790), rate of myocardial infarction (MI) (RR = 0.860, 95% CI = 0.409 to 1.812, and P = 0.692), and re-intervention rate (RR = 0.0768, 95% CI = 0.419 to 1.406, and P = 0.392) between arterial and venous grafts. Conclusion The use of arterial conduits over the venous conduits has no significant superiority regarding the long-term graft patency, the rate of MI, overall mortality, and the rate of revascularization following CABG. Additional adequately powered studies are needed to further evaluate the long-term outcomes of arterial and venous grafts following the CABG.
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Integrating regional anesthesia and multi-modal pain management is a well described and successful strategy to reduce post-operative pain. The use of transversus abdominis plane (TAP) blocks has been well-described for abdominal surgery, which includes various injection sites to improve analgesic coverage and catheter usage to prolong duration of analgesia. After a cadaver contrast study, our investigation illustrates that, for a TAP catheter block, a programmed intermittent bolus provides greater spread of the injection in the fascial plane as compared to a continuous infusion. Clinical trials are needed to investigate if these findings translate to greater analgesic coverage of the anterior abdominal wall, particularly in the subcostal region.
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Multi-planar transverse, U-type, and vertical sacral fractures occur from high energy trauma or as pathologic fractures and often have associated neurologic and extremity injuries. Modern treatment algorithms fall into two broad categories: 1) percutaneous posterior pelvic fixation (iliosacral or transiliac-transsacral screws) or 2) lumbopelvic fixation. Posterior pelvic screw fixation is minimally invasive but typically requires restricted weight bearing until fracture union. ⋯ Lumbopelvic fixation offers the advantages of closed reduction to restore pelvic incidence and immediate weight bearing but has greater surgical morbidity than percutaneous posterior pelvic fixation and often requires hardware removal. The morbidity of lumbopelvic fixation may be reduced with minimally invasive techniques. Minimally invasive lumbopelvic fixation is a treatment option to be considered for complex sacral fractures.
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Introduction Patient-specific discrepancies in prehospital naloxone administration have been documented. As the opioid epidemic continues to evolve, further evaluation of prehospital naloxone administration practices is needed. The objective of this study was to compare patients who received prehospital naloxone and received an emergency department (ED) diagnosis of opioid overdose with patients who received prehospital naloxone and received an alternative ED diagnosis. Methods This was a retrospective, multicenter chart review of patients who received naloxone by prehospital personnel for suspected opioid overdose between October 1, 2016, and October 31, 2017. Patients were excluded if age was less than 18 years, naloxone was administered by non-emergency medical service (EMS) personnel, not transported, or if prehospital records could not be linked with ED records. Demographic information and several prehospital clinical findings, including unresponsiveness, apnea, and miosis, were compared between patients diagnosed with opioid overdoses versus an alternative ED diagnosis. ⋯ Overall, 402 (48%) of patients received an ED diagnosis of opioid overdose, and 435 (52%) of patients received an alternative ED diagnosis. Patients in the alternative diagnosis group were older, had less known drug use, were more likely to be admitted, and had lower incidences of apnea, unresponsiveness, and miosis. In the opioid overdose group, there was a higher proportion of previous drug use, apnea, unresponsiveness, and miosis in the EMS setting, whereas there was a higher proportion of previous overdose, previous suicide attempts, and neurological deficits in the ED setting. Conclusions In this retrospective review evaluating patients who received prehospital naloxone, several demographic and clinical differences were noted between the two groups. Further elucidation of the safety and efficacy of prehospital naloxone in alternative diagnoses is needed.