Harefuah
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The treatment of burn patients plays a major role in the health system, requiring numerous resources and extensively long hospitalizations. The treatment involves Intensive Care Units and the entire medical and para-medical staff. Currently, Israel has 5 designated burn units, strategically scattered all over the country. Recently, due to some major burn disasters, reevaluation of the demography, etiology and clinical features of burns has been conducted. ⋯ High risk populations were identified, such as young babies and the non-Jewish population. These groups should be addressed specifically with proper publicity and information. Even though mortality rates were stable, the mean hospitalization length is declining over the years, possibly secondary to advanced dressing and ambulatory treatments.
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Patient positioning during surgery can have profound short and long term implications for the patient. Each position carries some degree of risk to the patient, which is magnified in prolonged operations, surgeries performed under general anesthesia and when position manipulations are required in order to gain best surgical access. ⋯ It is also important that these complications are diagnosed promptly and managed appropriately in the post-operative period. The purpose of the following review is to summarize the positioning-related complications, in particular peripheral nerve injuries, and emphasize correct positioning recommendations and preventive measures.
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Nausea and vomiting of pregnancy (NVP) is the most prevalent medical condition during gestation. Approximately 85% of pregnant women suffer from some degree of this condition, while hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), the most severe form, affects up to 2% of women. Although being the leading cause for hospitalization during pregnancy, NVP has received little attention from the medical community. ⋯ Various studies have demonstrated the effectiveness and safety of antiemetic therapy in pregnancy. However, fear of teratogenicity and lack of clinical guidelines lead to trial and error NVP management. We present an updated algorithm for the management of NVP.
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Boarding patients awaiting hospitalization in the emergency department increases mortality and complications, and stands in contrast to the recommendations of emergency medicine associations worldwide. Although Israel's Ministry of Health and the media are addressing the issue, boarding patients in emergency departments is common in hospitals throughout the country. There are no current studies that assess the influence of boarding in emergency departments on the patient's mortality and hospitalization. In 2011, a decision was made in our hospital to board patients in a separate section of the emergency department due to the lack of beds in the inpatient wards. ⋯ For the first time, the effects of boarding patients in the emergency department in Israel are studied. The issue of boarding patients in emergency departments should be a central issue addressed by Israel's health system.