Harefuah
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During craniotomy, the patient's cooperation is needed during procedures in which continuous neurological examination and mapping of crucial regions close to the area to be resected area are required. We report our experience in 9 patients who underwent such procedures under intravenous propofol as the main sedating agent. This short-acting hypnotic was administered prior to and during the painful stages of the procedure. ⋯ Respiratory depression or hemodynamic compromise were not encountered. All patients were comfortable during the operation and there were no additional neurological deficits after operation. We believe that propofol should be the main sedating agent used for these procedures.
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In the past 10 years there has been a growing preference for early, complete correction of congenital heart disease. The first year of operation of this cardiac unit is described. 216 operations were performed: 15% in the neonatal age group and 35% in the newborn to 1-year-old groups; 2% were palliative procedures. Mortality was 4.9%. ⋯ There was severe neurological damage in 2 which deteriorated to brain death in 1. There was peripheral, reversible neurological damage in 4 (1.8%), and acute renal failure in 3%, with half of them requiring dialysis. 75% of these children died and there was superficial infection in 4.1%, deep wound infection in 1.3%, bacteremia in 4.1%, superior vena cava syndrome in 3 (1.3%) and chylothorax in 2 of them (0.9%). 1 patient (0.45%) required a ventricle-peritoneal shunt after acute viral meningitis. We are encouraged by our results to offer early complete correction to all children with congenital heart disease.
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Slow continuous quality improvement (SCQI) in anesthesia is a process that allows identification of problems and their causes. Implementing measures to correct them and continuous monitoring to ensure that the problems have been eliminated are necessary. The basic assumption of CQI is that the employees of an organization are competent and working to the best of their abilities. ⋯ Hypertension and inadequate nerve block were successfully managed. The implementation of corrective measures for the other events that cross the threshold is still in evolution. This program requires considerable dedication on the part of the staff, and it is hoped that it will improve our clinical performance.
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[Incidence, antimicrobial resistance and mortality in bloodstream infections in the critically ill].
Bloodstream infections (BSI) are 7-fold more common in patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) rather than to other hospital wards. The epidemiology of BSI in critically ill patients in Israel has not been systematically addressed. We examined the annual trends in BSI in patients in a general ICU of evolving patterns of antimicrobial resistance and associated mortality rates for the years 1994-1996. ⋯ However the mortality rate for the latter decreased by 59%, suggesting the possibility of a selective increase in detection of contaminated cultures. Although highly prevalent in the study population and generally defining a patient group with high mortality risk, the specificity of SIRS-associated positive blood cultures may be species and culture-system dependent. These findings re-emphasize the need for both improved control measures for the epidemic proportions of BSI and multi-drug antimicrobial resistance, as well as more specific indicators of the clinical relevance of positive blood cultures in critically ill patients.