Articles: treatment.
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The mortality associated with 240 483 anaesthetics administered over 10 years at Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town, is reported. The frequency of death to which anaesthesia contributed was 0.22 per 1000 anaesthetics (compared with 0.33 per 1000 in the previous 10 years). These deaths were responsible for 2.2% of the total mortality from surgery. Two-thirds of the "anaesthetic" deaths were attributable to (in order of frequency): (a) hypovolaemia; (b) respiratory inadequacy following myoneural blockade; (c) complications of tracheal intubation; (d) inadequate postoperative care and supervision.
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Obstetrics and gynecology · Oct 1978
World Health Organization studies of prostaglandins versus saline as abortifacients. A reappraisal.
The World Health Organization (WHO) Task Force on the Use of Prostaglandins for the Regulation of Fertility has sponsored a series of randomized clinical trials and case-series investigations to assess the effectiveness and safety of prostaglandins as abortifacients. Our reanalysis of the WHO studies found the prostaglandins to be faster and more hazardour than hypertonic saline as intraamniotic abortifacients. ⋯ For gestations of greater than or equal to 17 weeks, the occurrence of live births in prostaglandin-induced abortions has produced serious legal and ethical problems in the United States. Until the effectiveness and safety of other prostaglandins regimen approach that of D&E, we feel that D&E should be the index of comparison against which newer methods of inducing abortion are tested.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Ibuprofen therapy for dysmenorrhea.
Thirty-three dysmenorrheic patients were given ibuprofen, aspirin and a placebo in a double-blind crossover study, with each drug taken during one of three successive menstrual cycles in random sequence. Paired drug comparisons demonstrated the statistical superiority of ibuprofen, as compared with the other two, for the relief of pain. Data evaluated according to patient drug preference showed similar results. The role of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs in therapy for dysmenorrhea is discussed.
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Acta Anaesthesiol Scand · Jan 1978
Occupational hazards to reproduction and health in anaesthetists and paediatricians.
A mail questionnaire was sent to Finnish anaesthetists and paediatricians to evaluate the risks of reproductive, teratogenic and health complications related to the professions. The incidence of diagnosed spontaneous miscarriages in anaesthetists' families was 10.2% of all pregnancies and it was 13.2% in paediatricians' families. Smoking seemed to increase markedly the incidence of spontaneous miscarriages, which was 22.9% in smoking female anaesthetists and 17.2% in smoking female paediatricians. ⋯ Different infectious diseases to the respiratory and urinary tracts were commonest among paediatricians. Cancer was not reported in the anaesthetist group. The study does not indicate that gas pollution in operating rooms is harmful to the personnel.