Acta medica Iranica
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Acta medica Iranica · Jan 2013
Randomized Controlled TrialThe effect of acupressure on nausea and vomiting after cesarean section under spinal anesthesia.
Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) is one of the most common postoperative complications. Aside from pharmacological interventions, other complementary healing modalities have been introduced to assist patients in decreasing PONV and improving postoperative outcomes. This study examined acupressure as a safe complement to the more traditional approach of using drugs to prevent and/or relieve nausea and vomiting in the Cesarean section (C/S) under spinal anesthesia. ⋯ The amount of vomitus and the degree of discomfort were, respectively, less and lower in the study group. In view of the total absence of side-effects in acupressure, its application is worthy. Our study confirmed the effectiveness of acupressure in preventing post-operative nausea and vomiting, when applied 30 minutes prior to surgery.
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Acta medica Iranica · Jan 2013
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyComparison of prophylactic effects of polyurethane cylindrical or tapered cuff and polyvinyl chloride cuff endotracheal tubes on ventilator-associated pneumonia.
Because microaspiration of contaminated supraglottic secretions past the endotracheal tube cuff is considered to be central in the pathogenesis of pneumonia, improved design of tracheal tubes with new cuff material and shape have reduced the size and number of folds, which together with the addition of suction ports above the cuff to drain pooled subglottic secretions leads to reduced aspiration of oropharyngeal secretions. So we conducted a study to compare the prophylactic effects of polyurethane-cylindrical or tapered cuff and polyvinyl chloride cuff endotracheal tubes (ETT) on ventilator-associated pneumonia. This randomized clinical trial was carried out in a 12 bed surgical intensive care unit. 96 patients expected to require mechanical ventilation more than 96 hours were randomly allocated to one of three following groups: Polyvinyl chloride cuff (PCV) ETT, Polyurethane (PU) cylindrical Sealguard ETT and PU Taperguard ETT. ⋯ There was no significant difference in overinflation between three groups. The use of ETT with PU material results in reducing ventilator-associated pneumonia compared to ETT with PVC cuff. In PU tubes Taperguard has less incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia compared to Sealguard tubes.
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Acta medica Iranica · Jan 2013
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyComparison of two nomograms of unfractionated heparin in patients with acute coronary syndrome.
Heparin has an unpredictable pharmacokinetics and the responses of individuals may vary distinctly. Therefore, different dosing nomograms have been proposed. The aim of this study was to compare two prevalent nomograms to adjust heparin doses in hospitalized patients with acute coronary syndrome. One hundred and forty patients received heparin infusions based on one of two nomograms. ⋯ At 48 hours, the proportion of patients in the therapeutic range in group 1 was higher (72.86% vs 45.71%). The time patients stayed at the desired levels was significantly higher in nomogram 1 and they also required fewer heparin rate adjustments (3.41±1.55 vs 4.53±1.63). This study indicated that using nomogram 1 facilitated a more rapid achievement of the therapeutic threshold, higher proportion of patients in the therapeutic range for a longer time, and fewer changes of in the heparin rate.