Medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Image quality evaluation for CARE kV technique combined with iterative reconstruction for chest computed tomography scanning.
To investigate the radiation dose and image quality for iterative reconstruction combined with the CARE kV technique in chest computed tomography (CT) scanning for physical examination. ⋯ The CARE kV technique combined with iterative reconstruction for chest CT scanning for physical examination could reduce the radiation dosage and improve CT image quality, which has a potential clinical value for imaging the thorax.
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Observational Study
Awareness of food nutritive value and eating practices among Nigerian bank workers: Implications for nutritional counseling and education.
Adequate nutrition is an important aspect of a healthy lifestyle for all individuals, including bank staff. The objective of this study was to investigate the awareness of food nutritive value and eating practices among bank workers in Lagos State, Nigeria. The study adopted a cross-sectional descriptive survey design. ⋯ There were no significant differences between male and female bank workers in mean responses on food nutritive value or in eating practices adopted. Good eating habits will help bank workers not only to improve their nutritional well-being, but also to prevent nutrition-related diseases. The implications for nutritional counseling and education are discussed in the context of these findings.
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Infectious diseases are common in internationally adopted children (IAC). With the objective to evaluate infectious diseases prevalence in a large cohort of IAC and to explore possible risk factors for tuberculosis (TB) and parasitic infections, clinical and laboratory data at first screening visit of all IAC (<18 years) consecutively referred to our Center in 2009 to 2015 were collected and analyzed. In total, 1612 children (median age: 5.40 years; interquartile range: 3.00-7.90) were enrolled, 123/1612 (7.60%) having medical conditions included in the special needs definition. ⋯ Infectious diseases were commonly observed in our cohort. The high rate of discordant TST/QFT-G results brings up questions regarding the optimal management of these children, and suggests that, at least in children older than 5 years, only QFT-G-IT results may be reliable. The low proportion of children protected for VPD, confirms importance of a timely screening.
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Meta Analysis Comparative Study
Comparison of periarticular anesthesia with liposomal bupivacaine with femoral nerve block for pain control after total knee arthroplasty: A PRISMA-compliant meta-analysis.
Periarticular anesthesia (PAI) with liposomal bupivacaine (LB) and femoral nerve block (FNB) were 2 common type of pain management after total knee arthroplasty (TKA). There is no consensus about PAI with LB shows better clinical outcome than FNB. Thus, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to compare the efficacy and safety of PAI with LB and FNB for patients prepared for TKA. ⋯ The review of trials found that PAI with LB provided a significant beneficial effect over FNB in improving the pain or decreased the total morphine consumption in patients who underwent TKA. However, PAI with LB associated with less LOS than FNB. More high quality RCTs are still needed to identify the effects and optimal dose of LB for pain management after TKA.
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Meta Analysis
Preoperative use of pregabalin for acute pain in spine surgery: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to evaluate the efficacy and safety of pregabalin for pain management following spine surgery. ⋯ Preoperative use of pregabalin was efficacious in reduction of postoperative pain, total morphine consumption, and the occurrence of nausea following spine surgery. Because the sample size and the number of included studies were limited, a multicenter RCT is needed to identify the effects and optimal dose of pregabalin for reducing acute pain after spine surgery.