Irish journal of medical science
-
Covid-19 has placed unprecedented demand on healthcare systems and on healthcare professionals. There have been concerns about the risk of distress, moral injury and burnout among healthcare professionals, especially doctors. ⋯ More comprehensive evaluation of the effect of the pandemic on front-line staff is needed to identify the extent of the problem and the factors which contribute to it. This will inform measures to mitigate these effects.
-
COVID-19 was declared a pandemic in March 2020. With the sudden surge in demand for personal protective equipment (PPE), significant concerns regarding the ongoing availability emerged. One solution proposed is re-sterilisation of respirator masks and this has been commenced in some parts of the world. On review of the literature, very little is documented regarding the knowledge of masks and the attitudes of healthcare workers towards using re-sterilised masks. ⋯ Ensuring an adequate understanding of face masks is crucial among healthcare workers (HCWs) and this study highlights a need for further education. It also demonstrates a general acceptability among HCWs towards the use of re-sterilised face masks.
-
This retrospective study reviews the maxillofacial fractures (MF) over a 5-year period at the National Maxillofacial Unit, St James Hospital Dublin, with an emphasis on female patients. ⋯ This study confirms maxillofacial fractures are less common in females. The female age distribution demonstrates two peaks, one in early adult and a second in old age. This may be explained by females living longer and independently and at risk for falls. The most commonly reported fracture aetiology in females was "falls." This raises concerns as to whether "falls" are used to explain an assault. There is an informal concern amongst maxillofacial surgeons that females presenting with facial trauma may be the victims of domestic violence, which may be denied by the victims.
-
Advancement in cancer treatment has prolonged the survival of cancer patients; as a result, there are an increased number of patients with bone metastases and pathological fractures referred to orthopaedic surgeons for surgical intervention for a better quality of life. Metastasis around the hip joint can be painful and intervene with patients' daily activity, and reconstruction of the hip joint with periacetabular metastasis is complex and challenging especially longer cancer survivals might out-live their fixation. ⋯ Harrington reconstruction of periacetabular metastatic disease combined with hip arthroplasty is one of the options that can address this clinical scenario safely; it is reproducible and cost-effective. In this review, we present case series of patients treated in our institution using Harrington rod technique for acetabular pathological lesions with good outcome.