Irish journal of medical science
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Osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee is a common disorder with significant social and financial implications. Obesity is the strongest modifiable risk factor of knee OA. There is little data on obesity in Irish knee OA populations and its relationship to other measures of disease severity. ⋯ Irish patients with knee OA referred for physiotherapy were very disabled, significantly obese and represent a challenging cohort of patients to treat.
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A 76-year-old previously well farmer presented having caught his left index finger in a gate. He gave no history of prior tetanus vaccination. ⋯ Eleven days later he represented unable to open his mouth. On examination he was noted to have trismus, generalised muscle spasms, diaphoresis and emotional lability and he was diagnosed with generalised tetanus.
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Comparative Study
An audit of hip fracture services in the Mater Hospital Dublin 2001 compared with 2006.
Evidence-based practice supports the provision of integrated geriatric multidisciplinary care for older people with hip fractures. ⋯ Following introduction of an orthogeriatric service, improvements in mortality and discharge destination occurred. This may have been influenced by higher proportions of disability among the 2001 cohort.
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Case Reports
Fractured closed suction catheter: an unusual cause of endobronchial obstruction in a ventilated patient.
A 32-year-old HIV-positive man required ventilation for seizures secondary to viral encephalitis. He had a prolonged care unit stay and had percutaneous tracheostomy performed on day 14 of his admission. He subsequently developed persistent right basal infiltrates and atelectasis on chest radiographs that were slow to respond to antibiotic treatment. Fiberoptic bronchoscopy revealed the cause of his infiltrates to be a 14-cm tip section of closed suction catheter tubing that had presumably fractured during suctioning and became lodged in his trachea and right main bronchus. ⋯ This case describes a rare cause of endobronchial obstruction in a ventilated patient. Medical staff requires education about the importance of ensuring that suction catheters and other airway adjuncts are intact following use to prevent possible airway foreign bodies.
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This study evaluated outcomes for the first 100 bariatric surgical procedures in a single, publicly funded Irish centre. ⋯ This series audits the introduction of a publicly funded bariatric service in Ireland and reports a high percentage of procedures completed laparoscopically with an acceptable morbidity and mortality.