Journal of the American College of Surgeons
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Effects of morphine analgesia on diagnostic accuracy in Emergency Department patients with abdominal pain: a prospective, randomized trial.
Because of concerns about masking important physical findings, there is controversy surrounding whether it is safe to provide analgesia to patients with undifferentiated abdominal pain. The purpose of this study was to address the effects of analgesia on the physical examination and diagnostic accuracy for patients with abdominal pain. ⋯ Results of this study support a practice of early provision of analgesia to patients with undifferentiated abdominal pain.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Assessment of basic endoscopic performance using a virtual reality simulator.
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of supervised training using a state-of-the-art virtual reality (VR) genitourinary endoscopy simulator on the basic endoscopic skills of novice endoscopists. ⋯ Students trained on the VR simulator demonstrated statistically significant improvement on repeat testing, but the control group showed no improvement. Endourologic training using VR simulation facilitates performance of basic endourologic tasks and might translate into better performance in the operating room.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
When to remove a chest tube? A randomized study with subsequent prospective consecutive validation.
Operative procedures on the pleural space are usually managed by chest tube drainage. Timing for removing the tube is empirically established, with wide variation among surgeons. Our objective was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of establishing a volume of 200 mL/d of uninfected drainage as a threshold for removal of chest tube, as compared with more frequently used volumes of 100 and 150 mL/d. ⋯ Increasing the threshold of daily drainage to 200 mL before removing the chest tube did not markedly affect drainage, hospitalization time, or overall costs, nor did it increase the likelihood of major pleural fluid reaccumulation. This volume (200 mL/d) could be recommended for chest tube withdrawal decision for uninfected pleural fluid with no evidence of air leaks.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Prospective randomized clinical trial comparing nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide pneumoperitoneum for laparoscopic surgery.
Recent publications demonstrating the safety and advantages of N2O for pneumoperitoneum (PP) prompted us to reconsider N2O as an agent for PP in general surgical laparoscopy. The purpose of this prospective, double-blind, randomized clinical trial was to determine whether N2O PP has any benefits over CO2 PP. ⋯ These results suggest that the use of N2O PP has sufficient advantages over CO2 that it should be considered as the standard agent for therapeutic PP.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Gum chewing enhances early recovery from postoperative ileus after laparoscopic colectomy.
Postoperative ileus limits early hospital discharge for patients who have undergone laparoscopic procedures. Sham feeding has been reported to enhance bowel motility. Here, the effect of gum chewing is evaluated as a convenient method to enhance postoperative recovery from ileus after laparoscopic colectomy. ⋯ Gum chewing aids early recovery from postoperative ileus and is an inexpensive and physiologic method for stimulating bowel motility. Gum chewing should be added as an adjunct treatment in postoperative care because it might contribute to shorter hospital stays.