Revista de enfermería (Barcelona, Spain)
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The study group consisted of 121 patients, 37 or 30.5% women and 84 or 69.4% men, checked into the Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases Hospitalization Unit who bore a total of 215 peripheral venous catheters. The authors of this study detected a high level occurrence of phlebitis in patients using peripheral venous catheters, with a low average duration time, during the period in which the authors carried out their study.
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The physical methods to control body temperature, either to induce hypothermia, or to increase body temperature, can be of two types: physical methods of external heating or cooling and invasive methods that require complex procedures and technology. There are many strategies for the induction of hypothermia, all based on three of the four basic mechanisms of heat transfer, evaporation, convection and conduction. In the hospital environment the external cooling methods or surface (blankets of cold air or water circulation, plates of hydrogel Artic Sun, methods of cooling helmet) are the most widely used for the induction of therapeutic hypothermia. ⋯ The average physical external heating is based on the patient's ability to produce and retain heat or in the application of heat to the body surface of the patient (hot spring baths with hot water, air blankets, blankets of water). But when the answer to these methods are not sufficient or hypothermia is moderate or severe, other methods of internal heat are suggested: inhalation of oxygen or warm to 40-45 degrees C and wet by facial mask or endotracheal tube; intravenous (IV) infusion with hot solutions; Irrigation of body cavities with warm saline solution to 40-42 degrees C; peritoneal dialysis, haemodialysis and hemofiltration; Continuous reheating arterio-venous or venous-venous; extracorporeal circulation with cardiopulmonary bypass. In this article each of the methods listed above will be described for the induction of hypothermia and overheating.
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The authors analyze the results obtained by the use of cryotherapy at the Rochapea Health Clinic from October 1995 until the 30th of June 1997. The authors make known the fundamentals and techniques of cryotherapy to other professionals who are not familiar with it and encourage them to put it into practice. ⋯ The procedure is simple, effective, efficient and easy to learn. It happens to be quicker than conventional surgery and presents very few complications.
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Fecal incontinence in a bedridden patient is a common problem which upsets the patient's well-being. Besides the discomfort and the hygienic problem which this situation cause, complications related to these can arise. Recently a fecal derivation system called Flexi-Seal FMS has appeared on the market; this system is destined to control fecal incontinence in a bedridden patient. This device bears the characteristic which make it ideal for the control of fecal incontinence in a bedridden patient; furthermore, this device reduces nurses' workload, as well as the length of hospital stay and hospital costs.
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The use of oxygen as treatment for cardiorespiratory pathology in newborns is an accepted, regular practice. The prolonged use and high concentration of oxygen in premature newborn infants has been associated with an increase in cases of Proliferate Retinopathy in Premature Infants. This article publishes the results obtained over the past two years from the application of a treatment procedure which followed the recommendations made by the Standards Commission of the Spanish Association of Pediatricians regarding the measurement, administration and monitoring of oxygen to at risk newborn infants while evaluating the number of cases of retinopathy and their severity. ⋯ We encountered one case of level 3 retinopathy. In this case, we noticed a significant relationship among the point of gestation completed at birth, weight at birth and the severity of Proliferate Retinopathy in Premature Infants. We also proved that a painstaking control of oxygen allows a medical team to lower the degree of retinopathy in premature infants.