African journal of medicine and medical sciences
-
Operating rooms (OR) in hospitals represent big investments and must be utilized efficiently. Inaccurate scheduling of OR resources often results in delays of surgery or cancellations of procedures. These are costly to the patient, surgical team and hospital. ⋯ Another 50% of the respondents knew little about the mode of appealing against unfavourable allocation decisions. Participants' open ended responses revealed that hospital executives and a few consultant surgeons control the allocation of OR resources, with little recourse to OR personnel's concerns. If operating theatre stake holders are excluded in the planning, allocation and evaluation of OR resources, the efficiency required in surgical services would never be realized irrespective of the dexterity of the surgical team.
-
The elderly are increasingly been hospitalised into medical wards in Nigeria and little information is currently available on this group of patients. The objective of this study was to describe the demographic, clinical characteristics and outcome of management of elderly patients admitted into medical wards at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital Ilorin, Nigeria. A retrospective study in which hospital records of patients admitted between years 2001 to 2004 were reviewed. ⋯ They accounted for a significant proportion of in-hospital mortality. Since a third of the death occurred within the first few days of admission, improvement in the management of acute medical cases especially in the elderly is urgent needed. This will ensure survival of greater number of patients and thus reduces mortality.
-
Comparative Study
Bacteriology of non-surgical wound infections in Ibadan, Nigeria.
Previous studies done on wound infections in this environment had been mostly on the surgical variety rather than the non-surgical. However,few studies available on the non-surgical type have indicated that changes do occur in the pattern and antibiogram of the bacterial isolates of these non-surgical wound infections. This study was therefore designed to investigate the bacteriology of non-surgical wound infections in this environment. ⋯ High rates of antibiotic resistance were recorded among these isolates. 53.4% of them were sensitive to ceftriaxone, 42.5% to gentamycin and 39.3% to ofloxacin. This high antibiotic resistance gives credence to the value of determining the antibiogram of these pathogens in their management. Continuous interaction between the wound care practitioners and microbiology department is also advocated.
-
The objective of this manuscript is to review the clinical manifestations, diagnosis and management of diabetic ketoacidosis, one of the most common acute complications of diabetes mellitus. We performed a medline search of the English-language literature using a combination of words (diabetic ketoacidosis, hyperglycemic crises) to identify original studies, consensus statements and reviews on diabetic ketoacidosis published in the past 15 years. Emphasis was placed on clinical manifestations of diabetic ketoacidosis, its diagnosis and treatment. ⋯ Many cases of DKA can be prevented by better access to medical care, proper education, and effective communication with a health care provider during intercurrent illness. Provision of guidelines will also reduce mortality. Resources need to be redirected towards prevention by funding better access to care and educational programs.