Curēus
-
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is one of the greatest health concerns worldwide. Safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines are urgently needed and have been rapidly approved. COVID-19 vaccine-induced thrombocytopenia was reported as a rare adverse effect in the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System. ⋯ Although it is difficult to confirm a causal association between Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccination and ITP exacerbation, abrupt onset of ITP exacerbation after vaccination suggests that the ITP may be vaccination-induced thrombocytopenia exacerbation. Rare but severe adverse events such as ITP may be observed, depending on increased numbers of individuals who receive COVID-19 vaccines worldwide. Further investigation is needed to clarify the mechanisms of COVID-19 vaccine-induced ITP.
-
Implementation Barriers in Telesimulation as an Educational Strategy: An Interpretative Description.
Introduction Telesimulation is one of the different methodologies for distance learning to promote competency in medical trainees. This methodology needs to have professors, students, and standardized patients in one session to perform a teleconsultation. Telesimulation could lead to multiple implementation barriers. ⋯ Conclusion The description of the implementation barriers through multiple perspectives generates a taxonomy that could improve the quality of the telesimulation. This taxonomy is a proposal to consider the design, implementation, and evaluation when a telesimulation is implemented. The taxonomy could generate a structured plan when the educators implement the telesimulations at their own institutions considering all the barriers proposed.
-
Opioid-induced hyperalgesia (OIH) is characterized by a heightened sensitivity to pain that occurs in patients following opioid use. Prescription of opioids is currently the standard form of pain management for both neuropathic and nociceptive pain, due to the relief that patients typically report following their use. Opioids, which aim to provide analgesic effects, can paradoxically cause increasing degrees of pain among the users. ⋯ This review will analyze the current role and effectiveness of the use of naltrexone in managing OIH in opioid users as described in clinical and non-clinical studies. Additionally, it seeks to characterize the underlying mechanisms that enable opioid antagonist naltrexone to reduce OIH while still allowing opioids to act as an analgesic. The authors find that OIH is a prevalent condition, and in order to effectively combat it, clinicians and patients can benefit from an extended study on how naltrexone can be utilized as a treatment alongside opioids prescribed for pain management.
-
Introduction Diversity and equity in academic medicine are critically important in improving healthcare standards and patient-related outcomes. Gender and racial disparities are some major challenges faced by the health system. This article reviews the gender and racial trends among residents of neurosurgery in the United States (US). ⋯ The representation of Hispanics was 4.3%, Black/African Americans were 4.5%, Native Americans/Alaskans were 0.2%, and others were 8% of the total study population. Conclusion Our study concludes that gender and racial disparity persist within the neurosurgery residency training programs in the US. Concrete efforts at all academic levels are needed to provide greater support for the females and for the careers of underrepresented minority (URM) trainees to ensure their increased representation in neurosurgery.
-
With the introduction of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) mRNA vaccines, the incidence of severe infection has significantly decreased. While the vaccines have been shown to be effective and safe, there have been few case reports of acute myocarditis within 3-5 days following the second dose of the vaccine. We report a case of an elderly man who presented with acute-onset chest pain after three months of receiving the second dose of the mRNA vaccine. ⋯ We review the literature and summarize published case reports on COVID-19 vaccine-associated myocarditis. The present case report provides new evidence regarding the possible subacute presentation of myocarditis post-COVID-19 vaccine, and further highlights the favorable outcome in this newly described clinical entity.