Articles: postoperative-complications.
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Int J Gynaecol Obstet · Jun 1989
ReviewRisk factors for fever, endometritis and wound infection after abdominal delivery.
Risk factors for postoperative fever, endometritis and wound infection were analyzed in 761 consecutive cesarean sections. Postoperative fever was observed in 12%, endometritis in 4.7% and wound infection in 3% of cases. The relative risk for postoperative fever was increased in cases with postoperative hematoma (relative risk = 16.0), in cases with blood loss over 500 g (relative risk = 1.8) and if the duration of labor exceeded 6 h (relative risk = 1.9). ⋯ By elimination of amnionitis and postoperative hematomas the rate of endometritis would have diminished only from 4.7% to 3.8%, a percentage equally unacceptable; diagnostics and prevention should be directed to young patients undergoing caesarean section. Besides technical procedures prevention of endometritis is important for the prevention of wound infection. In hospitals with low postcesarean infectious morbidity antibiotic prophylaxis seems to be unwarranted.
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Review
Clinical assessment of ventricular function after surgical treatment of congenital heart defects.
The assessment of ventricular function has contributed to the current surgical evaluation and surgical treatment of congenital heart defects, but many issues remain unresolved. The challenge of assessing ventricular function after surgical repair of congenital heart defects includes not only the general problem of distinguishing adverse loading conditions from myocardial failure but also more unique problems of right heart function and developmental differences in ventricular function. ⋯ Many of the technologies and methods are currently available and there is the beginning of a move toward better designed clinical trials and analysis of results. The assessment of ventricular function will become increasingly important as surgical techniques are improved and we are left with the more difficult choices between competing approaches.
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The optimal methods of prophylaxis and therapy of postoperative respiratory complications in surgical patients are still open to discussion. In spite of numerous recent clinical investigations, there is still no specific and universally acceptable therapeutic concept. In our department, we identify patients at risk of pulmonary complications by adequate screening, i.e. medical history, physical examination, chest X-ray, and spirometry. ⋯ This process continues to some extent until, normally, a deep breath recruits the alveoli. Sighs to the limit of total lung capacity or oscillations of the expiratory baseline ought to be responsible for this effect in healthy humans; the same purpose is intended in incentive spirometry. For this therapy, it is mandatory that the central airways are not occluded by mucus and that the patient is able to breath volumes exceeding his normal tidal volume.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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Review
Preoperative spirometry before abdominal operations. A critical appraisal of its predictive value.
Preoperative spirometry is commonly ordered before abdominal surgery, with the goal of predicting and preventing postoperative pulmonary complications. We assessed the evidence for this practice with a systematic literature search and critical appraisal of published studies. The search identified 135 clinical articles, of which 22 (16%) were actual investigations of the use and predictive value of preoperative spirometry. ⋯ The available evidence indicates that spirometry's predictive value is unproved. Unanswered questions involve (1) the yield of spirometry, in addition to history and physical examination, in patients with clinically apparent lung disease; (2) spirometry's yield in detecting surgically important occult disease; and (3) its utility, or beneficial effect on patient outcome. Spirometry's full potential for risk assessment in the individual patient has not yet been realized.
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Arch Orthop Trauma Surg · Jan 1989
ReviewIncisional hernia through iliac crest defects. A report of three cases with a review of the literature.
Although the iliac crest is the most common site from which autogenous bone grafts are obtained, complications are surprisingly rare. One of these is incisional hernia through the resulting bony defect. ⋯ Elective repair of such hernias is advisable in order to avoid such complications. Attention to primary closure of bony iliac defects when complete is mandatory to prevent the occurrence of incisional hernia.