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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Apr 2011
Review Meta AnalysisInterventions for preventing oral mucositis for patients with cancer receiving treatment.
Treatment of cancer is increasingly more effective but is associated with short and long term side effects. Oral side effects remain a major source of illness despite the use of a variety of agents to prevent them. One of these side effects is oral mucositis (mouth ulcers). ⋯ Ten interventions were found to have some benefit with regard to preventing or reducing the severity of mucositis associated with cancer treatment. The strength of the evidence was variable and implications for practice include consideration that benefits may be specific for certain cancer types and treatment. There is a need for further well designed, and conducted trials with sufficient numbers of participants to perform subgroup analyses by type of disease and chemotherapeutic agent.
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A 57 year old woman with no previous history of any sensory deficits developed anosmia and hypogeusia after general anesthesia for laparoscopic cholecystectomy, with complete recovery over 6 months. There were no other identifiable factors that may have contributed to her anosmia and hypogeusia after general anesthesia. As anosmia and hypogeusia related to anesthesia and surgery are not frequently reported, the incidence of these events related to anesthesia may be higher than expected.
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This article reviews the public health consequences of current approaches to chronic pain management, particularly those related to prescription of opioid analgesics and other controlled medications. This article also reviews factors contributing to these negative trends and discusses potential strategies for reversing them.
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Bitumen burns while comprising a small percentage of all types of burns are troublesome. They affect persons engaged in gainful employment which the burns then curtail, as well as requiring special attention because the substance adheres to the skin and is therefore difficult to remove. Ninety-two consecutive patients with such burns who were admitted as in-patients over a 10-year period (1985-1995) have been reviewed. ⋯ Roofing tars and asphalts are usually heated to temperatures of 232 degrees C to achieve desirable viscosities (e.g. for spraying), whereas lower temperatures are required for the manageable form to pave roads. Notable localities for asphaltum are the island of Trinidad and the Dead Sea region where lake asphaltums were long known to the ancient. Ironically, none of the 92 patients who were treated for bitumen injuries in the 'Soroka' (Beer-Sheba, Israel) and 'Barzilai' (Ashkelon, Israel) Medical Centres (80 and 150 km from the lake respectively) had anything to do with the Dead Sea area.
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Nov 2003
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialBenefits of supplemental oxygen in exercise training in nonhypoxemic chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients.
Supplemental oxygen improves exercise tolerance of normoxemic and hypoxemic chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. We determined whether nonhypoxemic COPD patients undergoing exercise training while breathing supplemental oxygen achieve higher intensity and therefore improve exercise capacity more than patients breathing air. A double-blinded trial was performed involving 29 nonhypoxemic patients (67 years, exercise SaO2 > 88%) with COPD (FEV1 = 36% predicted). ⋯ After training, endurance in constant work rate tests increased more in the oxygen-trained group (14.5 minutes) than in the air-trained group (10.5 minutes) (p < 0.05). At isotime, the breathing rate decreased four breaths per minute in the oxygen-trained group and one breath per minute in the air-trained group (p = 0.001). We conclude that supplemental oxygen provided during high-intensity training yields higher training intensity and evidence of gains in exercise tolerance in laboratory testing.