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pearl
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Oral carbohydrate consumption during labour did not alter the rate of instrumental delivery or cesarean section, vomiting incidence, nor self-reported hunger, thirst, fatigue, stress or overall well-being.
Simonet T, Gakuba C, Desmeulles I et al. Effect of Oral Carbohydrate Intake During Labor on the Rate of Instrumental Vaginal Delivery: A Multicenter, Randomized Controlled Trial. Anesth. Analg. 2020 Jun 1; 130 (6): 1670-1677.
  Daniel Jolley
pearl
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Intraoperative pupillometry monitoring is a feasible surrogate for nociception assessment, resulting in both lower intraoperative remifentanil consumption and lower peak post-operative pain.
Kim JH, Jwa EK, Choung Y et al. Comparison of Pupillometry With Surgical Pleth Index Monitoring on Perioperative Opioid Consumption and Nociception During Propofol-Remifentanil Anesthesia: A Prospective Randomized Controlled Trial. Anesth. Analg. 2020 Nov 1; 131 (5): 158915981589-1598.
  Daniel Jolley
pearl
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In the absence of abnormal placentation, perioperative management of repeat cesarean section is almost the same as for primary cesarean section.
Ioscovich A, Gozal Y, Shatalin D. Anesthetic considerations for repeat cesarean section. Curr Opin Anaesthesiol. 2020 Jun 1; 33 (3): 299-304.
  Daniel Jolley
pearl
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After out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients experience differences in duration of CPR, chest injury, return of circulation and survival, depending on time of day.
Takayama W, Endo A, Koguchi H et al. Differences in durations, adverse events, and outcomes of in-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation between day-time and night-time: An observational cohort study. Resuscitation. 2019 Apr 1; 137: 14-20.
  Daniel Jolley
pearl
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The 6-Minute Walk Test (6MWT) is feasible to use in late pregnancy.
Dennis AT, Salman M, Paxton E et al. Resting Hemodynamics and Response to Exercise Using the 6-Minute Walk Test in Late Pregnancy: An International Prospective Multicentre Study. Anesth. Analg. 2019 Aug 1; 129 (2): 450-457.
  Daniel Jolley
pearl
1
Cycle commuting is associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality, and lower cancer & cardiovascular disease incidence and mortality.
Celis-Morales CA, Lyall DM, Welsh P et al. Association between active commuting and incident cardiovascular disease, cancer, and mortality: prospective cohort study. BMJ. 2017 Apr 19; 357: j1456.
  Daniel Jolley
pearl
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SARS-CoV-2 can be transmitted by airborne droplets in a hamster model. Surgical masks reduce both infection & severity, particularly when worn by those infected.
Chan JF, Yuan S, Zhang AJ et al. Surgical mask partition reduces the risk of non-contact transmission in a golden Syrian hamster model for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Clin. Infect. Dis. 2020 Nov 19; 71 (16): 2139-2149.
  Daniel Jolley
pearl
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Running for as little as 50 min/week reduces all-cause (27%), cardiovascular (30%) and cancer (23%) mortality.
Pedisic Z, Shrestha N, Kovalchik S et al. Is running associated with a lower risk of all-cause, cardiovascular and cancer mortality, and is the more the better? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Br J Sports Med. 2020 Aug 1; 54 (15): 898-905.
  Daniel Jolley
pearl
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Taiwan's success responding to COVID is due to many factors, most notably their affordable access to medical care & public health services along with widespread public mask use.
Yi-Fong Su Vincent V Department of Internal Medicine, Taipei City Hospital, Taipei City Government, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Chest Medicine, Taipei Veterans General , Yen YF, Yang KY et al. Masks and medical care: Two keys to Taiwan's success in preventing COVID-19 spread. Travel Med Infect Dis. 2020 Nov 1; 38: 101780.
  Daniel Jolley
summary
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Although Taiwan has geographic, commercial and social proximity to China, it stands as a stark example of success in response to the SARS-CoV-II pandemic.
"Despite being close to China, Taiwan has stopped the COVID-19 with general screening strategy and encouraging people in Taiwan to wear a mask. Taiwan reported the first COVID-19 case on January 21, 2020. About 850,000 and 400,000 of Taiwan's 23 million citizens live and work in mainland China, respectively."
Many factors have contributed to this success, beginning with Taiwan's memory and lessons drawn from the 2003 SARS-I pandemic.
Two notable factors are Taiwan's national health service, with it's ubiquitous and affordable access to acute medical care:
"Taiwanese people … can go to the emergency department of the nearest hospital for relevant medical examinations (including sampling and testing for COVID-19, blood tests, and X-ray imaging test) with out-of-pocket medical expenses of less than NT$ 600 (USD 20). People with high suspicion of COVID-19 infection will be admitted to isolation wards, and those who have tested positive for COVID-19 can only be discharged home after three consecutive respiratory specimens test negative for the virus. … patients will have to pay less than NT$ 3000 (USD 100) out-of-pocket for medical services."
And their management of mask access, production and subsequent widespread public use:
"The daily production capacity of face mask manufacturers in Taiwan before the outbreak was 1.88 million face masks ... Currently, Taiwan is capable of producing 20 million face masks per day and will boost its production capacity to 25 million face masks per day."
Yi-Fong Su Vincent V Department of Internal Medicine, Taipei City Hospital, Taipei City Government, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Chest Medicine, Taipei Veterans General , Yen YF, Yang KY et al. Masks and medical care: Two keys to Taiwan's success in preventing COVID-19 spread. Travel Med Infect Dis. 2020 Nov 1; 38: 101780.
  Daniel Jolley