Articles

The Czech model for reducing maternal and neonatal mortality for countries in sub-Saharan East Africa was created on the basis of the Archdiocesan Charity Prague project for a specific region-subcounty Buikwe, Diocese of Lugazi, Mukono Region in Uganda, a region with about 30,000 inhabitants. The aim of the first phase of the project was to build a new hospital, equip it completely for obstetric and surgical operations from the Czech Republic, ensure its activities with Czech and Slovak doctors experts, junior Ugandan doctors and Ugandan medical staff, provide obstetric training for villagers, ensure connections with villages and possibility of fast transport and urgent solution of all acute pathologies in the hospital, capable of 24-hour surgical readiness. In the second phase of the project, a school for midwifery was to be established. This second part of the project has not yet been implemented. The project could serve as an example and guide for similar humanitarian activities in other regions of Uganda and other countries in equatorial Africa.

Background: Oral cancer accounts for 30% of all types of cancer in India. Surgery is the mainstay of treatment but due to the recent outbreak of COVID-19, there is a partial or complete disruption of health services in the country. The initial delay in the treatment was due to cancellations of planned surgeries as per government regulations and reduction in public transportation. In the latter half of the initial relaxation of the lockdown, we formulated our institutional protocol for the surgical treatment of oral cancer patients. On admission, all patients were kept in isolated wards followed by RT-PCR (Reverse Transcriptase-Polymerase Chain Reaction) testing on the same day. RT-PCR negative patients are subjected to HRCT Thorax (High-resolution Computer Tomography). This ensured the safety of health care workers, patients, and patient attendees. Keeping this in mind, we did an observational study on the role of HRCT in the pre-operative screening of asymptomatic oral cancer patients.  Materials and methods: Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data of 150 patients was done. HRCT reporting was done by two experienced senior radiologists of the Department of Radiology at our hospital. Results: The number of patients under the CO-RADS 1 category was 121 and CO-RADS 2 category was 29, according to CO-RADS classification. The results of RT-PCR and HRCT were compared and there was a 100% positive correlation between RT-PCR and HRCT Thorax. Conclusion: Our study supported the use of HRCT Thorax as a diagnostic tool in pre-operative screening of oral cancer patients for COVID 19, particularly in RT-PCR negative cases.

Background: We have developed a femoral supporting pad with an integrated ultrasound probe holder and examined its practical usability on patients with lower limb surgery. Objectives: To evaluate the function of this novel femoral supporting pad with respect to its practicability during the performance of a distal sciatic nerve blockade, the time needed to perform this blockade including the catheter insertion and the quality of postoperative analgesia within the first 24 hours. Methods: 50 patients which had been scheduled for elective lower leg, ankle or foot surgery had received a continuous blockade of the distal sciatic nerve. Sciatic nerve blockade was performed sonographically controlled with the patients in supine position by using our novel femoral supporting pad with an integrated ultrasound probe holder. Primary endpoint: duration of the intervention. Secondary endpoints: pain intensity (visual analogue scale VAS 0-10) at the first postoperative day; cumulative opioid (piritramide) requirement during their stay on the post Anaesthesia care unit (PACU) with vs. without distal sciatic nerve blockade. Results: 49/50 patients received a distal sciatic catheter, which had been sonographically placed within a mean time (mean ± sd) of 11:30 ± 3:13 minutes. VAS at the first postoperative day was (mean ± sd) 1 ± 2 at rest and 2 ± 2 as maximum. The piritramide requirement during PACU stay (mean ± sd) was 11 ± 8 mg without vs. 3 ± 6 mg with distal sciatic nerve blockade (p< 0.05). Conclusion: Continuous distal sciatic nerve blockade using a novel femoral supporting pad with an integrated ultrasound probe holder was feasible in 49 of 50 patients within 11 minutes and 30 seconds.

The success of vaginal birth after cesarean section (VBAC) has been correlated with a variety of maternal characteristics such as age, ethnicity, and body mass index (BMI, calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared). The patient’s BMI just prior to delivery has been shown to be a better prognostic indicator of success than pre-pregnancy BMI. Gestational weight gain was previously associated with a decreased rate of successful VBAC. More recent research has not supported such an association. The objective of our study was to further validate these findings with a larger population. We performed a retrospective cohort study of women undergoing trial of labor after cesarean (TOLAC) at our institution from January 2010 to December 2019. Women were divided into three groups based on weight gain in pregnancy as compared to the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) recommendations (i.e. < 25 pounds (lbs), 25-35 lbs, > 35 lbs). We further subdivided the pregnancies between term and preterm deliveries. The primary outcome was a successful VBAC. Of 1087 patients attempting a TOLAC, 772 (71%) were successful and 315 (29%) failed VBAC. When grouped according to ACOG weight gain recommendations, 303 (31%) women were below ACOG guidelines, 318 (33%) met guidelines, and 339 (35%) exceeded guidelines. There was no difference in the rate of VBAC success among the three groups. When counseling patients, providers should still promote healthy dietary habits but should not correlate excess weight gain with chance of TOLAC success.

Environmental electromagnetic fields are nowadays available in all environments today. These areas affect the biological system. Controlled interactions with elecrtomagnetic fields can have positive effects when unrestricted interactions have negative effects. Uncontrolled exposure to low-frequency electromagnetic fields can cause adverse effects such as signal transduction in cells and tissues, cell membrane structure, ion channels, molecular interactions, DNA damage. But contrary to controlled exposure, it positively affects tissues. The most obvious example of this is seen in the bone and cartilaginous tissue. Repairing fractures and damage in bone and cartilage. This has been shown in many studies. Below is a summary of the relevant information.

Provide a safety anesthesia to patient is only possible with the knowledge of material surrounding the operation room. Benzine is highly flammable substance and can produce several injures without the necessary care. This case describes a small fire caused by the presence of benzine in the surgical field concomitant with the use of electrocautery, which caused slight burns to the patient, but which could have been catastrophic, and proposes the use of protocols to prevent such accidents.

Parabens are the esters of para-hydroxybenzoic acid [1], mimicking oestrogen, the hormone which makes a woman a woman; women love it and men hate it. 

Amenorrhea is the absence or abnormal cessation of menstrual cycles in a woman of reproductive age. Prolonged cessation of menstrual cycles might results in complications such as infertility, psychosocial developmental delays, Osteoporosis, fractures etc. Better understanding of physiology of menstruation is essential to understand the various causes of primary and secondary amenorrhea. Any disruption or functional abnormality in the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis can result in abnormal menstruation or amenorrhea. Therefore it is crucial to identify this menstrual distress in women at early age to minimize the risks of reproductive dysfunction in premenstrual and postmenstrual conditions.

Objective: To assess the knowledge, attitudes, and skills in pre-hospital care and emergency medicine of doctors, nurses and Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT), who accompanied emergency patients in ambulances? Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among the doctors, nurses, and EMT who accompanied emergency patients in ambulances to the National Hospital. All ambulances arriving from August to October 2008 (n=409) were screened. A self-administered questionnaire with 30 items was used to assess knowledge, attitudes, and skills. The knowledge was categorized into three levels, EMT-basic level, EMT-intermediate level, and EMT-paramedic level and the scores were converted into the percentages. Results: The overall knowledge score on basic, intermediate and paramedic level were 57.5%, 42.9%, and 33.9% respectively. The knowledge on airway management (84.3%), bleeding control (82.9%), patient transport (71%) and first aids (61%) at the EMT-basic level were higher, however oxygen administration (37.1%) and basic life support (38.6%), spinal immobilization (45.7%), traction splinting (47%) and triage (48.6%) were lower. For the EMT-intermediate level, knowledge on endotracheal intubation (41.4%) and initial cardiac drug therapy (44.3%) were low. For the EMT-paramedic level, the knowledge on the advanced respiratory support (53%), ECG interpretation (37%), pharmacology (13%) and paediatric life support (20%) were lower. Most staff showed positive attitudes towards the need of basic knowledge in pre-hospital care (97.1%, n=34), need for proper training (97.1%, n=34) and cost for pre-hospital care (77.1%, n=27), while they showed relatively negative attitudes towards the outcome of pre-hospital care (74.3%, n=26). For the required skills for advanced life support, most of the staff showed skills in IV cannulation (71.4%, n=25) and IV drug administration (71.4%, n=25) however less skills were shown cricothyroidotomy (22.9%, n=8), pleural drainage (25.7%, n=9) and laryngoscopy and intubation (31.4%, n=11). Conclusion: The knowledge at the EMT-basic level was average and intermediate and paramedic levels were lower than average. The attitudes were generally positive. However they lacked some specific skills.

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between muscle weakness and cancer-related symptoms in patients undergoing chemotherapy for hematological malignancies and solid tumors. We recruited hospitalized patients older than 20 years who were receiving chemotherapy. Patients were divided into a solid tumor (n=74) and hematological malignancy (n=80) group. Age, body mass index (BMI), strength and thickness of the quadriceps femoris muscle, serum albumin and C-reactive protein levels, blood hemoglobin concentration, fatigue, psychological distress and pain, and duration of hospitalization were assessed. Eight physical symptoms (fatigue, nausea and vomiting, pain, dyspnea, insomnia, appetite loss, constipation, and diarrhea) were also evaluated. Correlation and multiple regression analyses were conducted to identify factors affecting muscle strength in each group. Muscle strength was associated with fatigue in the solid tumor group and with age, BMI, muscle thickness, albumin and hemoglobin in the hematological malignancy group. Therefore, factors contributing to muscle strength might differ between patients with solid tumors and those with hematological malignancies. In particular, fatigue was an important factor in patients with solid tumors, while anemia was an important factor in patients with hematological malignancies. We therefore suggest that different treatments for muscle weakness might be considered for patients with these cancer types.