Surgical treatment of peri‐implantitis: Prognostic indicators of short‐term results

Aim

To evaluate the clinical and radiographic short‐term (6 months) effect of surgical treatment of peri‐implantitis, and to identify prognostic indicators affecting the outcome using a multilevel statistical model.

Materials & Methods

A total of 143 implants (45 patients) with a diagnosis of progressive peri‐implantitis (progressive bone loss (PBL) ≥2.0 mm and bleeding on probing (BoP)/suppuration) received surgical treatment. Clinical and radiographic parameters were assessed 6 months postoperatively. Potential prognostic indicators on subject, implant and site level prior to surgery were analysed to evaluate the effect on individual and composite outcomes using multilevel logistic regression analysis.

Results

At the 6‐month evaluation, none of the implants demonstrated PBL and 14% of the implants were registered with the absence of bleeding and no pocket probing depth ≥6 mm. Multilevel regression analysis identified, among others, suppuration, pocket probing depth >8 mm, bone loss >7 mm and the presence of plaque as criteria associated with the outcome.

Conclusion

Resective peri‐implantitis surgery seemed to reduce the amount of peri‐implant inflammation. However, most of the sites continued to have BoP/suppuration. Thus, long‐term maintenance and evaluation is warranted. The effect of treatment was reduced by some prognostic indicators such as the presence of suppuration prior to interception and peri‐implant bone loss exceeding 7 mm.     

Investigation of noise levels generated by otologic drills

Drilling during temporal bone surgery may result in temporary or permanent noise-induced hearing loss or tinnitus. This has practical implications for both the patient and the surgeon. Different surgical drill devices, routinely used in temporal bone surgery, are examined referring to their emitted sound levels and sound transport. Two surgical drills were used on a brass tubing and a steel wire to simulate sound generation during temporal bone surgery. Overview measurements were performed on human cadaver in a medical laboratory. A set-up in a silent chamber was chosen to exclude external sound sources. The noise emissions and the vibration generated by a silver diamond bur and a cutting drill (Rose bur) were registered when used on a brass tubing and a solid steel wire with sound level meter and a non-contact laser vibrometer. The highest sound rate generated by the diamond burr did not exceed 63 dB(A) when used on a solid steel wire, whereas the cutting burr emitted 76 dB(A). Both drills produced lower sound levels on the brass tubing. Again the cutting burr topped the diamond burr with 68 dB(A) against 56 dB(A). The sound emission did not exceed 76 dB(A) outside a radius 4 cm around the drill location. In conclusion, sound emission generated by different surgical burs routinely used in temporal bone surgery is lower than expected. Still, within a small radius around those burs high sound pressure levels may be induced into surrounding structures such as ossicles, labyrinth, and cochlear. Still damage is feasible when using surgical drills for a longer time period close to sensitive structures.     

Rapid development of microsatellite markers for the critically endangered Saiga (Saiga tatarica) using Illumina® Miseq next generation sequencing technology

We developed 17 variable microsatellite markers for the threatened Saiga antelope. Using one Illumina Miseq lane resulted in 105,948 unique fragments containing a microsatellite motif. Eighty-one ordered primer pairs resulted in 26 analyzable fragments, of which 17 markers showed variability in at least one population from Kazakhstan. Number of alleles ranged from 2 to 11 and values of heterozygosity varied from 0.08 to 0.91 (H_O) and 0.08 to 0.88 (H_E). The markers are currently used to delineate conservation units and to help understanding annual migration dynamics in this species.     

Online scheduling of pick-up and delivery tasks in hospitals

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to develop an algorithm for scheduling pick-up and delivery tasks in hospitals. The number of jobs and the dynamic nature of the problem, in having jobs arriving over time, makes the use of information technology indispensable. An optimized scheduling for all types of transportation tasks occurring in a hospital accelerates medical procedures, and reduces the patient’s waiting time and costs.MethodsIn the design of the algorithm we use techniques from classical scheduling theory. In addition, due to some special properties and constraints, we model the problem using methods from graph theory. The resulting algorithm combines both approaches in a transparent manner.ConclusionsTo optimize the schedules, we define the average weighted flow time as an objective function that corresponds to a measure for the task throughput. An evaluation of the algorithm at the Natters State Hospital in Austria shows that it has a superior performance than the current scheduling mechanism.