A PC-based free text retrieval system for health care providers

The purpose of this paper is to describe the design and development of the Clinical Practice Library of Medicine (CPLM). CPLM is an investigational project aimed at providing health care practitioners with critical in-depth information similar to that obtained from a medical reference library or consultant. When used in conjunction with the physician's knowledge, CPLM can provide valuable diagnostic prompting information to assist in rapidly reaching a suitable diagnosis for timely administration of appropriate treatment. This system may also be used to assist paramedical professionals working in remote areas where other expert medical assistance may not be available.     

Liver and lung resection for colorectal metastasis

Aim: To examine the survival benefit of liver and lung resection for colorectal metastasis and the potential prognostic factors that affect patient survival. Methods: All patients who had resection of lung or liver metastasis for colorectal metastasis in Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Hong Kong from 1995 to 2004 were retrospectively reviewed. The overall and disease‐free survival was analysed, in particularly between liver and lung metastasis. All factors that may have affected the survival were entered into Cox's proportional hazards regression model to identify significant variables associated with survival. Results: At 5 years, the overall survival of patients who had resection of lung and liver metastasis was 44% and 38%, respectively; the disease‐free survival was 26% and 24%, respectively. Overall and disease‐free survival of patients with resection of lung metastasis was comparable to those with resection of liver metastasis. The differentiations of primary tumour and time to metastasis were shown to be significant prognostic factors influencing overall survival. Those patients with systemic chemotherapy after resection of colorectal metastasis demonstrated a significantly higher probability of overall survival. Conclusion: Resection of lung and liver metastases from colorectal origin was safe and both procedures improved survival. The use of chemotherapy after resection of metastasis significantly improved the overall survival.     

Inguinal hernia repair in Hospital Authority hospitals: The role of laparoscopic hernioplasty

Objective: Two major changes have occurred in inguinal hernia repair during the last two decades: (i) the use of tension‐free mesh repair; and (ii) the application of laparoscopic technique for repair. The aims of the present study were to study: (i) how inguinal hernia repair was carried out; and (ii) the outcome of inguinal hernia repair in Hospital Authority (HA) hospitals. Methodology: This was a retrospective analysis on 8311 elective inguinal hernia repairs performed in 16 HA hospitals from January 2001 to December 2003. The mean age was 63.9 ± 14.2 years, and the male to female ratio was 22.0 : 1.0. Among these, 869 (10.5%) repairs were performed with the laparoscopic approach and 7442 (89.5%) repairs with the open approach. The proportion of laparoscopic hernia repair increased from 8.7% to 12.6%. Results: For open repair, 39% of cases were carried out with regional anaesthesia, 32% with general anaesthesia and 29% with local anaesthesia (LA). Furthermore, mesh repair was used in 88% of the patients. For laparosocpic repair, 98.4% of cases were carried out under general anaesthesia, and all patients had mesh repair using the totally extraperitoneal approach. A significantly higher proportion of bilateral repair and recurrent hernia repair was performed with the laparoscopic approach (P = 0.000). For primary unilateral repair, there was no significant difference in the postoperative length of stay (LOS) and the total LOS between the laparoscopic and the open surgery groups. No difference in LOS was found in recurrent hernia repair between the two groups. With respect to bilateral repair, both the preoperative LOS (P = 0.036) and total LOS (P = 0.039) were shorter in the laparoscopic group. Furthermore, a significantly higher proportion of day‐surgery patients was observed in the laparoscopic group than the open surgery group (21.3%vs 16.9%, P = 0.001). Nevertheless, when only the results of 2003 were analyzed, the postoperative LOS (P = 0.000) and total LOS (P = 0.000) were significantly shorter in the laparoscopic group than the open surgery group. The LOS parameters were significantly shorter in the open surgery LA subgroup compared with the non‐LA subgroup (P = 0.000), and they were not different from those in the laparoscopic group. Conclusions: The open mesh repair is the predominant approach for inguinal hernia repair in HA hospitals. The originally described local anaesthetic approach was under utilized, although it resulted in good outcome. The use of laparoscopic hernia repair is increasing and a learning curve was recently observed with improved outcome.     

Multicentric fibromatosis of familial inheritance

This is an unusual case presentation of a young woman with a clinical history and course simulating juvenile hyaline fibromatosis, but without hyalinization in the stroma. Because of the age of onset, the apparent familial inheritance, the nonaggressive and nonregressive tumor traits, the disease cannot be classified as multicentric fibromatosis. Therefore, we are referring to this case as multicentric fibromatosis with familial inheritance, a previously unreported entity to our knowledge.     

解磷注射液救治急性有机磷农药中毒34例临床报告

将急性有机磷农药中毒患者69例随机分为2组,一组主要应用解磷注射液治疗(新疗法34例),另一组(35例)主要应用阿托品治疗。两组治愈率分别为97.1％及77.1％,疗效比较差异显著(P<0.05)。新疗法的优点是起效快,作用持久,疗程短(两组比较P<0.001),副反应轻,值得推广应用。并就应用方法及注意事项等作了探讨,也强调了早期足量用药的重要性。     

安吉复口服液的耐缺氧,耐低温和抗疲劳作用

采用缺氧、寒冷和负重游泳等方法,观察了安吉复口服液(0.025、0.1和0.4mg·kg~(-1),ig,qd×14d)对小鼠的耐缺氧、耐低温及抗疲劳作用.结果表明,安吉复口服液0.1、0.4mg·kg~(-1)可延长KCN中毒小鼠的存活时间及延长小鼠在寒冷环境中存活时间,而0.4mg·kg~(-1)可延长常压缺氧条件下小鼠存活时间及延长小鼠负重游泳时间.     

断肢断腕断掌再植后手内在肌挛缩51例分析

探讨断肢断腕断掌再植术后手内在肌挛缩的发病机理,结合临床经验提出分类、预防和治疗方法。方法:对51例断肢(腕、掌)再植,分别采用术中切开骨间肌肌筋膜、掌腱膜及腕横韧带;术后严重肿胀时早期切开骨筋膜室;缺血时间超过10小时者,除上述措施外尚须切断或部分切除拇收肌和骨间肌肌腹。结果:采用上述预防措施后,手内在肌挛缩的发生率明显降低。结论:本症重在预防,如能及时、果断地采取措施,效果良好。一旦发生中、重度手内在肌挛缩应尽早手术。     

核素显像对小儿消化道出血的病因诊断

目的探讨核素显像对小儿消化道出血，特别是对Ｍｅｃｋｅｌ憩室、肠重复畸形的病因诊断的价值。方法对２６例腹痛、便血为主要症状的患儿行９９ｍ锝酸盐（９９ｍＴｃＯ－４）显像，其中１２例显像阴性者于检查后２４小时有活动性出血者，再行９９ｍ锝标记红细胞显像。所有病例的诊断均经手术、病理及内窥镜等检查所证实。结果９９ｍＴｃＯ－４显像诊断Ｍｅｃｋｅｌ憩室和肠重复畸形的敏感性、特异性、准确性分别为８５．７％（１２／１４）、９１．７％（１１／１２）及８８．５％（２３／２６）。结论核素显像具有无创、方法简单易行等特点，特别是对异位胃粘膜诊断具有较好的灵敏性和特异性。核素显像可作为下消化道出血病因诊断的有效方法。     

动脉灌注灭活再植治疗骨肉瘤的体会

本组１２例骨肉瘤均采用动脉区域灌注灭活再植及术后化疗方法，术后２年存活率平均为７５％，１例因经验不足致局部复发，仅占８．３％，表明在化疗保障下，采用此种方法即能保肢，又能获得与截肢治疗相同的手术效果，优于单纯行灭活再植术后中方法。