Flexor tendon sheath infections of the hand

Flexor tendon sheath infections of the hand must be diagnosed and treated expeditiously to avoid poor clinical outcomes. Knowledge of the sheath's anatomy is essential for diagnosis and to help to guide treatment. The Kanavel cardinal signs are useful for differentiating conditions with similar presentations. Management of all but the earliest cases of pyogenic flexor tenosynovitis consists of intravenous antibiotics and surgical drainage of the sheath with open or closed irrigation. Closed irrigation may be continued postoperatively. Experimental data from an animal study have shown that local administration of antibiotics and/or corticosteroids can help lessen morbidity from the infection; however, additional research is required. Despite aggressive and prompt antibiotic therapy and surgical intervention, even otherwise healthy patients can expect some residual digital stiffness following flexor tendon sheath infection. Patients with medical comorbidities or those who present late with advanced infection can expect poorer outcomes, including severe digital stiffness or amputation.     

Epidemiology of surgically treated gastric cancer in the United States, 1988-2000

The incidence of gastric cancer and the need for subsequent surgery has been decreasing in the United States. However, very few population-based studies on the magnitude of these changes are available. The objective of the present study was to characterize temporal trends in the use of gastric resection in the treatment of gastric cancer. Patients with a primary diagnosis code for gastric cancer (N = 105,887) and a procedure code for gastric resection (N = 23,690) in the Nationwide Inpatient Sample for 1988–2000 were included. The Nationwide Inpatient Sample represents a 20% stratified random sample representative of all United States hospitals. Outcome variables included the overall incidence, in-hospital mortality rate, and length of stay. Rates of surgery are shown as the number of cases per 100,000 hospital discharges. Hospital volume was defined as follows: low volume (1 to 4 cases per year), medium volume (5 to 8 cases per year), and high volume (9 or more cases per year). Rates of gastric resection have shown a 20% decline from 30 cases per 100,000 (1988-1989) to 24 cases per 100,000 (1999-2000) (P = 0.001). In-hospital mortality has not changed over the 13-year period and remains at 7.4%. There was significant variation in mortality across hospitals, with very low-volume centers having an 8.9% mortality rate, whereas very high-volume centers had a 6.4% mortality rate (P < 0.001). The market share of gastric resections performed at high-volume centers increased a small amount from 43% (1988–1989) to 48% (1999-2000) (P = 0.023). Over the 13-year period, length of stay decreased from 15 days (interquartile range [IQR] 11–23) in 1988 to 11 days (interquartile range [IQR] 8–16) in 2000 (P < 0.001). Rates of gastric resection for cancer have shown a modest decline over the past 13 years in the United States. Although the length of stay for these patients has decreased, no significant changes to in-hospital mortality have occurred. Given the declining rates of gastric cancer surgery, and the superior outcomes at high-volume centers, regionalization of care may improve mortality rates for this high-risk surgical procedure. Presented at the Forty-Fourth Annual Meeting of The Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract, Orlando, Florida, May 18-22, 2003 (poster presentation).     

Quantitative trait loci for hypercalciuria in a rat model of kidney stone disease

Hypercalciuria is the most common risk factor for kidney stones and has a recognized familial component. The genetic hypercalciuric stone-forming (GHS) rat is an animal model that closely resembles human idiopathic hypercalciuria, with excessive intestinal calcium absorption, increased bone resorption, and impaired renal calcium reabsorption; overexpression of the vitamin D receptor (VDR) in target tissues; and calcium nephrolithiasis. For identifying genetic loci that contribute to hypercalciuria in the GHS rat, an F2 generation of 156 rats bred from GHS female rats and normocalciuric WKY male rats was studied. The calcium excretion was six- to eightfold higher in the GHS female than in the WKY male progenitors. Selective genotyping of those F2 rats with the highest 30% and lowest 30% rates of calcium excretion was performed, scoring 98 markers with a mean interval of 23 cM across all 20 autosomes and the X chromosome. With the use of strict criteria for significance, significant linkage was found between hypercalciuria and a region of chromosome 1 at D1Rat169 (LOD, 2.91). Suggestive linkage to regions of chromosomes 4, 7, 10, and 14 was found. The proportion of phenotypic variance contributed by the region on chromosome 1, with appropriate adjustments, was estimated to be 7%. Candidate genes encoding the VDR and the calcium-sensing receptor were localized to regions on rat chromosomes 7 and 11, respectively, but the suggestive quantitative trait locus on chromosome 7 was not in the region of the VDR gene locus. Identification of genes that contribute to hypercalciuria in this animal model should prove valuable in understanding idiopathic hypercalciuria and kidney stone disease in humans.     

The pharmacokinetics of the biliary excretion of ciprofloxacin

The pharmacokinetics of ciprofloxacin excretion have been studied in 54 patients undergoing biliary and pancreatic operations with and without obstruction of the common bile duct. High concentrations were achieved in common duct bile within 20 minutes of intravenous injection and persisted for over 3 hours after 100 mg and for over 8 hours after 200 mg. The concentration of ciprofloxacin in the bile of functioning gall bladders was much greater than that in the common duct bile. Remarkably, it was identified in therapeutic concentrations in the bile of obstructed ducts. This and the rapid fall from initially high venous concentrations probably reflect diffusion from the circulation as a result of the exceptional tissue penetration. A unique feature of this study was the finding of clinically significant concentrations in the bile of obstructed ducts. Two patients developed wound infection and no side effects were observed. The broad spectrum antibiotic ciprofloxacin has potential as a useful agent for prophylaxis in biliary surgery maintaining biliary and venous concentrations in excess of the MIC90 for most biliary pathogens for more than 8 hours.     

Evaluating Components of Dental Utilization among Adults with Diabetes and Matched Controls via Hurdle Models

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: About one-third of adults with diabetes have severe oral complications. However, limited previous research has investigated dental care utilization associated with diabetes. This project had two purposes: to develop a methodology to estimate dental utilization using claims data and to use this methodology to compare utilization of dental care between adults with and without diabetes. METHODS: Data included secondary enrollment and demographic data from Washington Dental Service (WDS) and Group Health Cooperative (GH), clinical data from GH, and dental-utilization data from WDS claims during 2002-2006. Dental and medical records from WDS and GH were linked for enrolees continuously and dually insured during the study. We employed hurdle models in a quasi-experimental setting to assess differences between adults with and without diabetes in 5-year cumulative utilization of dental services. Propensity score matching adjusted for differences in baseline covariates between the two groups. RESULTS: We found that adults with diabetes had lower odds of visiting a dentist (OR=0.74, p < 0.001). Among those with a dental visit, diabetes patients had lower odds of receiving prophylaxes (OR=0.77), fillings (OR=0.80) and crowns (OR=0.84) (p < 0.005 for all) and higher odds of receiving periodontal maintenance (OR=1.24), non-surgical periodontal procedures (OR=1.30), extractions (OR=1.38) and removable prosthetics (OR=1.36) (p < 0.001 for all). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with diabetes are less likely to use dental services. Those who do are less likely to use preventive care and more likely to receive periodontal care and tooth-extractions. Future research should address the possible effectiveness of additional prevention in reducing subsequent severe oral disease in patients with diabetes.     

Rapid regression of retinochoroidal venous collaterals following optic nerve sheath fenestration in idiopathic intracranial hypertension

A woman with idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) experienced rapid regression of retinochoroidal venous collaterals ("optociliary shunt vessels") following optic nerve sheath fenestration. The presence of these vessels is a nonspecific sign of chronic retinal venous compression in patients with optic disc edema including IIH.     

Guidelines for use access to compuuterized medical records

Computerization of the medical record allows the unique capability to provide differential access to various components of the record by users outsid of the immediate provider/patient health care setting Guidelines for designers, programmers, and users of computerizeid medical records have been defined in order to clarify which data elements or categories are appropriate for communication to various parties involved in utilizing patients information.     

Caffeine reverses antinociception by oxcarbazepine by inhibition of adenosine A1 receptors: Insights using knockout mice

Oxcarbazepine is an anticonvulsant drug that has been explored as a novel therapeutic agent to treat neuropathic pain in humans. It produces antinociception in several preclinical models of pain, and these actions are blocked by methylxanthine adenosine receptor antagonists which implicates adenosine it its actions. In this study, the antinociceptive effect of oxcarbazepine, and the ability of caffeine to reverse its actions, were examined using the formalin test (2%) in wild-type mice and in mice lacking adenosine A₁ receptors by way of further exploring the involvement of adenosine in its actions. Oxcarbazepine produced dose-related suppression of formalin-evoked flinching responses in wild-type mice following both systemic and intraplantar administration, and this action was reversed by systemic and intraplantar administration of caffeine, respectively. The ability of oxcarbazepine to inhibit flinching after systemic and intraplantar administration was unaltered in homozygous (−/−) and heterozygous (+/−) adenosine A₁ receptor knockout mice. However, caffeine no longer reversed this antinociception. Our results indicate that, while adenosine A₁ receptors are not required for oxcarbazepine to produce antinociception in knockout mice, such receptors are essential in order to see caffeine reversal of this antinociceptive effect.