585-nm Pulsed Dye Laser in the Treatment of Surgical Scars Starting on the Suture Removal Day

BACKGROUND: The optimal time frame to improve the quality and cosmetic appearance of scars by laser therapy has not been clearly elucidated by prior controlled clinical trials. OBJECTIVE: To determine the efficacy of the 585-nm pulsed dye laser (PDL) in the treatment of surgical scars starting on the day of suture removal. METHODS: Eleven patients (skin types I-IV) with 12 postoperative linear scars that were greater than 2 cm were treated three times on monthly intervals with the 585-nm PDL (450 micro s, 10-mm spot size, 3.5 J/cm2 with 10% overlap) on one scar half, whereas the other half received no treatment. Scars were later evaluated by a blinded examiner using the Vancouver Scar Scale (VSS) for pigmentation, vascularity, pliability, and height. Scars were then blindly examined for cosmetic appearance using a visual analog scale. RESULTS: One month after the last treatment, final scar analysis by the blinded examiner revealed a significant difference between treated and untreated sites, with the treated halves scoring better in all scar parameters in the VSS and in cosmetic appearance. The treated halves demonstrated an overall average improvement in the VSS between the first treatment score and the final score of 54% versus 10% in the controls (P=0.0002). The cosmetic appearance score (0=worst; 10=best) at final assessment was significantly better for the treated scars, scoring 7.3 versus the averaged control score of 5.2 (P=0.016). CONCLUSION: The 585-nm PDL is effective and safe in improving the quality and cosmetic appearance of surgical scars in skin types I-IV starting on the day of suture removal.     

The need for future surgical low rectal cancer studies

Optimal surgery remains the mainstay of best outcome for rectal cancer. The demonstration, during the 3rd Annual Pelican Surgical Workshop Symposium, of an abdomino‐perineal excision (APE) performed in the ‘Berlin position’, further added to the debate on optimal surgical technique. Much interest was created at the 1st Pelican symposium with the demonstration, by the Swedish surgeon Dr Torbjorn Holm, of a prone APE and the delivery of a ‘cylindrical’ specimen and the potential to reduce local recurrence using this approach. The high rates of local recurrence following APE and the discussions as to optimal technique have led to the development of a proposed MERCURY Study Group study to assess the benefit of a radical APE, with careful assessment of the impact that this operation may have on morbidity. A German study has also been proposed adopting the UK's multidisciplinary team approach. It aims at targeting preoperative chemoradiotherapy at those patients in whom a radical APE or total mesorectal excision is likely to result in an involved surgical resection margin. In this article we review the evidence for improving the surgical technique for low rectal cancer. We believe improvements may be best achieved through continued European prospective, multi‐centre, multidisciplinary studies.     

Involving mental health service users in quality assurance

OBJECTIVE: This study compares the process and outcomes of two approaches to engaging mental health (MH) service users in the quality assurance (QA) process. BACKGROUND: QA plays a significant role in health and care services, including those delivered in the voluntary sector. The importance of actively, rather than passively, involving service users in evaluation and service development has been increasingly recognized during the last decade. DESIGN: This retrospective small-scale study uses document analysis to compare two QA reviews of a MH Day Centre, one that took place in 1998 as a traditional inspection-type event and one that took place in 2000 as a collaborative process with a user-led QA agenda. Setting and participants The project was undertaken with staff, volunteers and service users in a voluntary sector MH Day Centre. Intervention The study compares the management, style, evaluation tools and service user responses for the two reviews; it considers staff perspectives and discusses the implications of a collaborative, user-led QA process for service development. RESULTS: The first traditional top-down inspection-type QA event had less ownership from service users and staff and served the main purpose of demonstrating that services met organizational standards. The second review, undertaken collaboratively with a user-led agenda focused on different priorities, evolving a new approach to seeking users' views and achieving a higher response rate. CONCLUSIONS: Because both users and staff had participated in most aspects of the second review they were more willing to work together and action plan to improve the service. It is suggested that the process contributed to an evolving ethos of more effective quality improvement and user involvement within the organization.     

Token economy in a hospital rehabilitation system

A ward-based token economy programme which formed one part of a larger rehabilitative service for long-stay psychiatric patients is described. The clinical effectiveness of the programme is examined by the use of various nursing, psychological and psychiatric assessments before and after the patients' treatment on the ward, and the progress of former patients is followed-up as they move to different parts of the rehabilitation service. Significant clinical gains in patients' psychiatric symptomatology and problem behaviour on the ward are reported, although there were indications that improvement was not fully maintained as the patients moved on to other parts of the service. Comparison of the present clinical programme with the earlier research programmes on the ward indicated that the present regime was superior. The advantages and problems of token economy as a rehabilitative facility are discussed, outlining the various different roles for token economy with psychiatric rehabilitation. Finally, the future of token economy for long-stay patients is considered, questioning whether it might more appropriately be replaced by other structured ward programmes.     

db/db mice exhibit severe wound-healing impairments compared with other murine diabetic strains in a silicone-splinted excisional wound model

The pathophysiology of diabetic wound healing and the identification of new agents to improve clinical outcomes continue to be areas of intense research. There currently exist more than 10 different murine models of diabetes. The degree to which wound healing is impaired in these different mouse models has never been directly compared. We determined whether differences in wound impairment exist between diabetic models in order to elucidate which model would be the best to evaluate new treatment strategies. Three well-accepted mouse models of diabetes were used in this study: db/db, Akita, and streptozocin (STZ)-induced C57BL/6J. Using an excisional model of wound healing, we demonstrated that db/db mice exhibit severe impairments in wound healing compared with STZ and Akita mice. Excisional wounds in db/db mice show a statistically significant delay in wound closure, decreased granulation tissue formation, decreased wound bed vascularity, and markedly diminished proliferation compared with STZ, Akita, and control mice. There was no difference in the rate of epithelialization of the full-thickness wounds between the diabetic or control mice. Our results suggest that splinted db/db mice may be the most appropriate model for studying diabetic wound-healing interventions as they demonstrate the most significant impairment in wound healing. This study utilized a novel model of wound healing developed in our laboratory that stents wounds open using silicone splints to minimize the effects of wound contraction. As such, it was not possible to directly compare the results of this study with other studies that did not use this wound model.