Severe odontogenic infections, part 2: prospective outcomes study.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify significant predictors of 4 outcomes in patients with severe odontogenic infections: abscess formation, penicillin therapeutic failure (PTF), length of hospital stay (LOS), and need for reoperation. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We used a prospective case series study design and enrolled 37 consecutive patients admitted for severe odontogenic infection between March 1996 and June 1999. Treatment consisted of intravenous penicillin (PCN) or clindamycin in PCN-allergic patients, surgical incision and drainage, and extraction(s) as soon as possible. Study variables were categorized as demographic, preadmission, time-related, preoperative, anatomic, treatment, microbiologic, and complications. The primary outcome variables were abscess formation, PTF, LOS, and reoperation. Multivariate linear and logistic regression techniques were used to measure associations between study variables and the outcome variables. RESULTS: The sample consisted of 37 subjects (23 male, 14 female) with a mean age of 34.9 +/- 15.8 years. Multivariate analyses, controlling for confounding variables, indicated that culture of Peptostreptococci was a negative predictor of abscess formation. LOS was predicted by the number of infected spaces and duration of operation. There was no significant predictor of PTF or reoperation on multivariate analysis, although PCN-resistant organisms were isolated in all cases of PTF. CONCLUSION: Increased LOS in severe odontogenic infections is predicted by the anatomic extent and severity of the infection and the occurrence of complications such as PTF and the need for reoperation. PTF is significantly associated with later identification of PCN-resistant organisms. The role of Peptostreptococci in abscess formation warrants further investigation.     

Prospective study of bacterial and viral contamination of exercise equipment.

OBJECTIVE: Transmission of bacterial and viral pathogens is known to occur by hand contact with fomites. Exercise equipment in public facilities may serve as such fomites. It is not known whether equipment disinfection might reduce microorganism colonization. We performed studies to address these issues. DESIGN: Observational study of bacterial and viral culture results from hand-contact surfaces of exercise equipment, pre-exercise and postexercise; prospective study of viral culture results before and after intervention with disinfection solution. SETTING: Two fitness centers in a military community. INTERVENTION: One week trial of twice-a-day equipment disinfection. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Type and number of bacteria and type of viruses present on equipment before and after exercise; prevalence of viral culture positivity on equipment before and after intervention. RESULTS: Bacterial cultures of body contact surfaces on equipment revealed benign bacterial species (coagulase-negative staphylococci, diphtheroids, and so forth) but no pathogenic bacteria whether obtained pre-exercise or postexercise, or whether from aerobic versus weight training equipment. Viral cultures revealed the presence of viruses (generally rhinoviruses) on 63 of 100 (63%) hand-contact surfaces of equipment. Weight equipment was significantly more often contaminated than aerobic equipment (73% vs. 51%; P = 0.026). Disinfection of equipment did not lower the prevalence of virus isolation (48% positive before cleaning; 86% positive after cleaning). CONCLUSIONS: There is little risk of exposure to pathogenic bacteria on exercise equipment. Such equipment may commonly serve as fomites for the transmission of viruses. These data do not suggest that disinfection of exercise equipment will offer significant protective effects against virus exposure.     

Effects of alpha-adrenoceptor antagonists and clonidine on the haemodynamic response to acute hypovolaemia in conscious rabbits.

In conscious rabbits an inferior vena caval cuff was progressively inflated so cardiac output fell at a constant approximately 8% of its baseline value. There was a biphasic haemodynamic response, consisting of an initial compensatory phase during which there was progressive systemic vasoconstriction and tachycardia, followed by a decompensatory phase in which systemic vasoconstriction failed abruptly, blood pressure plummeted and heart rate declined. We tested the effects on the haemodynamic response of prior 4th ventricular, and in some cases intravenous, infusions of saline, yohimbine, clonidine, yohimbine plus clonidine, and bunazosin. From the results we conclude that a yohimbine-sensitive mechanism in the brainstem, possibly alpha 2-adrenoceptor-mediated, may be an essential element of the cardiac receptor-mediated decompensatory phase of acute central hypovolaemia, but does not contribute to the arterial baroreflex-mediated compensatory phase.     

An Educator''s Guide to Teaching Emergency Medicine to Medical Students

There is a need for every medical school graduate to handle emergencies as they arise in the daily practice of medicine. Emergency medicine (EM) educators are in a unique position to provide students with basic life support skills, guidance in assessing the undifferentiated patient, and exposure to the specialty of EM during all years of medical school. Emergency physicians can become involved in a variety of education experiences that can supplement the preclinical curriculum and provide access to our specialty at an early stage. A well-designed course in the senior year allows students to develop critical thinking and patient management skills that are necessary for any medical career path. It can ensure that all medical students are exposed to the skills essential for evaluating and stabilizing the acutely ill patient. To implement this type of course, learning objectives and evaluation methods must be set when the curriculum is developed. An effective course combines didactic and clinical components that draw on the strengths of the teaching institution and faculty of the department. A structured clerkship orientation session and system for feedback to students are essential in nurturing the development of student learners. This article provides an approach to assist the medical student clerkship director in planning and implementing EM education experiences for students at all levels of training, with an emphasis on the senior-year rotation.     

Cardiac rehabilitation for women: one size does not fit all.

AIM: To investigate women's perceptions of the contribution of cardiac rehabilitation to their recovery from a myocardial infarction. BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Cardiac rehabilitation programs have been based on research with almost exclusively male participants. It was unclear if cardiac rehabilitation programs meet the needs of women. METHOD: Ten women who had experienced one or more myocardial infarctions were interviewed. Data from these interviews were analysed using Glaserian grounded theory. FINDINGS: The core category that emerged from the data was 'regaining everydayness'. Participants worked to regain their 'everydayness' through a basic social process of 'reframing'. Reframing involved coming to terms with what they had experienced and fitting it into their lives. Other categories related to symptom recognition and recovery. CONCLUSION: Cardiac rehabilitation programs contributed to overall recovery from a myocardial infarction in different ways for each participant. Although programs provided information for participants, they failed to provide the type of support needed to effectively aid reframing and recovery. Programs did not meet the needs of all participants and it was apparent that one size does not fit all.     

Elective open operation for abdominal aortic aneurysm in octogenarians--survival analysis of 105 patients.

OBJECTIVES: To study early mortality and long-term survival of patients more than 80 years of age having elective open repair for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). DESIGN: Retrospective multicenter cohort study. MATERIAL: One hundred and five patients, 23 women and 82 men, with a median age of 82 years, operated at three Norwegian hospitals during the period 1983-2002. METHOD: Survival analyses were based on data from medical records and the Norwegian Registrar's Office of Births and Deaths. Expected survival was based on mortality rates of the general population, matched by age, sex, and calendar period. Relative survival was calculated as the ratio between the observed and the expected survival. RESULTS: During the study period there has been a 10 fold increase in octogenarians treated with open operation for AAA. Early mortality (30-day) for the whole group of patients was 10.5% (95% confidence interval (95% CI) 5.3-18.0), and similar for both genders. The 5-year survival rate was 47% (95% CI 35.9-57.4), and not significantly different from that of a matched group in the general population. Patients aged 84 years or more had a median survival time of 35 months (95% CI 18.5-51.6). CONCLUSION: The number of AAA operations in octogenarians has increased considerably during 20 years. Octogenarians operated electively for AAA has higher 30-day mortality as compared to younger patients. Their long-term survival appears similar to a matched control group. The benefit of surgery must be carefully considered against the perioperative risk, especially for the oldest octogenarians.