A summary of important documents in the field of research ethics

Today's researchers are obligated to conduct their studies ethically. However, it often seems a daunting task to become familiar with the important ethical codes required to do so. The purpose of this article is to examine the content of those ethical documents most relevant to the biomedical researcher. Documents examined include the Nuremberg Code, the Declaration of Helsinki, Henry Beecher's landmark paper, the Belmont Report, the U.S. Common Rule, the Guideline for Good Clinical Practice, and the National Bioethics Advisory Commission's report on research protections for the mentally ill.     

American anesthesiologists' contribution to post-World War II global anesthesiology: the Unitarian Service Committee's medical missions

Beginning in 1946, the Unitarian Service Committee's Medical Mission sent 10 distinguished anesthesiologists to 13 different countries to teach anesthesiology. The details and impact of that mission are the subject of this article.     

Ultrasonic Surgical dissection in the dog spleen

Using the Cavitron Ultrasonic Surgical Aspirator were were able to perform successfully and without difficulty subtotal splenic resections in the dog with minimal blood loss. The instruments provides (1) the ability to perform precise tissue resection in a wellvisualized surgical field with minimal adjacent tissue damage, (2) the ability to dissect, without damaging, vascular channels greater than 2 mm in diameter, and (3) the ability to cauterize smaller vascular channels and afford primary parenchymal hemostasis. Although the procedure appears slow, it is in fact rapid and efficacious because problems related to a bloody, obscured surgical field and difficulty in isolating retracted vessels are obviated in the friable spleen. Furthermore, the lines of transection are sharp, maintaining viable tissue margins. Based on the foregoing research, we feel that this technique is a viable and highly desirable method of splenic resection, now ready to be assessed in splenic conservation in the human.