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Biomedical subjects

A F Higgins

Publications and source records attributed to A F Higgins.

14 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1996

Minimally invasive vasectomy.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the associated morbidity and patient comfort of the 'minimally invasive, no scalpel' (MINS) vasectomy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Eighty-nine consecutive patients presenting for vasectomy underwent a MINS procedure. Post-operatively, the pain experienced, recovery time and complication rate were assessed using a postal questionnaire. The questionnaire was also used to assess a group of historical controls who had undergone a vasectomy using a standard technique. RESULTS: The length of time to recovery was significantly reduced in patients who underwent the MINS vasectomy (P < 0.05) and the pain, bruising, swelling and complication rate were also less than in patients who underwent a standard vasectomy. CONCLUSIONS: The MINS vasectomy is preferable to a standard technique, reducing both patient morbidity and the complication rate. This is attributable to the minimal dissection and reduced tissue handling required to expose and isolate the vas.

Humans↗
PubMed1991

Subcuticular Prolene or PDS for skin closure?

One hundred patients undergoing abdominal surgery were randomly allocated to have their skin wound closed by either polypropylene (Prolene) or polydioxanone (PDS) by the subcuticular method. Ninety-one patients completed the study and were assessed at discharge and again 3 months later for wound complications and cosmetic result. No statistically significant differences were found between the two sutures; overall wound infection rate was 5.5% and cosmetic result was equally acceptable for the two suture materials. This study indicates that an absorbable subcuticular suture may be safely used in all classes of wound.

Abdomen↗
PubMed1982

Concept learning by retarded children: a comparison of three discrimination learning procedures.

The effectiveness of stimulus delay and stimulus fading procedures was compared with differential reinforcement only in training developmentally delayed children on a concept learning task. Twenty-four children were randomly assigned to one of the three treatment conditions. All three experimental conditions contained five discrimination programmes, each designed to teach the child to discriminate one pair of exemplars from the target concepts bottle and jar. Following successful completion of one training programme, a concept acquisition probe was administered to determine whether the target concepts had been engendered. Alternate presentations of successively different training programmes and concept acquisition probes were continued until the subject passed the probe, failed to complete a training programme, or completed all five training programmes. Five 'stimulus fading' subjects, three 'stimulus delay' subjects, and four 'reinforcement only' subjects learned the concepts. All children who learned to discriminate one pair of exemplars displayed conceptual behaviour after training on two or fewer pairs of exemplars. It was suggested that the absence of pronounced differences between conditions may have been due to the complexity of the task or the type of prompts employed.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed1980

Single and multiple dose cotrimoxazole and metronidazole in colorectal surgery.

Cotrimoxazole and metronidazole were given prophylactically to patients undergoing colorectal surgery as a single preoperative dose or in multiple doses for 5 days. A total of 60 operations randomly divided into two groups showed that the rate of wound infection was low in both groups and there was no statistical difference between them. There were no cases of anastomotic dehiscence in those patients where the anastomosis was carried out from within the abdomen, but 7 out of 9 patients with transphincteric colo-anastomoses developed a suture line dehiscence. A greater degree of post-catheterization urinary tract infection was seen in the single dose group (which lacks statistical significance). There were no toxic effects.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

Cryosurgery in the management of rectal tumours.

Ten patients with rectal tumours were treated by cryosurgery. Good palliation without local complications was achieved in the cases of rectal carcinoma and a complete cure followed treatment of benign rectal tumours. Low rectal carcinomas with clinical evidence of dissemination are ideally suited for cryosurgery and complications are minimal. Cryosurgery is a simple, safe procedure which can be performed without a general anaesthetic, and this study indicates that it has a place in the management of rectal tumours.

Aged↗
PubMed1976

Efficacy of low-dose heparin in prevention of extensive deep-vein thrombosis in patients undergoing total-hip replacement.

In a prospective trial, the prophylactic efficacy of low-dose heparin was investigated in 84 consecutive patients undergoing total-hip replacement. 52 of these were randomly allocated to receive heparin or a combination of heparin and dihydroergotamine (D.H.E.); the remaining 32 patients, who were operated on by one orthopaedic team and did not receive prophylaxis, acted as a control group. The frequency of deep-vein thrombosis (D.V.T.), determined by the 125I-fibrinogen test and venography, was 69% in the control group, 32% in the patients receiving heparin alone, and 16% in those receiving heparin and D.H.E. The difference between the control group and each group receiving prophylaxis was statistically significant. The frequency of femoral-vein thrombi, demonstrated by venography, was analysed separately because of its frequent association with major pulmonary embolism. Femoral-vein thrombi developed in 17 (53%) in the control group, while they developed in only 4 patients (8%) in the prophylaxis group (P less than 0.01). 1 patient in the control group died due to massive pulmonary embolism; in another patient, again in the control group, clinical features suggestive of major non-fatal pulmonary embolism developed. This complication was not observed in patients receiving prophylaxis. There was no difference in the amount of operative or postoperative blood-loss in the three groups. In 3 patients in the entire series wound haematomata developed; all 3 were controls and haematomata developed after the administration of streptokinase or large doses of heparin for the treatment of extensive femoral-vein thrombi. By use of a sensitive assay, heparin could be detected in the plasma in 67% of samples in patients in whom D.V.T. did not develop. In contrast, in those patients in whom D.V.T. developed, heparin could be detected in only 21% of blood-samples (P less than 0.01). It is concluded that in patients undergoing total-hip replacement, low-dose heparin prophylaxis is effective in reducing the frequency of life-threatening extensive thrombi in the femoral vein. Prophylaxis using a combination of heparin and D.H.E. requires further evaluation.

Clinical Trials as Topic↗