Carcinoma of the cervix: a changing pattern?
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Adolescent↗
Biomedical subjects
G Shorten
Publications and source records attributed to G Shorten.
Universal precautions--do Irish anaesthetists comply?
BACKGROUND: Anaesthetists are at high risk from blood-borne pathogens. Universal Precautions (UP) include the routine use of appropriate barrier precautions and techniques to reduce the likelihood of exposure to blood, body fluids and tissues that may contain pathogens. The compliance of Irish anaesthetists with these precautions has not been studied. AIM: To study the attitudes of Irish anaesthetists to Universal Precautions. METHOD: A postal questionnaire was sent to 210 anaesthetists currently practising in Ireland. The questionnaire was based on a model used in Australia and New Zealand. RESULTS: There was a 50% response rate to the survey. Only 15% of respondents had taken a risk history from a patient in the preceding four weeks. Resheathing of needles was commonplace. The effectiveness of hepatitis B immunisation was rarely checked and only 66% of respondents believe implementation of Universal Precautions to be practical. CONCLUSION: Irish anaesthetists comply poorly with Universal Precautions.
Anesthesiology↗
The effect of the anaesthetic agent isoflurane on the rate of neutrophil apoptosis in vitro.
BACKGROUND: Volatile anaesthetic agents influence neutrophil function, and potentially, the inflammatory response to surgery. AIM: The objective of this study was to determine the effect of isoflurane (1-4%) on human polymorphonuclear neutrophil apoptosis in vitro. METHODS: Venous blood from 12 healthy volunteers was exposed to 0, 1, and 4% isoflurane delivered via a 14G Wallace flexihub internal jugular cannula, at a fresh gas flow of 0.51/min for 5 minutes. Isolated neutrophils were assessed for apoptosis at 1, 12, and 24 hours in culture using dual staining with annexin V-FITC and propidium iodide (Annexin-V FITC assay). Data were analysed using paired, one-tailed Student's t-tests. p<0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: At 1 hour apoptosis was inhibited in the 1% (5.1 [6.8]%; p=0.017) and 4% (4.8 [4.5]%; p=0.008) isoflurane groups compared to control (11.3 [6.9]%). At 12 and 24 hours, a dose-dependent inhibition of apoptosis was demonstrated, i.e. 4% > 1% > 0%. CONCLUSION: Human neutrophil apoptosis is inhibited in a concentration-dependent manner in vitro by isoflurane in clinical concentrations.
Adult↗
Effectiveness of mask ventilation performed by hospital doctors in an Irish tertiary referral teaching hospital.
The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of mask ventilation performed by 112 doctors with clinical responsibilities at a tertiary referral teaching hospital. Participant doctors were asked to perform mask ventilation for three minutes on a Resusci Anne mannequin using a facemask and a two litre self inflating bag. The tidal volumes generated were quantified using a Laerdal skillmeter computer as grades 0-5, corresponding to 0, 334, 434, 561, 673 and > 800 ml respectively. The effectiveness of mask ventilation (i.e. the proportion of ventilation attempts which achieved a volume delivery of > 434 mls) was greater for anaesthetists [78.0 (29.5)%] than for non anaesthetists [54.6 (40.0)%] (P = 0.012). Doctors who had attended one or more resuscitation courses where no more effective at mask ventilation than their colleagues who had not undertaken such courses. It is likely that first responders to in-hospital cardiac arrests are commonly unable to perform adequate mask ventilation.
Clinical Competence↗