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Biomedical subjects

M C Bricknell

Publications and source records attributed to M C Bricknell.

30 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1995

Heat illness--a review of military experience (Part 1).

This paper is the first part of a two part review of the published literature reporting the military experience of heat illness. It summarises current concepts of the mechanisms for the development of heat illness. The reports of heat illness in the military medical literature from pre-World War 1 to the end of World War 2 are discussed. The second part will consider reports from the end of the Second World War to the present day. Epidemiological evidence for the factors causing heat illness will be summarised and finally the current areas of uncertainty will be identified with proposals for future research.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Experience of day-case ENT surgery in a military hospital.

This paper presents the results of an audit undertaken one year after the introduction of ENT day-case surgery at a military hospital. Day-case surgery was introduced to use spare operating time in order to reduce the ENT waiting list. One year after the introduction of day-case surgery there was no difference in the total operating time (267 vs 268 hours) compared to the previous year. There had been 67 more operations performed and the average number of completed weeks on the waiting list had fallen from 13.76 to 5.67 weeks. The administration of day-case surgery is discussed. The results of a survey of local general practitioners' awareness of day-case surgery is also presented.

Ambulatory Surgical Procedures↗
PubMed1994

Heat illness in Cyprus.

Heat illness in the Armed Forces is an emotive issue. No specific service-wide system currently exists to monitor the incidence of heat illness. Within British Forces Cyprus medical policy guidelines for physical activity at various Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) readings were issued in 1988. A local system for reporting heat casualties was introduced in August 1989. This paper examined retrospectively the reports of heat illness casualties from August 1988 to December 1992 in Cyprus. There was a reduction in reported incidents causing heat casualties over the period studied from 18 incidents in 1990 to 8 in 1992. There was also a reduction in the maximum recorded WBGT reading for each incident. From these results it would seem that there may have been a reduction in preventable heat casualties attributable to commanders following the WBGT guidelines.

Cyprus↗
PubMed1993

Skin biopsies of pigmented skin lesions performed by general practitioners and hospital specialists.

The performance of skin biopsies by general practitioners has been examined in several recent studies. The aim of this study was to examine the difference between skin biopsies of pigmented skin lesions taken by general practitioners and those taken by hospital specialists. Reviewing all histopathology records at one hospital over a five year period revealed that there were 1000 patients who had had skin biopsies. General practitioners had carried out skin biopsies for 55% of these patients. Hospital specialists excised significantly more lesions that had increased in size (P < 0.001) or changed in colour (P < 0.001). General practitioners excised more lesions that had bled (P < 0.001). Hospital specialists excised more of the 15 melanomas diagnosed (80%) (P < 0.05), and general practitioners excised more squamous papillomas (P < 0.01). Forty per cent of melanomas excised were not suspected by the clinician. General practitioners were able to detect the majority of suspicious lesions, but because of the uncertainty of clinical diagnosis, all specimen's should be submitted for histopathological diagnosis. It is important that future general practitioners are trained in both the diagnostic and technical aspects of skin biopsy if they intend to perform this minor operation.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Oesophageal foreign body: an unusual cause of respiratory symptoms in a three-week-old baby.

Impaction of a foreign body in the oesophagus is common in children. If the event is not witnessed by an adult or the object is radiolucent the diagnosis is difficult as respiratory symptoms may predominate. We report a three-week-old child with respiratory symptoms who had both a respiratory syncytial virus infection and a radio-lucent oesophageal foreign body. This case is the youngest yet reported and serves as a remainder of the difficulties in the diagnosis of this important condition.

Esophagus↗
PubMed1992

The management of quinsy--a prospective study.

A prospective study for the treatment of quinsy was undertaken between January 1989 and September 1991. This was to determine whether abscess tonsillectomy reduces inpatient stay without increasing operative risk compared to incision and drainage combined with interval tonsillectomy. Fifty-three patients were entered into the study. Twenty-one had abscess tonsillectomy and 32 had incision and drainage. This study showed that there is a 95 per cent probability that abscess tonsillectomy reduces hospital stay by between 2.04 and 4.84 (Student's test t = 5.01; df = 31, p < 0.001) days compared to incision and drainage followed by interval tonsillectomy. This is a significant saving in time and resources. Abscess tonsillectomy reduces patients lost to follow-up, avoids the social inconvenience of a second admission, effectively relieves symptoms, treats a contralateral abscess and is the only method of treating children with a quinsy. We recommend abscess tonsillectomy should be performed for quinsy where expertise and facilities are available.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma: a trap for the unwary.

Juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma (JNA) is a rare, benign but aggressive tumour of the nasopharynx. It occurs primarily in male adolescents. The usual presentation is either nasal obstruction or epistaxis. We present a case with complete nasal obstruction of short duration. The management is discussed with reference to the literature. Because this tumour tends to occur in men in their second decade it is an important disease to consider in soldiers.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Sleep manipulation prior to airborne exercises.

Airborne operations may demand an intense level of activity prior to parachuting. In addition the movement of troops to the theatre of operations may well involve the crossing of several time zones. These factors may well deprive the troops of sleep. Furthermore, a parachute assault may well be at night leading to a long period without rest. Scheduled sleep may help ameliorate this sleep deprivation. Studies have shown that daytime sleep prior to overnight activity can improve performance. A study was undertaken to see whether temazepam would improve daytime sleep during a scheduled rest period compared to placebo. The results showed a significant increase in the average sleep period in the group taking 20mg and 10mg of temazepan compared to placebo. The quality of sleep was also improved yet there was no difference in subjective alertness between the groups six hours post ingestion.

Aerospace Medicine↗
PubMed1991

Traumatic rupture of bicepts brachii--a hazard of military parachuting.

Closed traumatic rupture of the biceps brachii has not been reported occurring to a British military parachutist. This paper describes such an injury to a British military parachutist using United States (US) Army equipment and procedures. The discussion highlights differences between British Army and US Army equipment and procedures which make the chances of this injury occurring to a British paratrooper very small.

Adult↗