Treatment of acute supraspinatus tendinitis: physiotherapy or steroid injection?
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to P E Randall.
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To assess the current uptake of hepatitis B vaccine and attitudes towards immunization among accident and emergency practitioners in the UK, a postal survey was carried out. Questionnaires were sent to 742 members of the British Association for Accident and Emergency Medicine (BAEM). Four hundred and six (55%) replies were received. Of 351 respondents in career-grade posts 309 (88%) had received a full course of immunizations. Five respondents were not immunized and not intending to be so, reporting 13 different factors influencing their decisions. The risks of hepatitis B in nonimmune subjects are discussed, as are new government guidelines on the protection of health care workers from hepatitis B infection.
A retrospective review was carried out of the radiographic features of 1016 adults admitted to hospital with acute asthma over a 4-year time period. The radiographic features were classified into five groups: (I) normal, 536 patients (52.9%); (II) features compatible with obstructive lung disease, 323 patients (31.8%); (III) complications of asthma including infection, segmental or greater atelectasis, one case of pneumomediastinum and one case of pneumothorax, 83 patients (8.2%); (IV) unimportant incidental findings, six cases (0.6%); and (V) important incidental findings including tuberulosis, heart failure, and bronchial neoplasm, 68 cases (6.7%). We conclude that in this large series of patients presenting with asthma symptoms severe enough to merit admission there is an incidence of clinically significant radiographic abnormalities of approximately 15%. Admission chest radiography is therefore indicated in adults who are hospitalized with acute asthma.
We performed a study to evaluate the corneal endothelial cell response in 26 patients who received a polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) intraocular lens and 26 patients who received a soft, nonfolded poly-hydroxy-ethylmethacrylate (poly-HEMA) intraocular lens after posterior chamber phacoemulsification. Specular microscopy and pachymetry were done before surgery and a mean of 8 or more weeks after surgery. The mean percent cell loss was 8.2% in the PMMA group and 10.7% in the poly-HEMA group. There was no significant difference in the pachymetry values before or after surgery between the two groups; however, in the poly-HEMA group the postoperative value was significantly higher than the preoperative value (p = 0.027). The results suggest that the amount of perioperative corneal endothelial cell loss with poly-HEMA lenses is similar to that with PMMA lenses. Further study is needed to fully evaluate the long-term corneal effects of poly-HEMA lenses.
A review of the literature on medical antishock trousers (MAST) is presented together with a report on their use at Hope Hospital, Salford. Their relevance in British emergency management and future uses are considered.
Plasma catecholamine (adrenaline, noradrenaline and dopamine) concentrations have been measured in 48 patients within 6 hours of the onset of symptoms of an acute myocardial infarction. The concentrations of all three catecholamines were elevated, and there were positive correlations between plasma noradrenaline concentrations and the severity of infarct as assessed by the coronary prognostic index and serum LDH levels. Plasma glucose, free fatty acid, lactate and cortisol levels were elevated while insulin levels were reduced. The site of infarction did not influence the pattern of hormonal and metabolic responses although heart rate was significantly lower in the inferior than in the anterior infarct group. Seven patients went into ventricular fibrillation shortly (less than 1.8 h) after blood sampling. Plasma catecholamine concentrations were markedly elevated in these patients with levels similar to those previously reported after cardiac arrest.
Four cases are presented of patients who sustained blunt trauma to the epigastrium in a train crash. Two patients sustained a transected pancreas. The mechanism of injury is discussed.
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A prospective study on 90 patients undergoing vasectomy as day cases is reported. The use of a chlorhexidine gluconate bath or shower on day 1 and day 2 post-operatively reduced the wound infection rate from 37.8 to 6.7%. It is suggested, therefore, that this technique is an economical and successful way of reducing the incidence of infection in these patients.
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Plasma catecholamine concentrations in cardiac arrest (ventricular fibrillation and asystole) are significantly higher than after myocardial infarction. The levels reached are well above those normally required to stimulate cardiac activity. Possible reasons for the failure of the myocardium to respond to the catecholamines are discussed and the rationale for giving more catecholamines is questioned.
The effects of two components of tissue injury, namely fluid loss from the circulation and tissue ischaemia, on cardiovascular reflex activity have been studied. Moderate blood loss (10-20% blood volume) in the unanaesthetized rat increased the slope of the regression line relating heart period to mean arterial blood pressure and usually displaced it to the left (i.e. towards a relative bradycardia). A blood donation of 500 ml (approximately 10% blood volume) increased the Valsalva ratio in conscious man without a change in resting pulse rate. However, a 15 min period of unilateral limb ischaemia in man reduced the Valsalva ratio. The pattern of change in the pulse rat response to the Valsalva manoeuvre produced by limb ischaemia closely resembles that found previously after limb injury in man. There was no evidence that the endogenous opioids were involved in the interaction between limb ischaemia and cardiovascular reflex activity in man.
Ninety-four patients undergoing vasectomy as day cases were studied prospectively. An overall infection rate of 32.9% was recorded and, apart from haematoma formation and the nasal carriage of organisms, no factors were found that increased the risk of infection. A preoperative hibiscrub shower did not affect the infection rate, even though it was responsible for a significant reduction in skin flora. This raises the possibility of infection following vasectomy being secondary, not occurring at the time of surgery.
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