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Biomedical subjects

R W Knapp

Publications and source records attributed to R W Knapp.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

Triage for the breast biopsy.

A plan is advocated for the management of the dominant breast mass with use of local anesthesia in the outpatient setting as the primary diagnostic tool, but with selection of certain patients for immediate general anesthesia biopsy in the "conventional" manner. Experience with this plan in 2,492 patients during a period of 114 months shows local anesthesia biopsy to be efficient and accurate. Five year survival for all mastectomy-treated patients whose cancers were diagnosed under local anesthesia is 72 per cent. Use of a triage method for selecting biopsy procedures has resulted in a thirteen-fold decrease in the number of patients subjected to general anesthesia.

Adult↗

Patient acceptance of local anesthesia for breast biopsy.

Three out of every four patients undergoing breast biopsy found the outpatient local-anesthesia method acceptable in this study. Patient acceptance was greater among those who experienced less pain and anxiety. This suggests that acceptance could be increased by more complete preoperative explanation to the patient, adequate premedication, properly administered local anesthesia and gentle technique. Acceptance would also probably be far greater in a private practice setting than in the instititutional and sometimes impersonal setting of a large federal hospital. Breast biopsy under local anesthesia has not compromised survival rates or increased local recurrence. When it is done on an outpatient basis, hospital costs have been reduced at least threefold. It is apparent, then, that patient objection is not a deterrent to the use of breast biopsy under local anesthesia on an outpatient basis. For patients with dominant breast masses, this modality can be added to any plan of management which seeks to reduce patient risk and inconvencience, diminish hospital costs and alleviate bed demand all without impairing diagnostic accuracy or long-term survival.

Adolescent↗

Clinical evalation of the the of local anesthesia for repair of inguinal hernia.

Three hundred sixty-six patients undergoing elective inguinal hernioplasty were randomized to receive either local anesthesia or traditional spinal or general anesthesia. Overall operative complication rates were nearly the same, but wound complication predominated in the local anesthesia group while problems related to anesthesia were more common with spinal or general technique. Patients who had local anesthesia had significantly fewer postoperative symptoms than did the others.

Adult↗