Biomedical subjects

Rebecca Bennett

Publications and source records attributed to Rebecca Bennett.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Gel-based surgical preparation resulting in an operating room fire during a neurosurgical procedure: case report.

Despite general reports of fires in the operating room, those during neurosurgical procedures are rare. The most significant contributor to perioperative fires is excess oxygenation. The consideration of novel gel-based surgical preparation solutions as potential fuel sources should be included in the literature. Given the significant patient risk and legal ramifications of surgical fires, education regarding operating room fires and the potential for prevention and treatment is requisite. The authors describe the case of an 18-month-old girl who, while undergoing a resection of a right retroauricular scalp mass, suffered partial thickness bums as a result of the ignition of surgical preparation solution following the use of monopolar electrocautery.

Administration, Topical↗

PubMed2004

Bacterial adhesion to surfactant-modified silicone surfaces.

OBJECTIVE: Ventricular shunt infections are a major contributor to morbidity in patients being treated for hydrocephalus. The majority of these infections are from Staphylococcus epidermidis. Prevention of bacterial adhesion to the silicone surface of a ventricular catheter could decrease shunt infections. We studied the effectiveness of a surfactant and/or 2% iodine prewash on preventing bacterial adhesion to Silastic catheter material. METHODS: In a laboratory setting, various concentrations of a surfactant, Poloxamer-188 (P188), and a bactericidal agent, iodine, were compared against a control solution in their ability to prevent bacterial adhesion of S. epidermidis to a silicone surface. Silicone wafers were soaked for 1 hour in the test solution, then inoculated and incubated with S. epidermidis for 24 hours. Bacterial counts were then obtained and compared. RESULTS: The most effective method tested in this study was 20% P188, which allowed only 3.02% bacterial adhesion compared with 22.2% bacterial adhesion in the control (P < 0.001). P188 at a 10% concentration or 20% mixed with iodine had the next most effective inhibition. Of the germicidal solutions, a 5-ppm solution of iodine was the most effective. The most ineffective method tested was 2 ppm iodine, which allowed 13.2% bacterial adhesion. CONCLUSION: Use of a surfactant and/or a germicidal will provide some protection against bacteria attaching to silicone surfaces before they are surgically implanted. The use of a surfactant soak of 20% P188 or iodine at a concentration of 5 ppm before inoculation with S. epidermidis significantly decreased the bacterial adhesion to silicone wafers. This finding has relevance to clinical practice because it highlights a simple step undertaken before implanting a ventricular catheter that could reduce the adhesion rate of the most common contaminant of these catheters. This step may become an important factor in decreasing infection rates in shunt-dependent patients.

Anti-Infective Agents, Local↗

PubMed2002

Cell outgrowth from the human ACL in vitro: regional variation and response to TGF-beta1.

One of the new methods being developed to stimulate healing of the human anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after rupture is the implantation of a biodegradable scaffold which the host cells invade, populate and remodel. One of the cellular behaviors critical to the success of this method is cell outgrowth from the ligament remnants onto an adjacent scaffold. As morphological differences have been previously reported in the proximal and distal human ACL, the primary aim of this study was to determine if the cells from the proximal and distal ACL had different outgrowth behaviors as well. A second aim was to determine whether TGF-beta1, reported to be a mitogen for fibroblasts, would affect the outgrowth behaviors from the proximal and distal ACL. To achieve these aims, explants from both the proximal and distal human ACL were placed into culture under various conditions and outgrowth measured for 42 days. In explants cultured with 10% fetal bovine serum (high serum group) the explants from the proximal ACL had an earlier start of outgrowth than the distal explants (p < 0.015), and outgrowth rates were similar in the two groups. In explants cultured with 2% fetal bovine serum (low serum group), the explants from the proximal ACL had an earlier start to outgrowth (p < 0.003) as well as a faster rate of outgrowth (p < 0.004) than the distal explants. The addition of TGF-beta1 to the low serum cultures significantly slowed the rate of outgrowth from both groups of ACL explants (p < 0.025). These results suggest that outgrowth behaviors are different in the proximal and distal human ACL, and that TGB-beta1 has an inhibitory effect on cell outgrowth from ACL explants. However, this study is only a first step, and additional experiments are needed to further optimize tissue engineering parameters for enhancement of the repair of the ACL.

Anterior Cruciate Ligament↗

PubMed1999

Restoring natural function: access to infertility treatment using donated gametes.

Fertility services are the only area of medicine in which health professionals are required by law to make social judgements about a person's suitability for treatment. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act of 1990 imposes restrictions on access to licensed fertility treatment based on social judgements about the probable welfare of any resulting child. In this paper, it is argued that just as social judgements are inappropriate in other contexts, so they are in the context of fertility treatment. Furthermore, the ambiguous requirement for concern for the welfare of the resulting child simply does not provide a just and ethically defensible solution to the problem of access to licensed fertility treatment. born as a result of the treatment (including the need of that child for a father) and of any other child who may be affected by the birth treatment.

Journal Article↗