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Biomedical subjects

S Thomason

Publications and source records attributed to S Thomason.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1993

Specialty support surfaces: a cost containment perspective.

Challenged by annual expenditures exceeding $5.9 million dollars for specialty support surface rentals, the National Center for Cost Containment (NCCC), an office of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), organized a Technical Advisory Group (TAG) to identify strategies for the appropriate use and cost-containment of specialty support surfaces. A survey of utilization patterns revealed that some VA facilities (n = 20) had no expenditures for rental of specialty support surfaces while others (n = 13) spent over $100,000 per facility on rental expenditures. Many facilities had a significant cost savings by owning specialty support surfaces. A decision-making tree, emphasizing first line devices, was developed to assist in containing expenditures. It was recommended that this algorithm be used in conjunction with the Specialty Support Surface Guidelines developed by the TAG. It is anticipated that this information may assist both VA and non-VA healthcare facilities to contain costs in the utilization of specialty support surfaces.

Algorithms↗
PubMed1991

Respiratory effects of spinal immobilization in children.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To assess the restrictive effects of two spinal immobilization strapping techniques on the respiratory capacity of normal, healthy children. DESIGN: Prospective study with each subject serving as his own control. PARTICIPANTS: Fifty-one healthy children 6 to 15 years old. INTERVENTIONS: Participants' forced vital capacity (FVC) measurements were first obtained with children standing and lying supine and then in full spinal immobilization using two different strapping configurations, cross straps and lateral straps. Straps were tightened to allow one hand to fit snugly between the strap and child. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Supine FVC was less than upright FVC (P less than .001). FVC in spinal immobilization ranged from 41% to 96% of supine FVC (80 +/- 9%). There was no difference in FVCs between strapping techniques (P = .83). CONCLUSION: Spinal immobilization significantly reduced respiratory capacity as measured by FVC in healthy patients 6 to 15 years old. There is no significant benefit of one strapping technique over the other.

Adolescent↗