BACKGROUND A low plasma glutamine level at the time of acute admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) is an independent predictor of an unfavourable outcome in critically ill patients. The primary objective of this study was to determine whether there are differences in plasma glutamine levels upon non-elective or elective ICU admission. The secondary objective was to compare glutamine levels...

BACKGROUND Left internal thoracic artery to left anterior descending artery (LITA-LADA) grafting has become a fundamental part of the coronary artery bypass graft procedure (CABG). This grafting in turn has led to an increased use of other arterial conduits, of which the radial artery (RA) is most popular. Whether RA grafting can be used in the emergency patient is controversial. METHODS 47 p...

Complete edentulism is a common problem in many countries and can be a serious disability. It concerns about one-fifth of the adult world population, in some countries reaching 50% at the age of 50. The decline in the prevalence of edentulism is offset by the increase of the elderly population. This leads to an increasing demand for implant-based treatments by the potential population of the 15...

Should perioperative immunonutrition for elective surgery be the current standard of care? 围手术期免疫营养应该成为择期手术的标准治疗方案 吗？

OBJECTIVE To find the clinical and socio-demographic determinants for Hong Kong Chinese women who preferred elective caesarean section. DESIGN Cross-sectional interview survey. SETTING University teaching hospital, Hong Kong. PARTICIPANTS A cohort of consecutive Hong Kong Chinese pregnant women (n=660) attending a government-funded obstetric unit catering deliveries in the New Territories...

BACKGROUND Allocation of the correct amount of operating room (OR) "block time" can provide surgeons with access to sufficient OR time to complete their elective cases while optimally matching staffing with the elective case workload (to maximize labor productivity). To evaluate how to predict accurately total hours of elective cases performed by a surgical group using data from surgical servic...