background the phrase “minimally invasive” is used loosely due to the wide range of surgical options and generally means a procedure not involving a large open incision. in 1998, dr. paolo miccoli at the university of pisa developed a technique of minimally invasive video-assisted thyroidectomy (mivat) for patients presenting with small thyroid nodules. the procedure involves a smaller incision...

background many factors effect on management (surgical and nonsurgical) of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (ais). objectives the purpose of this study was evaluation of the effects of generalized ligamentous laxity (gll) on surgical treatment of ais. materials and methods 72 patients with ais were studied between 2002 and 2009. 24 cases (33.4%) were placed in group a (normal) while 48 patients ...

background: hypoalbuminemia may be caused by liver disease, nephrotic syndrome, burns, protein-losing entropathy, malnutrition, and metabolic stress. alterations in albumin in metabolic stress such as cardiac surgery have been previously investigated. we studied serum albumin concentration in children with congenital heart disease and also the association of hypoalbuminemia with mortality and m...

In May 1995 the author was appointed as the first laparoscopic nurse practitioner (NP) in the UK. The role was to provide a seamless service for patients undergoing laparoscopic general surgery. Three factors influenced the development of this role: □ The reduction in junior doctors' hours ( NHSME 1991 ) □ The Calman Report ( 1993 ) which redefined surgical training □ The NHS Executive Report (...

Patients with haemophilia A (and their physicians) may be reluctant to switch factor VIII (FVIII) concentrates, often due to concerns about increasing the risk of inhibitors; this reluctance to switch may contribute to patients missing the clinical benefits provided by the arrival of new factor VIII products. This topic was explored at the Eleventh Zürich Haemophilia Forum. Clinical scenarios f...

Preoperative assessment and premedication represent important preparatory steps to ensuring a smooth and effective induction of anaesthesia. A thorough review of the child's medical history, previous anaesthetics, medications, allergies and family history is essential to design the optimal anaesthetic for the child and his/her surgery. Risks must be addressed with the parents as appropriate bas...

OBJECTIVE To assess the prevalence of nutritional risk in surgical patients of a teaching hospital and its associated factors. METHODS A cross-sectional study with secondary data of surgical ward patients of the Hospital Escola da Universidade Federal de Pelotas, from April to October, 2010. Patients were evaluated up to 36 hours after admission using the Malnutrition Screening Tool. RESULT...

BACKGROUND We previously described a convection warming technique (Cassey J, Armstrong P, Smith GE, Farrell PT. Paediatr Anaesth 2006; 16: 654-62). This study further analyses the children in that original study with three aims: (i) to investigate factors purported to influence children's heating rates, (ii) to describe the most effective usage of this warming technique, and (iii) to understand...

BACKGROUND Good postoperative recovery is increasingly recognized as an important outcome after surgery. The authors created a new Post-operative Quality Recovery Scale (PQRS) that tracks multiple domains of recovery from immediate to long-term time periods in patients of varying ages, languages, and cultures. METHODS The parameters of importance to both clinicians and patients were identifie...