OBJECTIVES We hypothesized that one minus the slope of diastolic on systolic blood pressure in individual 24-h ambulatory blood pressure recordings (ambulatory arterial stiffness index) might reflect arterial stiffness and predict cardiovascular mortality. METHODS In volunteers and a population recruited in China, we studied concordance between ambulatory arterial stiffness index and establis...

BACKGROUND Extravehicular activity (EVA) is required from the International Space Station on a regular basis. Because of the weightless environment during EVA, physical activity is performed using mostly upper-body movements since the lower body is anchored for stability. The adynamic model (restricted lower-body activity; non-ambulation) was designed to simulate this environment during earthbo...

Ambulatory surgery is on the rise, with an unmet need for optimum pain control in ambulatory surgery centers worldwide. It is important that there is a proportionate increase in the availability of acute pain-management services to match the rapid rise of clinical patient load with pain issues in the ambulatory surgery setting. Focus on ambulatory pain control with its special challenges is vit...

PURPOSE Recovery and discharge following ambulatory surgery are important components of the ambulatory surgery experience. This review provides contemporary perspectives on the issues of discharge criteria, fast-tracking, patient escort requirements, and driving after ambulatory anesthesia. SOURCE A search was performed in the Cochrane Central Register for Controlled Trials, MEDLINE(R), EMBAS...

BACKGROUND To investigate the follow-up course of developmental profiles in preschool children with spastic quadriplegic (SQ) cerebral palsy (CP) who had varying ambulatory abilities. METHODS Forty-eight children with SQ CP between 1 and 5 years old were classified into 2 groups, the ambulatory and non-ambulatory groups, based on Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) levels durin...

OBJECTIVE To predict ambulatory capacity, 1 month after physical therapy following hip fracture surgery. METHODS A retrospective chart review was carried out. Patients more than 60 years old, who underwent hip fracture surgery and received physical therapies, were selected (n=548). Age, gender, presence of cognitive dysfunction, combined medical diseases, combined fractures, previous history ...

OBJECTIVE To determine the overall and complication-related readmission rates within 30 days after ambulatory surgery at a major ambulatory surgical center. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA Currently in North America, 65% of the surgical procedures are carried out in ambulatory settings. The safety of ambulatory surgery is well documented, with low rates of adverse events during or immediately after s...

T hefirst ambulatory surgery center was established in 1970 in Phoenix, Arizona by two surgeons with a vision of providing more convenient surgical services to their community. Twelve years later, Medicare approved the first payments to ambulatory surgery centers, sparking an era of substantial growth. By 1988, there were 1000 ambulatory surgery centers in the United States, and today more than...

BACKGROUND An increasing number of centers are using active rehabilitation and ambulation for critically ill patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) as a bridge to lung transplantation. This investigation assessed the economic impact at a single center of ambulatory versus non-ambulatory ECMO strategies as a bridge to lung transplantation. METHODS We conducted a single-center r...