Laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) is the reflux of gastric acid through the upper oesophageal sphincter causing mucosal damage of the larynx, the gastrointestinal tract, and the upper airway. Alkaline water has the ability to withstand acidic conditions in the body, the formation of carbonic anhydrase, and reepithelization. This study aimed to investigate the effect of alkaline water on the clinical improvement in LPR patients. A randomized control trial with pre-test and post-test control group design on LPR patients aged 18 to 60 y.o.
Background:Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a minimally invasive technique of tumor destruction for patients with hepatic cancer who are not candidates for conventional therapy. The therapy required general anesthesia (GA) or sedation to ensure patient safety and comfort. The study is aimed to report and evaluate factors that influenced the periprocedural anesthetic management, drugs used, and complications during and immediately after RFA procedure for hepatocellular carcinoma.Methods:For this retrospective study, we included 46 patients who underwent percutaneous RFA under GA or conscious sedation from January 2010 to June 2013 in Aga Khan University Hospital, Pakistan. The patients' characteristics, hepatic illness severity (Child-Pugh classification), anesthetic techniques, drugs, and complications of procedure were collected on a predesigned approved form. The data were assessed and summarized using descriptive statistics.Results:The majority of patients were female (57%) and mostly classified as American Society of Anesthesiologist III (65.2%). The preoperative hepatic illness severity in most patients was Child-Pugh Class A (76.10%). Thirty-eight patients (69.09%) had only single lesion and majority number of lesions were <3 cm (65.45). GA was the main anesthetic technique (87%) with laryngeal mask airway as an airway adjunct predominantly (70%). The mainly used anesthetic agents for hypnosis and analgesia were propofol and fentanyl, respectively. Pain was the only significant complaint in postoperative period but only in nine (19%) patients and mild in nature.Conclusions:Percutaneous RFA is a safe treatment of hepatocellular cancer. The procedure required good anesthetic support in the form of sedation-analgesia or complete GA that ensures maximum patient comfort and technical success of the procedure.
Phosphatidylglycerol is an important indicator of fetal lung maturation, which plays a role in stabilizing surfactant lipoprotein complex. Corticosteroid antenatal can stimulate the synthesis of pulmonary surfactant in infants with preterm birth. The objective of this study is to examine the phosphatidylglycerol levels as fetal lung maturation parameter after dexamethasone administration in women with preterm birth compared to L/S ratio parameter. This study was prospective longitudinal (cohort). The samples were pregnant women with preterm birth risk at 28-34 weeks gestation getting the therapy of antenatal dexamethasone 6 mg IM every 12 hours given 4 times in 48 hours. The samples were 17 patients. Determination of L/S ratio and PG levels was performed by ELISA. The study was conducted from May - November 2015 and reviewed to obtain ethics eligibility permit by the research ethic committees of Dr. Soetomo General Hospital. The results show that the mean value of L/S ratio is 2.28 with a range of 1.35 to 9.06 and the mean of PG level is 1.17 with a range from 0 to 3.79. L/S ratio and PG show no significant relationship between the two of them. Increased levels of PG on the gestational age of 28-32 weeks have not demonstrated clinically significant changes yet. The highest PG level occurs in the gestational age of 32-34 weeks.
Fundamental medical care includes intravenous (IV) access which provides prompt resuscitation and reliable delivery of analgesics, antibiotics, and vasoactive medication. Difficult access populations, especially in critical area, continue to challenge providers to consider and utilize alternative means to provide IV access. Potential options under such circumstances include intramuscular, intraosseous, and intratracheal drug administration, but in extreme cases where no other options are available, intra-arterial route might be considered. We present a case where midazolam was intentionally injected intra-arterially to abort seizure activity in a patient with status epilepticus in the Intensive Care Unit.
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