The rapid increase in the number of new laboratory methods has led to the necessity of reliable verification methods. Validation of a new measurement method for application to medical practice requires comparison with gold standard techniques. The Bland-Altman analysis is a frequently applied technique in studies that investigate the agreement between two methods of the same medical measurement. In this review, potential areas of usage of Bland-Altman analysis is elaborated from a clinical viewpoint, and possible pitfalls in study designs are discussed in statistical perspective.

ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to compare the performance of the Glasgow‐Blatchford and the AIMS65 scoring systems as early risk assessment tools for accurately identifying patients with upper gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding who are at a low risk of requiring clinical interventions, including emergency endoscopy. The secondary objective was to compare their performance regarding relevant clinical outcomes.MethodsData were collected prospectively over a 2‐year period in the emergency department of a university hospital. Adult patients with upper GI bleeding from either variceal or nonvariceal sources were included. Composite clinical outcomes consisted of a need for surgical or endoscopic intervention, rebleeding, intensive care unit admission, or in‐hospital mortality. Patients who required blood transfusions or suffered composite clinical outcomes were considered high‐risk patients. Glasgow‐Blatchford score (GBS) and AIMS65 score were calculated for each patient. The sensitivity and specificity of the scoring systems were calculated. The areas under the receiver‐operating characteristic curve (AUC) of the scores were compared.ResultsThere were 254 patients in the study, of whom 163 (64.2%) were men. The median age was 61 years (interquartile range = 45 to 72 years). Among the patients, 211 (83.1%) underwent endoscopy, of whom 49 (19.3%) required endoscopic intervention to achieve hemostasis. Five (2%) patients required surgical intervention. Rebleeding was observed in 33 (13%) patients. A total of 143 (56.3%) patients received blood transfusions. A total of 152 (59.8%) were defined as high risk. Eighty‐one (31.9%) experienced at least one component of the composite clinical outcomes, 18 (7.1%) of whom suffered in‐hospital mortality. A GBS of 0 was observed in 16 patients (6.3%) in the study group. Two of these were high‐risk patients. A total of 101 (39.8%) patients had AIMS65 scores of 0. Thirty‐four of these were high‐risk patients. A GBS of 0 had higher sensitivity than an AIMS65 score of 0 (98.68% vs. 77.6%). The negative predictive values of the GBS and AIMS65 of 0 were 87.5 and 66.3%, respectively. The GBS and AIMS65 were similar with regard to the composite outcome prediction, with AUCs of 0.795 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.74 to 0.843) and 0.746 (95% CI = 0.688 to 0.798), respectively (p = 0.137). The scores were also similar with respect to predicting in‐hospital mortality (AUCs of 0.85 vs. 0.81; p = 0.342). The GBS was superior to the AIMS65 in identifying high‐risk patients, with AUCs of 0.896 (95% CI = 0.85 to 0.93) and 0.771 (95% CI = 0.714 to 0.821; p < 0.001), respectively. The GBS was also more accurate than the AIM65 in predicting the need for blood transfusions (AUCs of 0.904 vs. 0.796; p < 0.001) and interventions (AUCs of 0.727 vs. 0.647; p = 0.05).ConclusionsThese results suggest that the GBS has superior sensitivity relative to the AIMS65 in identifying patients who were not likely to require interventions, including emergency endoscopy. Additional work to determine the use in real‐time decision making may be warranted and helpful in providing guidance to clinicians.

ObjectiveThis study was performed to identify risk factors for acute cellular rejection after liver transplantation (LT).MethodsConsecutive LT recipients who underwent surgery in our institution from 2002 to 2015 were retrospectively evaluated.ResultsIn total, 176 patients were eligible for statistical analysis. During a mean observation period of 61.1 ± 36.3 months, 43 episodes of acute rejection were evident. Of these, 34 (79.0%) were responsive to methylprednisolone, 3 (7.0%) were treated by adjusting the dosage of immunosuppressive agents, and 6 (14.0%) were methylprednisolone-resistant and treated using anti-thymocyte globulin. Biliary complications (odds ratio [OR] = 4.89, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.00–11.98); donor-negative, recipient-positive CMV mismatch (OR = 9.88, 95% CI = 1.18–82.36); sex mismatch (OR = 3.16, 95% CI = 1.31–8.10); and sex mismatch with a female donor (OR = 3.00, 95% CI = 1.10–7.58) were identified as significant risk factors for acute graft rejection after LT.ConclusionIn patients who develop acute cellular rejection after LT, biliary complications should be evaluated as a potential cause. Most acute rejections after LT respond to bolus corticosteroid therapy.

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Single injection volar digital nerve block technique is a suitable alternative for digital anesthesias in emergency departments.

Objective: Appropriate treatment for scorpion-associated pain was not previously studied in detail in the literature. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of three treatment modalities in patients with painful scorpion stings using visual analog scale (VAS) scores. Materials and Methods: A randomized study was carried out during a 1-year period in patients with scorpion stings who did not have any systemic signs or symptoms. Patients were treated with intravenous paracetamol, topical lidocaine, or ice application. Pain intensity was evaluated using VAS score at the time of presentation to emergency department and at 30th, 60th, 120th, and 240th minutes. Changes in VAS scores from baseline were recorded. Results: A total of 130 patients were included in the statistical analysis. Significant reduction in pain intensity was observed with topical lidocaine group when compared with the ice application group ( p < 0.001) and paracetamol group ( p < 0.001) in all selected time intervals. The median reduction in scores at 30 min after therapeutic intervention was 25.0 mm for topical lidocaine, 14.5 mm for ice application, and 10.0 mm for intravenous paracetamol. No adverse events were reported. Discussion: Our results revealed that topical lidocaine is superior to both intravenous paracetamol and local ice application and its effect lasts several hours after envenomation. conclusion: Topical lidocaine is an effective and safe treatment in scorpion sting associated with pain in patients with nonsystemic signs and symptoms.

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