Open Access DOI:10.23937/2377-4630/1006

Preemptive Analgesia of Ultrasound - Guided Transversus Abdominis Plane Block Compared with Deep Wound Infiltration in Patients Undergoing Urological Surgery

Karim Omar Elsaeed and Hoda Shokri

Article Type: Case Report | First Published: September 18, 2014

Background: Transversus abdominus plane (TAP) block is suitable for unilateral urologic surgeries. Blind TAP block has many complications and uncertainty of its effects. Use of ultrasonography increases the safety and efficacy. This study was conducted to evaluate the analgesic efficacy of ultrasound (USG) guided TAP block compared with wound infiltration with bupivacaine (0.25%) in patients undergoing urologic surgeries. Methods: In a prospective study, 40 patients undergoing elective unilate...

 Open Access DOI:10.23937/2377-9004/1410001

Outcome of Labor in Twin Gestation at a Tertiary Institution in a Developing Nation: A 15-Year Review

Rose Anorlu and Olukayode Akinlaja

Article Type: Review Article | First Published: September 19, 2014

Objective: To describe our experience with twin gestation in a developing nation tertiary institution. Method: All cases of twin gestation at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital over a 15-year period were retrospectively reviewed. Results: There were 642 twin births out of a total of 28,472 deliveries, a ratio of 1:44. Peak age at occurrence was 28 with only 6% (39) being grand multipara. 66.4% (426) delivered preterm at about 36 weeks and 74.5% (478) had the leading twin in cephalic pres...

 Open Access DOI:10.23937/2378-3516/1410003

Functional Characteristics of COPD Patients Admitted for Acute Pulmonary Embolism

Rodriguez DA, Orozco-Levi M, Miranda F, Mayoral A, Clements JA, Martinez-Llorens J, Ventin C, Bruguera J, Gea J and Molina LL

Article Type: Research Article | First Published: September 10, 2014

Introduction: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a known risk factor for pulmonary embolism (PE); however, neither the clinical nor the pulmonary function characteristics are well described in COPD patients admitted for PE. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 395 patients admitted for acute PE in a tertiary hospital setting. In COPD patients, clinical characteristics and pulmonary function were compared between the survivor and non-survivor groups during a 3-month ...

 Open Access DOI:10.23937/2378-3001/1/1/1001

Deep Brain Stimulation Frequency Modulation in Parkinson Disease - One Size May Not Fit All

Ritesh A. Ramdhani

Article Type: Editorial | First Published: September 11, 2014

Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) is an effective therapeutic modality for patients with Parkinson's Disease who have developed complications from longstanding levodopa such as dyskinesias and motor fluctuations. It produces robust responses to segmental symptoms (ie, bradykinesia, tremor, rigidity) while attenuating involuntary dyskinetic movements and smoothing out 'on' and 'off' period cycling. The subthalamic nucleus and the globus pallidus internaare widely accepted surgical targets for stimulat...

 Open Access DOI:10.23937/2378-3419/1/1/1003

Is Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation Still an Option for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia in the Era of BTK Inhibition?

Josh D. Simmons and Jeremy Pantin

Article Type: Editorial | First Published: September 08, 2014

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) remains the most common adult leukemia in Western countries. Over the last several decades, there has been an evolution in therapeutic options from single-agent alkylating agents to purine analog-containing regimens, as well as chemo-immunotherapy combinations. Despite the high initial response rates reported with conventional chemo-immunotherapy, patients invariably relapse and may subsequently develop resistance to further conventional therapy.Unfortunately, ...

 Open Access DOI:10.23937/2378-3419/1/1/1002

Isnt it the Timing for Physics Guidelines on High Dose Rate (HDR) Brachytherapy for Localized Prostate Cancer?

Yongbok Kim

Article Type: Editorial | First Published: August 23, 2014

Prostate cancer has been known as the most frequently occurring (233,000 estimated new cases in 2014) and the secondly death-causing (29,480 estimated deaths in 2014) for men in the United States of America. Based on the extension of tumor, prostate cancer is staged in the Tumor-Node-Metastasis (TNM) scoring system. Depending upon clinical TNM staging, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level (ng/mL) and pathologic biopsy denoted as Gleason sum score (GSS), localized prostate cancer patients are ca...

 Open Access DOI:10.23937/2378-3397/1410003

Surgical nurses Neglect of Research Utilization and Implementation of Evidence-based Knowledge to Improve Patient Care: Euphemism Barriers or lack of Abilities?

Connie Bottcher Berthelsen

Article Type: Editorial | First Published: September 11, 2014

The call for evidence-based knowledge (EBK) in clinical nursing practice has increased during recent decades. EBK is needed to improve patients' conditions, care and convalescence. However, a multitude of survey studies show that surgical nurses claim to be obstructed by multiple (and questionable) barriers in their efforts to derive and implement EBK in patient care. As a result, patients are being denied the best possible nursing care. We appear to have a problem on our hands the size of the G...

 Open Access DOI:10.23937/2378-3397/1410002

Single-Incision Laparoscopic Morgagni Hernia Repair in an Adult

Sharon Monsivais, Nicole E. Sharp, Hannah Vassaur and F. Paul Buckley

Article Type: Case Report | First Published: September 07, 2014

Introduction: This is a case report of a single-incision laparoscopic Morgagni hernia repair. We discuss our initial experience with this technique. Case Description: A 63-year-old man elected to undergo a single incision laparoscopic Morgagni hernia repairs after diagnostic imaging showed a large fat containing right diaphragmatic hernia. The patient's only preoperative symptom was periodic right sided chest pain....

 Open Access DOI:10.23937/2378-3397/1410001

Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells and Heart Failure Therapy

Hongran Wang

Article Type: Editorial | First Published: August 23, 2014

Heart failure is a major public health concern worldwide, and coronary artery disease in particular is the leading cause of death in developed countries. Percutaneous coronary interventions can effectively treat coronary artery disease, but the management of ventricular remodeling and chronic ischemic cardiomyopathy after Myocardial Infarction (MI) remains a challenge. The human heart has very limited regenerative capacity, which is insufficient to replace the cells lost after MI. Stem cell ther...

 Open Access DOI:10.23937/2378-3664/1410001

Boron Neutron Capture Therapy of Cancer as a Part of Modern Nanomedicine

Alexander V. Safronov

Article Type: Editorial | First Published: August 16, 2014

Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) is a method of cancer therapy with a simple idea behind it. Positioning a certain amount of 10B-enriched boron-containing compounds into tumor cells with subsequent irradiation of the tumor tissue by thermal or epithermal neutrons causes tumor damage and death. The mechanism of the tumor cell damage during BNCT is based on the capture-fission reaction between the boron-10 nucleus and a neutron resulting in an α-particle release inside the cell. A success...