Objective To assess the effectiveness of a novel minimally invasive Achilles tendon suture instrument in the treatment of fresh closed Achilles tendon rupture. Methods A retrospective study was conducted on 150 patients who underwent surgical intervention for fresh closed Achilles tendon rupture. Eighty patients were treated with the novel minimally invasive Achilles tendon suture instrument (minimally invasive group) and 70 patients with traditional open surgery (traditional group). The two groups were comparable in terms of gender, age, injured side, cause of injury, the interval between injury and operation, and the distance from the fracture end to the calcaneal tuberosity (P>0.05). The operation time, intraoperative blood loss, incision length, hospital stays, hospitalization expenses, and complications were recorded and compared. At 1 year after operation, the ankle joint function was evaluated by the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) ankle-hindfoot score. Results The minimally invasive group demonstrated significantly shorter operation time, smaller incision length, and lower intraoperative blood loss when compared with the traditional group (P<0.05). However, there was no significant difference in terms of hospital stays and hospitalization expenses between the two groups (P>0.05). All patients were followed up 12-24 months after operation (mean, 15.5 months). In the traditional group, 6 cases of incision necrosis and 7 cases of Achilles tendon adhesion occurred, while in the minimally invasive group, all incisions healed at first intention and no Achilles tendon adhesion occurred. The differences in the incidences of the two complications between the two groups were significant (P<0.05). At 1 year after operation, the AOFAS ankle-hindfoot score in the minimally invasive group was superior to that of the traditional group (P<0.05). Conclusion In comparison with traditional open surgery, the use of self-designed novel minimally invasive Achilles tendon suture instrument proves to be an ideal technique for treating fresh closed Achilles tendon ruptures. This approach offers the benefits of smaller incisions, fewer complications, and better postoperative functional recovery, without increasing hospital costs.
Objective To explore the timing and safety of limited-period lung cancer surgery in patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Methods Clinical data of of patients infected with COVID-19 undergoing lung cancer surgery (an observation group) in the Department of Thoracic Surgery of Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, the Department of Thoracic Surgery of General Hospital of Southern Theater Command of PLA, and the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Pharmaceutical University from December 2022 to January 2023 were retrospectively analyzed and compared with patients who underwent surgery during the same period but were not infected with COVID-19 (a control group), to explore the impact of COVID-19 infection on lung cancer surgery. Results We finally included 110 patients with 73 patients in the observation group (28 males and 45 females at age of 52.62±12.80 years) and 37 patients in the control group (22 males and 15 females at age of 56.84±11.14 years). The average operation time of the observation group was longer than that of the control group, and the incidence of anhelation was higher than that of the control group (P<0.05). There were no statistcal differences in blood loss, length of hospital stay, moderate or above fever rate, degree of cough and chest pain, or blood routine between the two groups. ConclusionIt is safe and feasible to perform lung cancer surgery early after recovery for COVID-19 patients with lung cancer.
According to the requirements for the “three districts and two channels” in the sanitary industry standard Technique Standard for Isolation in Hospitals, combining with the spirit of current documents related to the prevention and control of coronavirus disease 2019, in order to guide medical institutions at all levels to conduct standardized design of fever clinics in accordance with the principle of “combining normal time and epidemic period”, this article explains the design points of the fever clinics for the prevention and control of coronavirus disease 2019, introduces the specific methods for the fever clinics to achieve “three districts and two channels”, draws a schematic diagram of the fever clinics in general hospitals, and explains the functional layout and medical procedures of the clean area, potential contaminated area, and contaminated area in detail; at the same time, a schematic diagram of the change of fever clinics from “normal” to “during the epidemic” is drawn, and the ideas for the conversion and the process after the conversion are introduced. It proposes design ideas and drawing references for the construction, transformation, and expansion of fever clinics.
Cardiogenic shock (CS) describes a physiological state of end-organ hypoperfusion characterized by reduced cardiac output in the presence of adequate intravascular volume. Mortality still remains exceptionally high. Veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA ECMO) has become the preferred device for short-term hemodynamic support in patients with CS. ECMO provides the highest cardiac output, complete cardiopulmonary support. In addition, the device has portable characteristics, more familiar to medical personnel. VA ECMO provides cardiopulmonary support for patients in profound CS as a bridge to myocardial recovery. This review provides an overview of VA ECMO in salvage of CS, emphasizing the indications, management and further direction.
Objective To explore the vascular access infection (VAI) incidence of hemodialysis patients during the the maximum spread of the COVID-19 epidemic (epidemic period) compared with the corresponding period with no local cases of COVID-19 (control period). Methods A single-center, retrospective study was carried out. Adult patients who underwent hemodialysis at the Department of Blood Purification Center, the Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University during the epidemic period between December 7, 2022 and February 23, 2023 and the control period between December 7, 2020 and February 23, 2021 were selected. The incidence of local access site infection (LASI) and access related bloodstream infection (ARBSI) in included patients were observed and compared. ResultsA total of 1 401 patients were included. Among them, there were 737 cases during the epidemic period and 664 cases during the control period. There was no statistically significant difference in the age, gender, and duration of catheterization among patients of different periods and pathway types (P>0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in the occurrence of LASI between the epidemic period and the control period (χ2=1.800, P=1.180). There was a statistically significant difference in the occurrence of ARBSI between the epidemic period and the control period [χ2=4.610, relative risk (RR)=2.575, 95% confidence interval (CI) (1.053, 6.298), P=0.032]. There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of LASI and ARBSI at different stages in patients with arteriovenous fistula and unnel-cuffed catheters (TCC) (P＞0.05). There were statistically significant differences in the incidence of LASI [χ2=4.898, RR=3.832, 95%CI (1.058, 13.885), P=0.027] and ARBSI [χ2=7.150, RR=4.684, 95%CI (1.333, 16.460), P=0.005] among non cuffed catheters (NCC) patients at different stages. TCC patients might experience LASI (P<0.05) during the epidemic period and ARBSI (P<0.05) during the control period compared with the arteriovenous fistula patients; both central venous catheterization and NCC patients might experience LASI and ARBSI during the control period (P<0.05). Conclusion Targeting COVID-19 prevention may be associated with the reduction of vascular access infection in hemodialysis patients, in particular in NCC patients.
With the change of COVID-19, the prevention and control of COVID-19 infection epidemic entered a new stage in December 2022. How to quickly complete the emergency treatment of a large number of patients in a short period of time, and ensure that patients in emergency department can get rapid and effective medical treatment has always been an urgent problem that emergency department need to solve. The Department of Emergency Medicine of West China Hospital of Sichuan University has adopted patient-oriented management measures based on the core idea of the new public management theory, and has achieved remarkable results. Therefore, this article summarizes the workflow and nursing management strategies of the emergency department rescue area of West China Hospital of Sichuan University in dealing with the batch treatment of COVID-19 infected patients, including optimizing and correcting the environment layout of the ward, implementing the “secondary triage” mode in the rescue area, adding an inter-hospital referral platform for critical patients with COVID-19 emergency, building a conventional COVID-19 reserve material repository in the emergency department, setting up a field office for multi-department joint emergency admission service, optimizing emergency transport services for patients with COVID-19, scientific scheduling and reasonable human resource management, and providing humanistic care for employees, in order to provide reference for the management practice of the emergency department.
ObjectiveTo analyze the clinical characteristics and epidemiological characteristics of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 treated early in Jiangxi province.MethodsFour-night patients with coronavirus disease 2019 treated in this hospital from January 21st to 27th, 2020 were included in this study. The epidemiological and clinical data of patients after admission were collected, and laboratory tests such as blood routine, urine routine, stool routine, liver and kidney function, electrolytes, myocardial enzymes, erythrocyte sedimentation (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), calcitonin, coagulation, T cell subset and Chest CT were reviewed. The clinical results of common and severe/critically ill patients were compared.ResultsOf the 49 patients, 40 were common and 9 were severe/critical. Fourty-six patients had a clear history of contact with Wuhan or other areas of Hubei. The sex ratio was 2.06∶1, and the average age was 42.9 years. The symptoms were mainly fever (78.7%), cough (38.8%), and fatigue (18.4%). 28.6% (14 cases) of patients had hypertension and diabetes. Serum lymphocyte count and calcium concentration of the patients were decreased, but lactate dehydrogenase, ESR, CRP and serum amyloid A were increased in these patients. T lymphocyte subsets (CD3+, CD4+, CD8+) decreased significantly in these patients. Forty-seven patients (95.9%) had single or scattered patchy ground glass density shadows on the chest CT. Compared with common patients, the patients with severe/critical patients were older (P=0.023), hospitalized later (P=0.002), and had higher comorbidities (P=0.017). ESR (P=0.001）, CRP (P=0.010) and the serum amyloid A (P=0.040) increased significantly, while CD3+ (P<0.001), CD4+ (P=0.012), CD8+ (P=0.006) decreased significantly in severe/critical patients.ConclusionsThe patients with coronavirus disease 2019 in Jiangxi province are commonly imported from Wuhan. Severe/critical patients are older, hospitalized later, and have more medical complications and more severe systemic inflammatory reactions than common patients.
Objective To design a new type of three-dimensional honeycomb guide for percutaneous cannulated screw placement in femoral neck fracture and evaluate its effectiveness. Methods The clinical data of 40 patients with femoral neck fracture who met the selection criteria between June 2019 and December 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. According to different intraoperative positioning methods, they were divided into control group (20 cases, free hand positioning screws) and study group (20 cases, new guide assisted positioning screws). There was no significant difference in gender, age, side, cause of injury, Garden classification, and time from injury to operation between the two groups (P>0.05). The operation time, fluoroscopy times, guide needle puncture times, and fracture healing time of the two groups were recorded. The hip function was evaluated by Harris score at last follow-up. At immediate after operation, the following imaging indexes were used to evaluate the accuracy of screw implantation distribution: screw spacing, screw coverage area, distance from screw to cervical cortex, parallelism between screws, and screw to cervical axial deviation. Results All operations were successfully completed, and the guide needle did not penetrate the femoral neck cortex. There was no significant difference in operation time and fluoroscopy times between the two groups (P>0.05); the guide needle puncture times in the study group was significantly less than that in the control group (t=8.209, P=0.000). Imaging detection at immediate after operation showed that the screw spacing and screw coverage area in the study group were significantly greater than those in the control group (P<0.05); the distance from screw to cervical cortex, parallelism between screws, and screw to cervical axial deviation were significantly smaller than those in the control group (P<0.05). All patients were followed up 7-25 months, with an average of 19.3 months. There was no significant difference in follow-up time between the two groups (t=−0.349, P=0.729). There were 2 cases of fracture nonunion in the control group and 1 case in the study group, and the other fractures completely healed. One case of osteonecrosis of the femoral head occurred in the control group. During the follow-up, there was no complication such as vascular and nerve injury, venous thrombosis, screw penetration, withdrawal, breakage, and refracture, etc. There was no significant difference in fracture healing time and Harris score at last follow-up between the two groups (P>0.05). ConclusionThe new three-dimensional honeycomb guide has the advantages of simple structure and convenient use. It can reduce the puncture times of the guide needle and effectively improve the accuracy distribution of cannulated screw implantation.
Objective To evaluate the perioperative safety of lung surgery for patients with corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Methods We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of the patients recovered from COVID-19 infection and received lung surgery from December 2022 to February 2023 in the Department of Thoracic Surgery at Beijing Hospital. Patients who received lung surgery and without COVID-19 at the same time were selected as a control group. Perioperative data between the two groups were compared. Results A total of 103 patients were included with 44 males and 49 females at an average age of (62.2±12.1) years. All surgeries were performed by uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS). Among patients who recovered from COVID-19, 53 (51.5%) received lobectomy, 30 (29.1%) received segmentectomy, and 20 (19.4%) received wedge resection. The interval between diagnosis of infection and lung surgery was ≤1 month in 32 (31.1%) patients, and >1 month in 71 (68.9%) patients. The results of virus nucleic acid test for all patients before surgery were negative. A total of 13 (12.6%) patients had positive IgM, and 100 (97.1%) patients had positive IgG. A total of 20 patients experienced perioperative complications (13 patients with pulmonary air leakage, 3 patients with chylothorax, 2 patients with atrial fibrillation, and 2 patients with severe pulmonary complications). There was one perioperative death. Comparing the patients who recovered from COVID-19 with those without COVID-19, we found no statistical difference in perioperative outcomes including surgical duration, postoperative drainage, duration of thoracic tube, and duration of postoperative stay (P>0.05). There was no significant difference in perioperative complications between the two groups (P>0.05). Multivariable logistical regression analysis demonstrated that positive IgM before surgery (OR=7.319, 95%CI 1.669 to 32.103, P=0.008), and longer duration of surgery (OR=1.016, 95%CI 1.003 to 1.028, P=0.013) were independent risk factors of perioperative complications for patients who recovered from COVID-19. Conclusion It is safe for patients recover from COVID-19 to receive lung surgery when symptoms disappear and the nucleic acid test turn negative. However, positive COVID-19 IgM is an independent risk factor for perioperative complications. We suggest that lung surgery could be performed when the nucleic acid test and COVID-19 IgM are both negative for patients recover from COVID-19 infection.
Assembling medical aid teams (MATs) from the provinces outside Hubei was an important China-specific approach to dealing with public health emergencies during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Hubei. In integrally taking over the COVID-19 intensive care wards in Wuhan, the Joint 7th and 8th Sichuan COVID-19 MATs applied the methods of modern hospital management to complete the medical task, concerning four key points as guidance by the Communist Party of China, system and regulation establishment, organization construction, and discipline persistence. This paper makes a theoretical summary on the basic management of the Joint 7th and 8th Sichuan COVID-19 MATs, and it is hoped that more COVID-19 MATs could summarize and share their successful management experiences in order to enrich and improve the management theory of MAT.