12 research outputs found
Separator fluid volume requirements in multi-infusion settings
INTRODUCTION. Intravenous (IV) therapy is a widely used method for the administration of medication in hospitals worldwide. ICU and surgical patients in particular often require multiple IV catheters due to incompatibility of certain drugs and the high complexity of medical therapy. This increases discomfort by painful invasive procedures, the risk of infections and costs of medication and disposable considerably. When different drugs are administered through the same lumen, it is common ICU practice to flush with a neutral fluid between the administration of two incompatible drugs in order to optimally use infusion lumens. An important constraint for delivering multiple incompatible drugs is the volume of separator fluid that is sufficient to safely separate them. OBJECTIVES. In this pilot study we investigated whether the choice of separator fluid, solvent, or administration rate affects the separator volume required in a typical ICU infusion setting. METHODS. A standard ICU IV line (2m, 2ml, 1mm internal diameter) was filled with methylene blue (40 mg/l) solution and flushed using an infusion pump with separator fluid. Independent variables were solvent for methylene blue (NaCl 0.9% vs. glucose 5%), separator fluid (NaCl 0.9% vs. glucose 5%), and administration rate (50, 100, or 200 ml/h). Samples were collected using a fraction collector until <2% of the original drug concentration remained and were analyzed using spectrophotometry. RESULTS. We did not find a significant effect of administration rate on separator fluid volume. However, NaCl/G5% (solvent/separator fluid) required significantly less separator fluid than NaCl/NaCl (3.6 ± 0.1 ml vs. 3.9 ± 0.1 ml, p <0.05). Also, G5%/G5% required significantly less separator fluid than NaCl/NaCl (3.6 ± 0.1 ml vs. 3.9 ± 0.1 ml, p <0.05). The significant decrease in required flushing volume might be due to differences in the viscosity of the solutions. However, mean differences were small and were most likely caused by human interactions with the fluid collection setup. The average required flushing volume is 3.7 ml. CONCLUSIONS. The choice of separator fluid, solvent or administration rate had no impact on the required flushing volume in the experiment. Future research should take IV line length, diameter, volume and also drug solution volumes into account in order to provide a full account of variables affecting the required separator fluid volume
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ESICM LIVES 2017 : 30th ESICM Annual Congress. September 23-27, 2017.
INTRODUCTION. Unplanned readmission to intensive care is highly
undesirable in that it contributes to increased variance in care,
disruption, difficulty in resource allocation and may increase length
of stay and mortality particularly if subject to delays. Unlike the ICU
admission from the ward, readmission prediction has received
relatively little attention, perhaps in part because at the point of ICU
discharge, full physiological information is systematically available to
the clinician and so it is expected that readmission should be largely
due to unpredictable factors. However it may be that there are
multidimensional trends that are difficult for the clinician to perceive
that may nevertheless be predictive of readmission.
OBJECTIVES. We investigated whether machine learning (ML)
techniques could be used to improve on the simple published SWIFT
score [1] for the prediction of unplanned readmission to ICU within
48 hours.
METHODS. We extracted systolic BP, pulse pressure, heart and
respiration rate, temperature, SpO2, bilirubin, creatinine, INR, lactate,
white cell count, platelet count, pH, FiO2, and total Glasgow Coma
Score from ICU stays of over 2000 adult patients from our hospital
electronic patient record system. We trained our own custom
multidimensional / time-sensitive algorithmic ML system to predict
failed discharges defined as either readmission or unexpected death
within 48 hours of discharge. We used 10-fold cross validation to assess performance. We also assessed the effect of augmenting our
system by transfer learning (TL) with 44,000 additional cases from
the MIMIC III database.
RESULTS. The SWIFT score performed relatively poorly with an
AUROC of around 0.6 which our ML system trained on local data was
also able to match. However when augmented with an additional
dataset by TL, the AUROC for the ML system improved statistically
and clinically significantly to over 0.7.
CONCLUSIONS. Machine learning is able to improve on predictors
based on simple multiple logistic regression. Thus there is likely to
be information in the trends and in combinations of variables. A
disadvantage with this technique is that ML approaches require large
amounts of data for training. However, ML approaches can be
improved by TL. Basing prediction models on locally derived data
augmented by TL is a potentially novel approach to generating tools
that customised to the institution yet can exploit the potential power
of ML algorithms.
REFERENCES
[1] Gajic O, Malinchoc M, Comfere TB, et al. The Stability and
Workload Index for Transfer score predicts unplanned intensive care
unit patient readmission: initial development and validation. Crit Care
Med. 2008;36(3):676–82.
Grant Acknowledgement
This work was internally funded
Factors Influencing Customer Satisfaction towards E-shopping in Malaysia
Online shopping or e-shopping has changed the world of business and quite a few people have
decided to work with these features. What their primary concerns precisely and the responses from
the globalisation are the competency of incorporation while doing their businesses. E-shopping has
also increased substantially in Malaysia in recent years. The rapid increase in the e-commerce
industry in Malaysia has created the demand to emphasize on how to increase customer satisfaction
while operating in the e-retailing environment. It is very important that customers are satisfied with
the website, or else, they would not return. Therefore, a crucial fact to look into is that companies
must ensure that their customers are satisfied with their purchases that are really essential from the ecommerce’s
point of view. With is in mind, this study aimed at investigating customer satisfaction
towards e-shopping in Malaysia. A total of 400 questionnaires were distributed among students
randomly selected from various public and private universities located within Klang valley area.
Total 369 questionnaires were returned, out of which 341 questionnaires were found usable for
further analysis. Finally, SEM was employed to test the hypotheses. This study found that customer
satisfaction towards e-shopping in Malaysia is to a great extent influenced by ease of use, trust,
design of the website, online security and e-service quality. Finally, recommendations and future
study direction is provided.
Keywords: E-shopping, Customer satisfaction, Trust, Online security, E-service quality, Malaysia
P14.01 An example of too much too soon? A review of caesarean sections performed in the first stage of labour in Kenya
Objective:
Caesarean Section (CS) has potential short and long-term complications and is associated with excess maternal death. Decisions to perform (CS) are frequently made by inexperienced and unsupported non-specialist doctors, sometimes resulting in inappropriate decision-making and surgery. Our study assesses decision-making for CS in the first stage of labour in Kenya.
Method:
A panel of one UK and six Kenyan expert obstetricians reviewed clinical data extracted from 87 case-notes, that were randomly selected from a series obtained from seven referral hospitals in five Kenyan counties over six months in 2020. Following a preliminary review of the data and email discussion, an online panel was convened to discuss outstanding cases where consensus was yet to be reached. Agreement was reached by the panel in all but 5 cases.
Results:
In 41.3% cases, CS was considered appropriate, including 8% where CS was performed too late. The decision to delivery interval exceeded 2 h in 58.6% cases, including 16 cases of non-reassuring fetal status. In 10.3% it was considered that due to delay, further reassessment should have occurred. In 9.1% the CS was done too soon. There was insufficient information available to make a full assessment in 21.8% of cases. In 11.5% the CS was inappropriate.
Conclusion:
This review demonstrates that unnecessary caesarean sections are being performed, while some with appropriate indications are subject to delays. There is need for improved support for decision-making, coupled with improved record-keeping, improved quality of fetal monitoring during labour and more timely surgery when necessary
P14.02 An electronic behaviour diary: Monitoring the effects of advanced obstetric surgical skills training
Objective:
Training should lead to improvements in the quality of clinical care delivery. It is essential to follow up participants after a training intervention to monitor changes in behaviour associated with adoption of lessons learned into clinical practice. We introduced an electronic diary to facilitate monitoring whilst minimising effort for participants.
Method:
An electronic diary was created using a freely available on-line platform. Following a training intervention on advanced obstetric surgical skills, obstetric residents from Kenya were invited to pilot completing the diary after their labour ward shifts. Entries were anonymised. Participants were asked to enumerate the times they utilised specific skills, or to state why they had been unable to do so, using tick box options. Reflections on skills used were entered using free comments.
Results:
All participants reported changed behaviours, for example, improved surgical knot-tying, safer needle handling, separate closure of uterine incision angles and techniques for delivery of the impacted fetal head. 6 reported conducting vaginal breech birth and 6 performed vacuum-assisted birth. All reported improvements in use of the safe surgical checklist, obtaining consent and respectful maternity care. 7 had participated in newborn resuscitation. Reflections suggested participants experienced improved levels of confidence and satisfaction when implementing new skills.
Conclusion:
This pilot study has demonstrated the feasibility of monitoring clinical behaviour change following training using an electronic platform. Monitoring the effect of training is essential to prove that training results in improvements to clinical practice. We plan to roll out this intervention following future training interventions
P04.41 Exploring reasons for and outcomes of second stage caesarean section and assisted vaginal birth in selected hospitals in Kenya
Objective:
Obstetric vacuum devices for assisted vaginal birth (AVB) can avoid the need for unnecessary second-stage caesarean sections (SSCS), associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Despite emergency obstetric training since 2019, AVB was rarely performed. This study sought to better understand missed opportunities and reasons for non-performance of AVB in Kenya.
Method:
A mixed-methods design incorporated a review of randomly selected SSCS and AVB case notes, and key informant interviews with healthcare providers, from 8 purposively selected, high-volume hospitals in Kenya. The reviews were carried out by four experienced obstetricians (3 Kenyan, 1 British). The interviews were semi-structured and conducted online and analysed using a thematic approach.
Results:
Six AVB and 66 SSCS cases were reviewed. Nine percent of SSCS could have been AVB, and 58% reviewers were unable to determine appropriateness due to poor record keeping. Perinatal mortality was 9%, and 11% of infants and 9% of mothers experienced complications following SSCS. Twenty interviews, with obstetricians, midwives and medical officers, explored themes of previous experience, confidence, and adequacy of training relating to AVB. Reasons for non-performance included lack of equipment and staff.
Conclusion:
Increases in appropriate use of AVB could save the lives of infants and mothers and reduce ongoing morbidity. In order to achieve this, the varied reasons for non-performance of AVB need to be systematically addressed at local, regional and national levels
Перспективы развития фундаментальных наук: сборник научных трудов XII Международной конференция студентов и молодых ученых, г. Томск, 21-24 апреля 2015 г.
Сборник содержит труды участников XII Международной конференции студентов и молодых учёных «Перспективы развития фундаментальных наук». Включает доклады студентов и молодых ученых, представленные на секциях «Физика», «Химия», «Математика», «Биология и медицина», «Наноматериалы и нанотехнологии», «Технология», «Конкурс архитектурных работ», «IT- технологии и электроника». Предназначен для студентов, аспирантов, молодых ученых, преподавателей в области естественных наук и высшей математики