Design and Analytical Evaluation of a Swirler-Injector System

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Laparoscopic Transumbilical Appendectomy in Nonperforated Appendicitis in Pediatric Age Group

Introduction: Laparoscopic appendectomy has recently been trended to be performed by using a less trocar technique. In children, appendectomy is performed more by open approach; so this study was designed to compare benefits of non-invasive laparoscopic appendectomy with usual open technique. Materials and Methods: After obtaining institutional review board approval, from 2015 to 2018, 73 children with acute, nonperforated appendicitis were treated by single-incision laparoscopic or open approach. The patients were randomized to two treatment groups: 36 patients underwent open operation, and 37 by laparoscopic approach via single-incision in umbilicus. 3 cases of laparoscopic approach were converted to open surgery and removed from the study. In patient selection, cases of complicated appendicitis confirmed by imaging modalities were excluded. The outcomes were investigated in both groups by length of operation, duration of hospital stay, presence of postoperative fever, wound infection, ileus after operation, and pelvic abscess after surgery.  Results: 73 appendectomies were carried out totally by single surgeon, 37 were single-incision laparoscopy and 36 underwent open procedure. Total anesthesia time and duration of operation showed significantly longer in the laparoscopic group. On the other hand, time to tolerate liquid diet was significantly shorter in the laparoscopic group. The duration of hospital stay showed similar duration in both groups. No mortality occurred in the study. Overall complications demonstrated no significant difference between two groups. Also there was no difference in infectious complications between the laparoscopic group and the open group Conclusion: Our study suggests that Assisted Transumbilical laparoscopic appendectomy is a reasonable alternative to open surgery for appendicitis in acute none ruptured condition. All analyzed complications were similar between the groups, suggesting that Assisted Transumbilical laparoscopic appendectomy is a suitable ingrained method in pediatric cases with appendiciti

Preparation and Designing a Checklist for Health Care Marketing Mix, with Medical Tourism Approach

Introduction: Increasing pressure on available funds in health care section especially hospitals, enhances the need of analyzing different strategies in economic terms. One of the solutions for the optimal use of financial resources and potentials in hospitals and health care centers is using elements of the marketing mix. In this way we could make the best use of the resources and cause a return on investment and also generate income.    Methods: This is a cross-sectional and qualitative study. To prepare checklists, author used previous studies in marketing by referring to relevant web sites and designed the first draft. In next step, Delphi’s technique was used for validity check; the checklist was sent to health care management specialists who had studied in medical tourist fields or those who lived in cities active in this field. Results: the final checklist included 8 aspects (mixes) and 79 indexes in which Product Mix had 11 indexes, Place Mix had 3 indexes, Promotion Mix had 13 indexes, Price Mix had 9 indexes, Personnel Mix had 12 indexes, Promotion Mix had 6 indexes, Physical attraction Mix had 19 indexes and Physician Mix had 6 indexes. Conclusion: this instrument could be used in various studies that could help asses' health care units state specially hospitals so that alternatives could be considered for improvable points and make maximum use of the potentials

Modeling national innovation system enabled by knowledge management

The main objective of this paper is to explore the model of how knowledge management functions enables national innovation system. To achieve the objectives of the study, a conceptual framework is proposed and described, then the systemic analysis is undertaken. Path coefficient and t-value are also used to measure the relationships among chosen variables. A great number of sources are used to collect data, including questionnaires, interviews, observations, and literature review. The achievements of the study demonstrate 10 distinctive national innovation system performance dimensions and the relationship with knowledge management functions. The first layer includes explicit knowledge, while the second layer deals with tacit knowledge. Both of two layers link to a complete knowledge management functions and processes: explicit knowledge building, explicit knowledge gathering, explicit knowledge distributing, explicit knowledge reusing, tacit knowledge capturing, tacit knowledge sharing tacit knowledge disseminating, tacit knowledge innovating; whereas the third layer includes NIS enablers items or performance dimension of national innovation system: quality, effectiveness, quantity, codification, structure, efficiency, internalization, expertise, effectiveness

Indications for Corneal Transplantation at a Tertiary Referral Center in Tehran

Purpose: To report the indications and techniques of corneal transplantation at a tertiary referral center in Tehran over a 3-year period. Methods: Records of patients who had undergone any kind of corneal transplantation at Labbafinejad Medical Center, Tehran, Iran from March 2004 to March 2007 were reviewed to determine the indications and types of corneal transplantation. Results: During this period, 776 eyes of 756 patients (including 504 male subjects) with mean age of 41.3±21.3 years underwent corneal transplantation. The most common indication was keratoconus (n=317, 40.8%) followed by bullous keratopathy (n=90, 11.6%), non-herpetic corneal scars (n=62, 8.0%), infectious corneal ulcers (n=61, 7.9%), previously failed grafts (n=61, 7.9%), endothelial and stromal corneal dystrophies (n=28, 3.6%), and trachoma keratopathy (n=26, 3.3%). Other indications including Terrien′s marginal degeneration, post-LASIK keratectasia, trauma, chemical burns, and peripheral ulcerative keratitis constituted the rest of cases. Techniques of corneal transplantation included penetrating keratoplasty (n=607, 78.2%), deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (n=108, 13.9%), conventional lamellar keratoplasty (n=44, 5.7%), automated lamellar therapeutic keratoplasty (n=8, 1.0%), and Descemet stripping endothelial keratoplasty (n=6, 0.8%) in descending order. The remaining cases were endothelial keratoplasty and sclerokeratoplasty. Conclusion: In this study, keratoconus was the most common indication for penetrating keratoplasty which was the most prevalent technique of corneal transplantation. However, deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty is emerging as a growing alternative for corneal pathologies not involving the endothelium

Is Opium a Real Risk Factor for Esophageal Cancer or Just a Methodological Artifact? Hospital and Neighborhood Controls in Case-Control Studies

Background: Control selection is a major challenge in epidemiologic case-control studies. The aim of our study was to evaluate using hospital versus neighborhood control groups in studying risk factors of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Methodology/Principal Findings: We compared the results of two different case-control studies of ESCC conducted in the same region by a single research group. Case definition and enrollment were the same in the two studies, but control selection differed. In the first study, we selected two age- and sex-matched controls from inpatient subjects in hospitals, while for the second we selected two age- and sex-matched controls from each subject's neighborhood of residence. We used the test of heterogeneity to compare the results of the two studies. We found no significant differences in exposure data for tobacco-related variables such as cigarette smoking, chewing Nass (a tobacco product) and hookah (water pipe) usage, but the frequency of opium usage was significantly different between hospital and neighborhood controls. Consequently, the inference drawn for the association between ESCC and tobacco use did not differ between the studies, but it did for opium use. In the study using neighborhood controls, opium use was associated with a significantly increased risk of ESCC (adjusted OR 1.77, 95% CI 1.17–2.68), while in the study using hospital controls, this was not the case (OR 1.09, 95% CI 0.63–1.87). Comparing the prevalence of opium consumption in the two control groups and a cohort enrolled from the same geographic area suggested that the neighborhood controls were more representative of the study base population for this exposure. Conclusions/Significance: Hospital and neighborhood controls did not lead us to the same conclusion for a major hypothesized risk factor for ESCC in this population. Our results show that control group selection is critical in drawing appropriate conclusions in observational studies

Long and Short-term Metformin Consumption as a Potential Therapy to Prevent Complications of COVID-19

Purpose: The aim of the study is to evaluate the effect of metformin in complication improvement of hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Methods: This was a randomized clinical trial that involved 189 patients with confirmed COVID-19 infection. Patients in the intervention group received metformin-500 mg twice daily. Patients who received metformin before admission were excluded from the control group. Patients who were discharged before taking at least 2000 mg of metformin were excluded from the study. Primary outcomes were vital signs, need for ICU admission, need for intubation, and mortality. Results: Data showed that patients with diabetes with previous metformin in their regimen had lower percentages of ICU admission and death in comparison with patients without diabetes (11.3% vs. 26.1% (P=0.014) and 4.9% vs. 23.9% (P≤0.001), respectively). Admission time characteristics were the same for both groups except for diabetes and hyperlipidemia, which were significantly different between the two groups. Observations of naproxen consumption on endpoints, duration of hospitalization, and the levels of spO2 did not show any significant differences between the intervention and the control group. The adjusted OR for intubation in the intervention group versus the control group was 0.21 [95% CI, 0.04-0.99 (P=0.047)]. Conclusion: In this trial, metformin consumption had no effect on mortality and ICU admission rates in non-diabetic patients. However, metformin improved COVID-19 complications in diabetic patients who had been receiving metformin prior to COVID-19 infection, and it significantly lowered the intubation rates

Effect of Intermediate-Dose vs Standard-Dose Prophylactic Anticoagulation on Thrombotic Events, Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Treatment, or Mortality among Patients with COVID-19 Admitted to the Intensive Care Unit: The INSPIRATION Randomized Clinical Trial

Importance: Thrombotic events are commonly reported in critically ill patients with COVID-19. Limited data exist to guide the intensity of antithrombotic prophylaxis. Objective: To evaluate the effects of intermediate-dose vs standard-dose prophylactic anticoagulation among patients with COVID-19 admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). Design, Setting, and Participants: Multicenter randomized trial with a 2 � 2 factorial design performed in 10 academic centers in Iran comparing intermediate-dose vs standard-dose prophylactic anticoagulation (first hypothesis) and statin therapy vs matching placebo (second hypothesis; not reported in this article) among adult patients admitted to the ICU with COVID-19. Patients were recruited between July 29, 2020, and November 19, 2020. The final follow-up date for the 30-day primary outcome was December 19, 2020. Interventions: Intermediate-dose (enoxaparin, 1 mg/kg daily) (n = 276) vs standard prophylactic anticoagulation (enoxaparin, 40 mg daily) (n = 286), with modification according to body weight and creatinine clearance. The assigned treatments were planned to be continued until completion of 30-day follow-up. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary efficacy outcome was a composite of venous or arterial thrombosis, treatment with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or mortality within 30 days, assessed in randomized patients who met the eligibility criteria and received at least 1 dose of the assigned treatment. Prespecified safety outcomes included major bleeding according to the Bleeding Academic Research Consortium (type 3 or 5 definition), powered for noninferiority (a noninferiority margin of 1.8 based on odds ratio), and severe thrombocytopenia (platelet count <20 �103/µL). All outcomes were blindly adjudicated. Results: Among 600 randomized patients, 562 (93.7) were included in the primary analysis (median interquartile range age, 62 50-71 years; 237 42.2% women). The primary efficacy outcome occurred in 126 patients (45.7%) in the intermediate-dose group and 126 patients (44.1%) in the standard-dose prophylaxis group (absolute risk difference, 1.5% 95% CI,-6.6% to 9.8%; odds ratio, 1.06 95% CI, 0.76-1.48; P =.70). Major bleeding occurred in 7 patients (2.5%) in the intermediate-dose group and 4 patients (1.4%) in the standard-dose prophylaxis group (risk difference, 1.1% 1-sided 97.5% CI,-� to 3.4%; odds ratio, 1.83 1-sided 97.5% CI, 0.00-5.93), not meeting the noninferiority criteria (P for noninferiority >.99). Severe thrombocytopenia occurred only in patients assigned to the intermediate-dose group (6 vs 0 patients; risk difference, 2.2% 95% CI, 0.4%-3.8%; P =.01). Conclusions and Relevance: Among patients admitted to the ICU with COVID-19, intermediate-dose prophylactic anticoagulation, compared with standard-dose prophylactic anticoagulation, did not result in a significant difference in the primary outcome of a composite of adjudicated venous or arterial thrombosis, treatment with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or mortality within 30 days. These results do not support the routine empirical use of intermediate-dose prophylactic anticoagulation in unselected patients admitted to the ICU with COVID-19. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04486508. © 2021 American Medical Association. All rights reserved