Herbal medicine use by surgery patients in Hungary: a descriptive study

BACKGROUND: The popularity of non-conventional treatments, especially the consumption of herbs is showing an increasing tendency all over the world. The consumption of herbal medicines might cause several complications during perioperative care. METHODS: The survey was conducted at the First Department of Surgery of Semmelweis University and focused on the demographics of patients consuming herbal medicines who had undergone elective surgery between July 1(st) 2014 and February 28(th) 2015. A one-page questionnaire, that the patients filled in individually and anonymously, was used. The response rate was 17.3 %. RESULTS: Out of the 390 patients who filled in the questionnaire, 7.2 % (28 patients) used herbal medicines, 3.6 % (14 patients) of them two weeks prior to their hospitalization. The other 3.6 % (14 patients) took herbal medicines sometime in the past. The majority of those who have ever consumed herbs are women (18/28), have completed secondary or tertiary education (23/28), more than half of them suffer from tumorous diseases and only a quarter of them (7/28) informed their physician about their use of herbal medication of their own accord. CONCLUSIONS: Attention must be paid to the exploration of herb consumption habits of surgery patients during the preoperative examinations in order to avoid potential side effects, complications or drug interactions. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12906-015-0890-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Punção aspirativa por agulha fina guiada por ultra-sonografia de nódulos tireoidianos: estudo de 63 casos Ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration biopsy of thyroid nodules: study of 63 cases

Neste trabalho foi revisada a técnica empregada na execução da punção aspirativa por agulha fina guiada por ultra-sonografia, e são descritos os seus benefícios no diagnóstico de nódulos tireoidianos. Foram realizadas punções aspirativas por agulha fina em 63 pacientes do Hospital Universitário Clementino Fraga Filho da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, encaminhados ao Serviço de Radiodiagnóstico, no período de agosto de 2001 a junho de 2002. Dos 63 pacientes estudados, 58 (92%) eram do sexo feminino e cinco (8%) eram do sexo masculino, com uma relação mulher/homem de cerca de 11:1. Trinta e um pacientes (49%) se situaram na quinta e sexta décadas de vida. Oitenta e nove por cento dos pacientes apresentaram-se com nódulos múltiplos ao exame ecográfico; apenas 11% dos pacientes tinham nódulo único. Em relação aos laudos citológicos dos nódulos puncionados, 47% foram benignos, 31%, suspeitos, 17%, inadequados e apenas 5%, malignos. Todos os nódulos malignos (três pacientes) tiveram o diagnóstico citológico de carcinoma papilífero. Dos nódulos benignos, 93% foram diagnosticados como hiperplasia nodular e apenas 7% tiveram diagnóstico de tireoidite. Dos laudos considerados inadequados, 70% foram considerados hemorrágicos, sendo 30% considerados hipocelulares. Os dados encontrados no nosso trabalho estiveram de acordo com os encontrados na literatura médica.<br>In this study we reviewed the technique for ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration biopsy and its benefits in the diagnosis of thyroid nodules. Ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration was performed in 63 patients referred to the Department of Radiology of "Hospital Universitário Clementino Fraga Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro", Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, between August 2001 and June 2002. Fifty-eight (92%) of the patients were female and five patients (8%) were male; 11:1 female/male ratio. Thirty-one patients (49%) had 50-60 years of age and 89% of the patients showed multiple nodules on ultrasound; only 11% of the patients had single nodules. The cytological reports of the aspirated nodules showed that 47% of the nodules were benign, 31% suspected, 17% inadequate material and only 5% malignant. The cytological diagnosis of all malignant nodules (three patients) was papillary carcinoma. Among the benign nodules, 93% were diagnosed as nodular hyperplasia and only 7% had were diagnosed as thyroiditis. Among the patients with inadequate material, 70% were hemorrhagic, and 30% were hypocellular. The findings observed in this study are concordant with the results in the medical literature