Imaging techniques and some principles of interpretation (including radiation physics)

Radiologic examination of the oral cavity, pharynx, and esophagus should focus on bolus transportation as well as on registration of morphodynamic events. The examination should be custom-tailored to the patient’s symptoms but should also be performed in a rather standardized way. The radiologic findings should always be compared to the patient’s specific symptoms

Earliest Videofluoromanometric Pharyngeal Signs of Dysphagia in ALS Patients

The aim of this study was to find whether there are manometric pharyngeal changes that may have diagnostic and prognostic relevance in the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patient who does not show changes in contrast-medium oropharyngeal transit in a videofluoroscopic swallowing study. Ten ALS patients, with an ALS Severity Scale Score of at least 7, no need to change dietary habit, no aspiration and/or penetration, and no other changes in contrast-medium oropharyngeal transit, were collected from our institution's database of videofluoromanometric swallowing studies. They were included in the study together with a group of 11 healthy volunteers. For each subject, 12 manometric items-7 for the pharyngeal phase and 5 for UES functionality-were evaluated. Statistically significant differences between the ALS patients and the healthy volunteers were found for pharyngeal contraction time of the upper region (median = 1,120, range = 880-1,420 vs. median = 970, range = 800-1,140), pharyngeal contraction time of the intermediate region (median = 1140, range = 960-1,360 vs. median = 770, range = 280-1,180), pharyngeal contraction time of the lower region (median = 1,320, range = 920-1,760 vs. median = 800, range = 620-1,780), and residual pressure after the relaxation of the UES (median = 2.2, range = -20.2 to 27.8 vs. median = -5.7, range = -2.9 to 8.4). A videofluoromanometric swallowing study may show an increase in the pharyngeal contraction time and in residual pressure after relaxation of the UES in ALS patients without videofluoroscopic changes in contrast-medium oropharyngeal transit

The preparation and administration of intravenous drugs before and after protocol implementation.

Contains fulltext : 81231.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)OBJECTIVES: This paper reports on a pilot study examining the incidence of nurses' errors in preparation and administration of intravenous drugs. Furthermore, the study aimed to evaluate the short-term effects of implementation of a new protocol for preparation and administration of intravenous drugs. SETTING: Two nursing departments of internal medicine at a 953 beds University Medical Centre in The Netherlands. METHODS: By means of a prospective, quasi-experimental design, nurses were observed during the process of preparation and administration of intravenous drugs. Observation was performed before and after the implementation of a new protocol. Seventy-two nurses at two nursing departments were observed during the study. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: A mean pre-test and post-test quality score at two departments of internal medicine. RESULTS: At baseline, average quality scores for nurses at the two departments were 64 (intervention ward) and 67 (control ward) on a 0-100 quality scale. The pre-test quality scores were not statistically significant for the two nursing wards (T = 1.36, df = 55, P = 0.18). After the implementation of the new protocol, nurses at the intervention ward scored better (72) than nurses at the control ward (69). The mean score at the intervention ward was significantly higher than the score in nurses of the control ward (T = -2.20, df = 53, P = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: The number of errors in the preparation and administration of intravenous drugs is high. This study shows that implementing a protocol for the preparation and administration of these drugs can reduce the number of errors