Paternity after microscopic inguinal surgery of varicocele in infertile males: A 5-years follow up

Objectives: Infertility affects about 15% of couples. One of the most common causes of male infertility is varicocele. In this study, the live birth rate after microscopic inguinal varicocelectomy and some related factors were studied in Northeast of Iran. Design and patients: In this cross-sectional study, 976 infertile males who underwent microscopic inguinal varicocelectomy (2004-2009) in an academic hospital were studied and 264 were randomly selected. Female factors were ruled out. Data regarding age, varicocele grade and live birth rate were recruited and entered into SPSS-14 software; T-test and χ2 were used to analyze the variables. Results: The mean (±SD) age was 29.09 (±4.80) years, 139 (52.7%) reported to have a successful result after a mean (±SD) duration of 21.74 (±6.24) months. Unilateral varicocelectomy had significantly more positive results (58.8%) than bilateral (20.9%) but the relationship with grade was not significant. Primary type had 54.5% live birth v.s. 31.8% in secondary type (P-value< 0.05). The mean duration between operation and live birth was significantly different in primary and secondary type (P-value<0.05). Conclusions: Surgery of primary infertility could reveal to a higher live birth rate in a much shorter duration; also unilateral varicoceles are better responders to the surgery

Music and anxiety in hospitalized children

Purpose: Music is a method of stress reduction and could be used as a non-invasive therapeutic tool to relieve the pain and anxiety of patient. This study is designed to evaluate the role of music therapy on the level of anxiety in children aged 912 yearsold, in an academic hospital in Gorgan, northeast of Iran. Methods: Sixty hospitalized children were categorized into the intervention (case=30) and the control groups (N=30) by using a simple randomized method. The data gathering instruments were questionnaires which included demographic information and a trait anxiety inventory for children, the Spielberger test (STAIC). For the intervention group, for 2 days, 20 minutes (3 am-6 pm), the soothing rhythmic music of Johann Sebastian Bach was released through a tape recorder which was equipped with a headphone and then, the Spielberger questionnaires were refilled by each patient. The control group did not receive any intervention. Results: The results showed that the anxiety scores between the control and the intervention groups had no significant difference before the application of the music. The mean anxiety after the application of music in the control group was 49.4±7.2 and in the intervention group, it was 30.7±7.5. The results showed a significant difference between the mean anxiety in the control and the intervention groups (p<0.05). Conclusions: Our results showed that in hospitalized children, music therapy reduced the anxiety level

The role of cefazolin in prophylaxis of central vein catheter-related infection in dialysis patients

Objective: Dialysis via central vein catheter (CVC) is a temporary procedure for dialysis in chronic renal failure and is suitable in patients without artery-venous fistula (AVF) or in whom their AVF needs almost two months to be mature. Infection is one of the most common and dangerous complications during this procedure. Controversies are reported regarding the use of prophylactic antibiotics before the insertion. This study was done to measure the role of prophylactic antibiotics therapy in prevention of infections. Methodology: This interventional study was conducted on end stage renal disease (ESRD) patients admitted to the referral hospital of Golestan province, Northeast of Iran for inserting CVC. In this study, 95 cases of ESRD were randomized into two groups. Intravenous Cefazolin (1 gram) was administered to the intervention or case group (54 patients) before CVC and control group had been administrated no antibiotic (controls=41). Data regards to the infection-free catheter survival, fever and any symptoms of infection were recorded during 45 days of followup. Data were entered into SPSS-15 software and analyzed with one-way ANOVA test. Relative risk (RR) was calculated and compared between the two groups. Results: Cumulative incidence was 15.2 and 27.1, in cases and controls, respectively. Relative risk of infection was 1.78 fold in controls versus the cases, but it was not significant RR=1.78; CI=1.141-2.421; P-value>0.05. Conclusions: Relative risk of the infection was not significantly different in this study, but it could be suggested to try antibiotics before CVC and compare the results