Enhanced Recovery in Surgical Intensive Care: A Review

Patients are admitted to the surgical intensive care (SICU) unit after emergency and elective surgery. After elective surgery, for further support, or to manage coexisting comorbidities. The implementation of the ERAS (Enhanced recovery after surgery) protocols in surgery should decrease the need for ICU beds, but there will always be unpredicted complications after surgery. These will require individual management. What we can do for our surgical patients in ICU to further enhance their recovery? To promote early enhanced recovery in surgical intensive care—SICU, three areas need to be addressed, sedation, analgesia, and delirium. Tools for measurement and protocols for management in these three areas should be developed to ensure best practice in each SICU. The fourth important area is Nutrition. Preoperative screening and post-operative measurement of the state of nutrition also need to be developed in the SICU. The fifth important area is early mobilization. ERAS protocols encourage early mobilization of the critically ill patients, even if on mechanical ventilation. Early mobilization is possible and should be implemented by special multidisciplinary ICU team. All team members must be familiar with protocols to be able to implement them in their field of expertise. Personal and professional attitudes are critical for implementation. In the core of all our efforts should be the patient and his well-being

Assessment methods of body composition

Body composition assessment has an important role in many fields of medicine, in evaluation of health status of the individual, as well as in sports sciences as a part of physiological profile of athletes. There are several methods for body composition assessment, which provide indirect data on the body structure. For instance in anthropometry, simple techniques such as skinfold measurements provide simply, quick and nonexpensive assessment of body fat mass. Bioelectric impedance analysis (BIA) is described as a method with rising validity, especially for measurement in regional body composition. The value of BIA in routine clinical terms is still limited, while DXA has potential of becoming new golden standard for body composition assessment. More sophisiticated methods such is MRI have advantage over other techniques for estimation of regional body composition, since it provides the only accurate and viable approach for the estimation of intra-abdominal adipose tissue. This method is limited to experimental studies on smaller group of individuals, since it is expensive and not available to routine assessment. Combination of more methods may be the best approach for obtaining accurate results and informations about health status of individual

Parameters of anaerobic physiological profile of elite athletes

Introduction. Anaerobic capacity is much less evaluated in literature compared to aerobic component. Anaerobic performance of athletes can be measured using different motoric tests, lasting 20 to 30 seconds, one of them being the Wingate anaerobic test (WAnT). Objective. The aim of this study was to determine the work performed and power generated by athletes and non-athletes during a 30-second high intensity exercise, as well as to compare explosive characteristics of subjects using a new parameter of WAnT, named explosive power, or slope of power. Methods. All parameters of anaerobic power were investigated in 152 subjects classed into different groups depending on their physical fitness and sport specialties as follows: non-athletes (n=31), rowers (n=26), volleyball players (n=37), handball players (n=34) and judo players (n=24). The WAnT, as well as basic anthropometric measurements, was administrated to all participants. Results. Values of anaerobic parameters were higher in the group of athletes compared to physically inactive subjects. The highest values of the WAnT parameters were registered in the group of volleyball players (AP=1006 W; relative AP=11.4 W/ kg, AC=19.8 kJ), compared to athletes of other sport disciplines (volleyball, rowing and judo). The new parameter of the WAnT, explosive power, also showed highest values in volleyball players (EP=154 W/s; relative EP=1.74 W/s/kg). These differences were statistically significant (p<0.05). Conclusion. The results of laboratory tests can provide useful information on improvements in training processes. The new parameter of the WAnT could be implemented in further analyses of explosive characteristics of muscle contraction

Historical retrospective of the Neurophysiological Laboratory of the Faculty of Medicine in Novi Sad

Over the course of several decades at the Faculty of Medicine in Novi Sad, fundamental studies in the field of neurosciences were of great importance and were continually kept up-to-date with global scientific achievements. These studies were applied by using the stereotactic method, single-unit recording, and electroencephalography. The Laboratory of Neurophysiology was established in 1965 and since 1978 microelectrode and microiontophoretic techniques important for the registration and analysis of the activity of individual neurons were fully developed. Under the great influence of Russian neurophysiological school (P.K. Anokhin, K.V. Sudakov), the emphasis was on the study of Anokhin’s theory of functional systems. Recently, epilepsy, brain ischemia and the influence of different medications, auxiliary medicinal products, and physical agents (electromagnetic radiation) on the central nervous system, behaviour, learning and investigated pathological conditions have been studied. Scientific collaboration with renowned institutions in the country and abroad has been established, numerous scientific projects have been carried out, expert international meetings have been organized, and numerous significant studies have been published. These results have often been the basis for further clinical investigations and the improvement of preventive or curative treatment of patients. Researchers from the Laboratory participated in the education of new generations of neurophysiologists, encouraging their scientific curiosity and love for fascinating mechanisms of the nervous system

Incidence of sensitization to specific inhalatory allergens in patients suffering from allergic rhinitis

Backgound/Aim. Allergic rhinitis is the most frequent type of rhinitis affecting more than 600 million people worldwide. As incidence increases, it is important to know about the characteristics, the allergens that exacerbate it as well as effects of allergic rhinitis on population. The aim of this study was to determine among patients with chronic rhinitis the number of patients positive to standard inhaled allergens, their distribution by sex, age and to determine the type and frequency of allergic sensitization to specific inhalatory allergens. Methods. Data was collected from 514 patients tested for standard inhalatory allergens via the skin prick test from 01.01.2016 to 31.12. 2016. Age, sex and concomitant diseases as well an analysis of type and frequency of hypersensitivity to different allergens were assessed and recorded. Results. Of 514 patients, 307 patients, with an average age of 29.6 ± 8.88 years had a positive skin prick test. The sex ratio was 1.2 : 1 in favor of the females. Outdoor allergens affected 81.2% of all patients while indoor allergens 66.4% of them. Weed pollen (71%), grass pollen (61%) and Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (46%) were the most common allergens. Most patients were sensitized to 1 (22%) or 2 (22%) allergens, while 20% of patients were simultaneously sensitized to 3 allergens. Conclusion. Most patients with the symptoms of chronic rhinitis had a positive allergic reaction. Those in their third decade of life were the most commonly affected. Outdoor allergens were the most prevalent allergen group, and weed pollen was the most frequent type of allergen

Professional female athletes are at a heightened risk of iron-deficient erythropoiesis compared with nonathletes

Scanlan, AT ORCiD: 0000-0002-0750-8697This study primarily aimed to quantify and compare iron status in professional female athletes and nonathletes. Furthermore, this study also aimed to identify differences in iron status according to sporting discipline and explore the relationship between ferritin concentration and weekly training volume in professional athletes. A total of 152 participants were included in this study, including 85 athletes who were members of senior teams (handball, n = 24; volleyball, n = 36; soccer, n = 19; and judo, n = 6) involved at the highest level of competition and 67 nonathletes. A significantly greater proportion (p = .05) of athletes (27%) demonstrated iron-deficient erythropoiesis (IDE) compared with nonathletes (13%). There were nonsignificant differences (p > .05) in the prevalence of iron deficiency (ID; 49% vs. 46%) and iron deficiency anemia (IDA; 2% vs. 4%) between athletes and nonathletes. Similarly, the prevalence of ID, IDE, and IDA was not significantly different between sports (p > .05). Furthermore, training volume was negatively correlated with ferritin concentration in athletes (r: −.464, moderate, p < .001). Professional female athletes are at a heightened risk of IDE compared with nonathletes; therefore, they should be periodically screened for ID to reduce the deleterious effects on training and performance. The similar prevalence of ID, IDE, and IDA found across athletes competing in different sports suggests that overlaps exist between handball, volleyball, soccer, and judo athletes regarding risk of disturbance in iron metabolism. © 2020 Human Kinetics, Inc

The Oxidative Stress Parameters as Useful Tools in Evaluating the DNA Damage and Changes in the Complete Blood Count in Hospital Workers Exposed to Low Doses of Antineoplastic Drugs and Ionizing Radiation

Hospital workers at the Oncology Department are occupationally exposed to antineoplastic drugs (ANTNP) or low doses of ionizing radiation (Irrad). Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the level of DNA damage, the oxidative stress parameters and complete blood count (CBC) of hospital workers in order to analyze the negative health effects of ANTNP and low dose Irrad. The frequency of micronuclei (MN) and proliferation index (PI) were analyzed by cytokinesis-block test. The oxidative stress biomarkers evaluated were the level of lipid peroxidation in plasma and catalase activity (CAT) in erythrocytes. A group of 86 hospital workers (35 exposed to ANTPN and 51 to Irrad) had increased MN frequency, CAT activity and level of lipid peroxidation compared to the control group, which consisted of 24 volunteers. The hemoglobin level was lower in the ANTNP group compared to thecontrol group, while a significant difference in RBC was recorded between thecontrol and Irrad groups, and in platelet count betweentheIrrad and ANTNP group. The results showed increased DNA damage, oxidative stress parameters, as well as impairment on complete blood count in hospital workers occupationally exposed to antineoplastic drugs and low-dose ionizing radiation. As this research has shown the importance of oxidative stress, we suggest that in addition to routine methods in periodic medical evaluation, the possibility of applying oxidative stress parameters is considered. Moreover, hospital workers exposed to ANTNP and Irrad in the workplace should undergo not only a more complete health prevention procedure but also have a more appropriate health promotion

Personality Dimensions of Serbian Lifeguards

According to the World Health Organization&rsquo;s (WHO) global drowning report (2017), drowning is the third leading cause of unintentional injury death worldwide. Drowning can occur anywhere there is water: oceans, seas, lakes, pools, bathtubs, rivers or water collection on the side of the road, etc. In many countries, there are drowning prevention programs for children and adults. The two most commonly used strategiesagainst drowning are the presence of lifeguards in public places and the use of protected areas that could prevent most of the drownings. The main aim of the present study is to examine the individual differences in a Big Five plus Two (BF+2) personality traits in lifeguards and non-lifeguards (including students). The subsample of lifeguards represented 122 male respondents who were, at the time of the survey, licensed as lifeguards (60.9%) or were in training for lifeguards&mdash;candidates (39.1%). The subsample of students represented 138 male respondents who were studying at the University of Novi Sad. The results indicate that lifeguards in comparison to students are more extraverted, open to experience, and conscientious, less neurotic, and aggressive. Both positive and negative valence are higher in student subsample. All of the above traits are desirable traits for people working as lifeguards