Bomb blast injuries: tertiary care hospital in-patient experience over the last 20 years

Abstract OBJECTIVE: To examine the distribution and nature of limb injuries in young bomb blast victimsand their management in a tertiary healthcare setting. METHODS: The retrospective study was conducted at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi and data was searched using the University Medical Record Database with International Classification of Diseases-Ninth Revision-Clinical Modification codes for injuries and terrorism between 1990 and 2012. Data regarding injuries, including admission time, hospital stay duration, interventions and mortality, was collected and classified as per the New Injury Severity Score. RESULTS: There were 22 patients in the study; 19(86.3%) males and 3(13.7%) females. The mean age of the sample was 13.1±4.1 years. Median length of hospital stay was 9 days (range: 2-42 days). Sixteen (72.7%) patients required operative intervention. Patients rarely had accompanying injuries with limb injuries. Four (18%) patients needed open reduction and internal fixation. Two (9%) patients needed open reduction and external fixation. One (4.5%) patient required a limb amputation. One (4.5%) patient required ileal resection with ileoileal anastomosis due to shrapnel perforations. There was no mortality. CONCLUSIONS: The young age group was not severely affected by limb trauma. Injuries sustained were infrequently accompanied by severe/critical injury severity scores

Diagnosing isolated hepatosplenic tuberculosis in an immunocompetent patient: A case report

For many years, tuberculosis (TB) has been endemic in Pakistan; many rare and unusual presentations have been reported. There is a myriad of non-specific symptoms which always requires a high index of clinical suspicion for TB. World Health Organization data suggest that Pakistan ranks as the fifth highest country burdened with TB and has the fourth highest prevalence of multi-drug resistant TB globally. With an annual incidence of 277 cases per 100,000, the importance of early diagnosis and treatment is self-evident. We present a case where a strong suspicion of isolated hepatosplenic TB in an immunocompetent patient justified a directed approach

Mapping local patterns of childhood overweight and wasting in low- and middle-income countries between 2000 and 2017

A double burden of malnutrition occurs when individuals, household members or communities experience both undernutrition and overweight. Here, we show geospatial estimates of overweight and wasting prevalence among children under 5 years of age in 105 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) from 2000 to 2017 and aggregate these to policy-relevant administrative units. Wasting decreased overall across LMICs between 2000 and 2017, from 8.4% (62.3 (55.1–70.8) million) to 6.4% (58.3 (47.6–70.7) million), but is predicted to remain above the World Health Organization’s Global Nutrition Target of <5% in over half of LMICs by 2025. Prevalence of overweight increased from 5.2% (30 (22.8–38.5) million) in 2000 to 6.0% (55.5 (44.8–67.9) million) children aged under 5 years in 2017. Areas most affected by double burden of malnutrition were located in Indonesia, Thailand, southeastern China, Botswana, Cameroon and central Nigeria. Our estimates provide a new perspective to researchers, policy makers and public health agencies in their efforts to address this global childhood syndemic

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P &lt; 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

Predictors of gastrointestinal bleeding in patients following left ventricular assist device implantation: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Aim: Our study aims to provide a more holistic understanding of the available data and predictive risk factors for gastrointestinal bleed (GIB).Materials & methods: We searched MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and Web of Science Core Collection and calculated relative risk and meta-regression was utilized to evaluate for risk factors in order to assess the effect of covariates. Results: Our meta-analysis reported a pooled prevalence rate of GIB of 24.4%. Meta-regression analysis did not yield a statistically significant association between GIB and risk factors, including age, gender, hypertension, chronic kidney disease and diabetes. Conclusion: Studies investigating larger sample sizes are required for conclusive findings

Predictors of gastrointestinal bleeding in patients following left ventricular assist device implantation: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Aim: Our study aims to provide a more holistic understanding of the available data and predictive risk factors for gastrointestinal bleed (GIB). Materials & Methods: We searched MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and Web of Science Core Collection and calculated relative risk and meta-regression was utilized to evaluate for risk factors in order to assess the effect of covariates. Results: Our meta-analysis reported a pooled prevalence rate of GIB of 24.4%. Meta-regression analysis did not yield a statistically significant association between GIB and risk factors, including age, gender, hypertension, chronic kidney disease and diabetes. Conclusion: Studies investigating larger sample sizes are required for conclusive findings

Supplementary Figure 1: Predictors of gastrointestinal bleeding in patients following left ventricular assist device implantation: a systematic review and meta-analysis.docx

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Supplementary Figure 2: Predictors of gastrointestinal bleeding in patients following left ventricular assist device implantation: a systematic review and meta-analysis.docx

Supplementary Figure 2</p