Satellite Televisions in Lebanon: Agents of Change or Reinforcing the Status Quo?

There has been a noted interest in the new technologies of the nineties, those that have expanded the realm of traditional mass media and the traditional means of communication that people were previously used to. With the start of globalization and the world becoming what some have called “global village,” the act of distributing information to the four comers of the world has become less complicated than it used to be, and boundaries are seen as constantly being eroded by the new pressures of modernization and liberalization. The internet and satellite televisions increased in importance in this realm, and so did the study of the impact of these means of communication on civil society and governments. The purpose of this study is to observe and analyze the impact of the new media, this new public sphere, on civil society and its politics, particularly in the case of Lebanon. My objective is to understand how the dynamics of the New Media and those of local politics interact and affect each other, and consequently to what extent this interaction is encouraging or permitting democratization and freedom of speech. In other words, is the New Media affecting the Lebanese political discourse? Or is it reinforcing the power of traditional politicians

Oral Focal Mucinosis: A case report

Oral focal mucinosis is a rare lesion with less than 60 cases reported in English literature so far, to the best of our knowledge. It is considered to be the oral counterpart of cutaneous focal mucinosis and/or cutaneous myxoid cyst. Histopathologically, Oral focal mucinosis is demonsterates a well-circumscribed area of myxomatous connective tissue containing mucinous material, surrounded by denser collagenous connective tissue. We present a case of Oral focal mucinosis occurring on the buccal gingiva of the lower jaw

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 < 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