The effectiveness of waxing or epilation compared to conventional methods of hair removal in reducing the incidence of surgical site infections: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Surgical site infections (SSIs) pose a significant challenge to healthcare systems by elevating patient morbidity and mortality and driving up financial costs. Preoperative skin preparation is crucial for preventing SSIs; however, certain traditional methods of hair removal have been found to increase the risk of SSI development. Mechanical epilation and waxing constitute two relatively explored methods of hair removal, which may hold potential to accelerate wound healing due to the activation of stem cells within hair follicles.

Tailored risk assessment and forecasting in intermittent claudication.

Background: Guidelines recommend cardiovascular risk reduction and supervised exercise therapy as the first line of treatment in intermittent claudication, but implementation challenges and poor patient compliance lead to significant variation in management and therefore outcomes. The development of a precise risk stratification tool is proposed through a machine-learning algorithm that aims to provide personalized outcome predictions for different management strategies.

Methods: Feature selection was performed using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator method.

Supervised Exercise Therapy for Intermittent Claudication: A Propensity Score Matched Analysis of Retrospective Data on Long Term Cardiovascular Outcomes.

Objective: This study aimed to explore the long term outcomes of patients with intermittent claudication (IC) who completed supervised exercise therapy (SET) vs. those who declined or prematurely discontinued SET, focusing on the incidence of chronic limb threatening ischaemia (CLTI), revascularisation, major adverse limb events (MALE), and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE).

Methods: A retrospective registry analysis of consecutive patients with IC who were referred for SET between March 2015 and August 2016 and followed up for a minimum of five years.

Clinical outcomes following mechanochemical ablation of superficial venous incompetence compared with endothermal ablation: meta-analysis.

Background: Mechanochemical ablation (MOCA) is an alternative method to endovenous thermal ablation (EVTA) for the treatment of superficial venous incompetence that does not require tumescent anaesthesia. The aim of this study was to compare the outcomes from RCTs of MOCA versus EVTA.

Methods: A search was conducted in MEDLINE, Embase, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL).

A pilot study of lens extraction in the management of acute primary angle-closure glaucoma.

Purpose: To describe a pilot study of lens extraction in the management of acute primary angle-closure glaucoma (APACG) in Chinese patients.

Design: Interventional case series.

Methods: A prospective case series of patients presented with APACG at a tertiary eye hospital in Xiamen, China.