UV surface disinfection in a wearable drug delivery device.

The advent of recombinant DNA technology fundamentally altered the drug discovery landscape, replacing traditional small-molecule drugs with protein and peptide-based biologics. Being susceptible to degradation via the oral route, biologics require comparatively invasive injections, most commonly by intravenous infusion (IV). Significant academic and industrial efforts are underway to replace IV transport with subcutaneous delivery by wearable infusion devices.

Open study of low-dose amitriptyline in the treatment of patients with idiopathic fecal incontinence.

Introduction: Amitriptyline, a tricyclic antidepressant agent with anticholinergic and serotoninergic properties has been used empirically in the treatment of idiopathic fecal incontinence with good results.

Methods: An open study was conducted to test the response to amitriptyline 20 mg daily for four weeks by 18 patients (2 males) of median age 66 years with idiopathic fecal incontinence Incontinence scores, number of bowel movements, computerized ambulatory anorectal pressures, and pudendal nerve terminal motor latencies were evaluated before and after four weeks of therapy. Twenty-four control subjects (10 males) of median age 61 years were also assessed

Results: Amitriptyline improved incontinence scores (median pretreatment score = 16 vs.

Functional outcome after coloanal anastomosis with J-colonic pouch for rectal cancer.

This study was designed to determine functional outcomes of restorative resections for carcinoma of the rectum. Between 1992 and 1995, 16 patients (8 male) of median age 75 (range 58-88) years underwent resection and coloanal anastomosis with J-colonic pouch reconstruction for rectal cancer. The distance of the lower border of tumor from the anal verge was 5 cm in 7 patients (43.

[Crohn's disease of small bowel manifested by obstructive carcinoma].

In ulcerative colitis the incidence of adenocarcinoma of the small bowel is higher than in the general population. More than 100 cases of carcinoma of the small bowel have been reported in patients with Crohn's disease of the same segment. However, obstructive carcinoma of the small bowel as the first manifestation of Crohn's disease has seldom been reported.

[Incarcerated obturator hernia causing bowel obstruction].

Obturator hernia is rare and is usually discovered by chance at operation or autopsy. In certain cases obturator hernia may cause sliding and strangulation of abdominal viscera inside the hernial sac, presenting clinically as bowel obstruction. An 83-year-old woman with signs of bowel obstruction was operated after 48 hours of conservative treatment and a small bowel loop was found strangulated inside the sac of an obturator hernia.