Venous thromboembolism in medical patients during hospitalisation and 3 months after hospitalisation: a prospective observational study.

Objectives: This study was conducted to assess the incidence and risk factors for venous thromboembolism (VTE) in a cohort of medical patients both during the period of hospitalisation and following discharge.

Design: This was a prospective observational study to document the risk profile and incidence of VTE posthospitalisation among all medical patients admitted to our institution during the trial period.

Settings: Primary healthcare.

Usefulness of non-invasive spectrophotometric haemoglobin estimation for detecting low haemoglobin levels when compared with a standard laboratory assay for preoperative assessment.

Background: Delay in diagnosis of anaemia during preoperative assessment poses logistic problems, leading to multiple clinic visits, inadequate preoperative management, and unnecessary delay of surgery. Therefore, we tested an instant spectrophotometric haemoglobin (SpHb) measurement technique to facilitate this assessment.

Methods: We evaluated portable instant SpHb vs standard laboratory screening of anaemia between March 2012 and December 2013.

Emergency surgery in the elderly: a retrospective observational study.

We conducted a retrospective observational study in a regional hospital on patients aged 80 years or over undergoing emergency procedures. We included 202 emergency procedures performed on 178 patients over 185 separate admissions. The aim was to obtain a 'snapshot' of the risks of emergency surgery in the elderly and to analyse functional status both as a risk factor and as an outcome in this patient group.

Countrywide campaign to prevent soccer injuries in Swiss amateur players.

Background: In Switzerland, the national accident insurance company registered a total of 42 262 soccer injuries, resulting in costs of approximately 145 million Swiss francs (~US$130 million) in 2003. Research on injury prevention has shown that exercise-based programs can reduce the incidence of soccer injuries.

Purpose: This study was conducted to assess the implementation and effects of a countrywide campaign to reduce the incidence of soccer injuries in Swiss amateur players.