Evaluation of adherence monitoring in buprenorphine treatment: A pilot study using timed drug assays to determine accuracy of testing.

Aims: Buprenorphine is effective at reducing relapse to opioid misuse, morbidity and mortality in opioid-dependent patients. Urine drug screening (UDS) to assess adherence is used routinely in opioid agonist treatment (OAT). The primary aim of this study was to determine factors which may be associated with a negative qualitative urine drug screen for buprenorphine in OAT patients.

Abbreviated Outpatient Upper Extremity Fracture Care to Avoid Clinic and Hospital Environmental Encounters During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A New Approach to Fracture Care?

Background: To minimize in-person visits during the COVID-19 pandemic, a new fracture care protocol for children with complete and stable, nondisplaced or minimally displaced upper extremity (UE) fractures has been implemented. This protocol involves immobilization with a bivalved cast, which allows for home cast removal during a telemedicine visit, and no follow-up radiographs, thus eliminating the requirement for a return to clinic. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the outcomes and parent satisfaction of this new abbreviated fracture care protocol.

The effectiveness of a single-stage versus traditional three-staged protocol of hospital disinfection at eradicating vancomycin-resistant Enterococci from frequently touched surfaces.

Background: Environmental contamination is a reservoir for vancomycin-resistant enterococcus (VRE) in hospitals.

Methods: Environmental sampling of surfaces was undertaken anytime before disinfection and 1 hour after disinfection utilizing a sodium dichloroisocyanurate-based, 3-staged protocol (phase 1) or benzalkonium chloride-based, single-stage clean (phase 2). VRE colonization and infection rates are presented from 2010 to 2011, and audits of cleaning completeness were also analyzed.