Retrograde (ascending) bacterial contamination of enteral diet administration systems.

A prospective clinical study in three phases was performed to determine whether it was possible that enteral diet containers could become contaminated as a result of endogenous organisms ascending retrogradely from the enteral feeding tube via the giving set, and if this did occur whether the incidence could be altered by modifying enteral delivery systems. Each phase observed patients on enteral feeding over a 48-hour study period (phase I, n = 18; phase II, n = 17; phase III, n = 18). Each patient was prescribed an enteral diet of 2 L/24 h administered by continuous pump infusion from a closed 1-L sterile diet container.

Topical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory gel for the prevention of peripheral vein thrombophlebitis. A double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial in normal subjects.

A double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled study was undertaken to determine whether topical application of a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory gel to skin overlying peripheral vein cannula sites has a role in reducing the incidence or delaying the onset of peripheral vein thrombophlebitis. Fifty normal subjects had intravenous cannulae placed in right and left arms. Subjects were randomised to receive twice daily application of either active nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory gel or placebo gel to each cannula site.

Development of thrombophlebitis in peripheral veins with Vialon and PTFE-Teflon cannulas: a double-blind, randomised, controlled trial.

A series of 54 normal subjects were randomised to have either a Vialon or a PTFE-Teflon peripheral vein cannula inserted in a vein in each forearm to observe the development of thrombophlebitis. Cannulas were inspected twice daily for up to 5 days to observe the development of three signs, erythema, oedema or hardness and one symptom, pain. Each sign and symptom was recorded twice daily at three points, the cannula insertion site, the mid-point of the cannula and the cannula tip.

Evaluation of 13C-urea breath test in the detection of Helicobacter pylori and in monitoring the effect of tripotassium dicitratobismuthate in non-ulcer dyspepsia.

Sixty nine patients with non-ulcer dyspepsia have been studied with endoscopy, biopsy, quick urease (CLO) test, Helicobacter pylori culture, and the 13C-urea breath test before and after treatment with tripotassium dicitratobismuthane (DeNol) two tablets twice daily for four weeks. Symptoms of non-ulcer dyspepsia were recorded using a standard questionnaire. Using H pylori culture as the gold standard, the sensitivity of the 13C-urea breath test was 90%, the specificity 98.

Two outbreaks of foodborne gastroenteritis caused by a small round structured virus: evidence of prolonged infectivity in a food handler.

In two outbreaks of diarrhoea and vomiting that were caused by a small round structured virus (SRSV) that affected over 275 people, epidemiological and laboratory evidence showed that certain foods were the vehicles of infection and suggest that one of the chefs who prepared them may have been excreting this virus for a long time.