A Simple Screening Tool Reduces Unnecessary Preoperative Evaluation for Cataract Surgery.

Background And Objectives: Cataract surgery is common and low-risk. Preoperative evaluation and preoperative testing have not been shown to improve patient outcomes but do increase cost. Our process improvement aimed to reduce unnecessary preoperative primary care evaluation for cataract surgery.

Wound Healing Society 2023 update on guidelines for arterial ulcers.

The Wound Healing Society guidelines for the treatment of arterial insufficiency ulcers were originally published in 2006, with the last update in 2014. These guidelines provided recommendations, along with their respective levels of evidence, on seven categories: diagnosis, surgery, infection control, wound bed preparation, dressings, adjuvant therapy and long-term maintenance. Over the last 9 years, additional literature regarding these aspects of arterial ulcer management has been published.

Mapping the Physical Language of Children Diagnosed with Autism: A Preliminary Study.

Children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder have a unique motor profile, characterized by, for example, unusual posture or compulsive use of the body. However, not much is known about specific characteristics of their physical language, such as their movement direction, their self-touch pattern, etc., and even less is known about these characteristics with regard to their typically developing siblings.

Cessation of group battlefield acupuncture visits due to COVID-19: a pilot study.

Background: Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, battlefield acupuncture (BFA) was offered to veterans with chronic pain in multidisciplinary group visits.

Objective: We aimed to assess the impact of cessation of BFA due to COVID-19 and to determine the utility of different aspects of the group visits for chronic pain management.

Methods: Participants who had attended at least three BFA group visits completed questionnaires assessing the impact of treatment interruption on pain, overall function and desire to resume treatment.

Low-dose mesenchymal stem cell therapy for discogenic pain: safety and efficacy results from a 1-year feasibility study.

Aim: To evaluate safety and efficacy of low dose autologous adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADMSCs) for treatment of disc degeneration resulting in low back pain (LBP).

Methods: Nine participants with chronic LBP originating from single-level lumbar disc disease underwent intradiscal injection of 10 million ADMSCs with optional repetition after 6 months.

Results: No unexpected or serious adverse events were recorded.

The mediating role of parental embodied mentalizing in the longitudinal association between prenatal spousal support and toddler emotion recognition.

Emotion recognition is an important developmental achievement in early childhood. Grounded in theoretical concepts of family systems theory and the spillover effect, the goal of the current study was to examine whether prenatal spousal support predicts toddler emotion recognition at 24 months, and whether this association is mediated by parental embodied mentalizing (PEM) at 6 months. PEM refers to the parent's capacity to understand the infant's mental states from his or her whole-body kinesthetic expressions and adjust their own kinesthetic patterns accordingly.

Tylenol or acetaminophen: a recurrent fixed drug eruption perpetuated through the use of inconsistent drug terminology.

An 87-year-old man with a history of osteoarthritis presented with worsening knee pain. He was prescribed acetaminophen with codeine. A few days later, he developed a rash on his right buttock and proximal thigh, similar to a rash he experienced in the past when he took over-the-counter (OTC) acetamenophen and an unknown lozenge to treat a presumed viral illness.

Battlefield Acupuncture as a Treatment for Pain.

This study evaluated both randomized and nonrandomized trials of battlefield acupuncture for the treatment of both acute and chronic pain. Studies published between May 2016 and November 2019 were found through PubMed, the Cochrane Library, or Scopus, concerned with the treatment of pain using auricular acupuncture in accordance with battlefield acupuncture protocol. Search terms were AND or AND .

Patient Feedback on the Effectiveness of Auricular Acupuncture on Pain in Routine Clinical Care: The Experience of 11,406 Veterans.

Objectives: Veterans Health Administration (VHA) launched a national initiative to train providers in a specific, protocolized auricular acupuncture treatment (also called Battlefield Acupuncture or BFA) as a nonpharmacological approach to pain management. This evaluation assessed the real-world effectiveness of BFA on immediate pain relief and identified subgroups of patients for whom BFA is most effective.

Research Design: In a cross-sectional cohort study, electronic medical record data for 11,406 Veterans treated with BFA at 57 VHA medical centers between October 2016 and September 2018 was analyzed.

SARS-CoV-2 detection in setting of viral swabs scarcity: Are MRSA swabs and viral swabs equivalent?

Background: The global pandemic of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Related Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) has resulted in unprecedented challenges for healthcare systems. One barrier to widespread testing has been a paucity of traditional respiratory viral swab collection kits relative to the demand. Whether other sample collection kits, such as widely available MRSA nasal swabs can be used to detect SARS-CoV-2 is unknown.

Disastrous Complication Caused Indirectly by the Success of Battlefield Acupuncture.

Battlefield acupuncture (BFA) is an easy-to-learn type of auricular acupuncture that is being used increasingly and that has been shown to be effective for short-term reduction of pain. Many patients return for repeated applications of the semipermanent needles and ask if permanent earrings inserted in these points would lead to longer-lasting reduction in their pain. patient sought to have permanent earrings placed at his BFA auricular points.

Hospital preparedness for COVID-19 pandemic: experience from department of medicine at Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare System.

The 2019-2020 pandemic Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has inundated hospital systems globally, as they prepare to accommodate surge of patients requiring advanced levels of care. Pandemic preparedness has not been this urgently and widely needed in the last several decades. According to epidemiologic predictions, the peak of this pandemic has still not been reached, and hospitals everywhere need to ensure readiness to care for more patients than they usually do, and safety for healthcare workers who strive to save lives.

A Nervous Recipient of a "Tongue Lashing".

A veteran with a history of mental illness and drug and alcohol misuse developed a bleeding lesion on his tongue, which raised concerns of self-injury.

The physical examination: a survey of patient preferences and expectations during primary care visits.

: Little is known about patient preference regarding the physical exam in non-urgent primary care settings.: To determine the differences between a patient's expectations of the physical exam and the actual components of the physical examination performed during a non-urgent visit.: A total of 452 surveys administered in the waiting room of a VA primary care clinic in West Haven, CT.

Stethoscope hygiene: Using cultures and real-time feedback with bioluminescence-based adenosine triphosphate technology to change behavior.

Background: Stethoscope hygiene is rarely done despite guideline recommendations. We wanted to determine whether demonstrating what is growing on the stethoscopes of providers via culture or bioluminescence technology alters perceptions and improves compliance.

Methods: Providers were given the opportunity to (1) culture their stethoscopes before and after disinfection with alcohol pads, alcohol-based hand rub, or hydrogen peroxide disinfectant wipes and (2) swab stethoscopes for bioluminescence-based adenosine triphosphate testing before and after disinfection.

Battlefield Acupuncture in the Veterans Health Administration: Effectiveness in Individual and Group Settings for Pain and Pain Comorbidities.

The Department of Veterans Affairs trained primary-care providers to deliver Battlefield Acupuncture (BFA), a subset of auricular acupuncture, to patients. However, little is known about BFA effectiveness in group or individual sessions or repeated administrations versus singular use. The aim of this study was to examine the use and effectiveness of BFA for back pain and four pain-comorbid conditions in group and individual sessions at a large Veterans Affairs (VA) medical center.

Challenges and Strategies for Implementing Battlefield Acupuncture in the Veterans Administration: A Qualitative Study of Provider Perspectives.

Battlefield Acupuncture (BFA) is an auricular needling protocol for pain. More than 1300 Veterans Health Administration (VHA) clinicians have been trained in BFA delivery. However, little is known about how well BFA has been implemented at the VHA.

Group Battlefield Acupuncture in Primary Care for Veterans with Pain.

Objective: To obtain preliminary data on the short- and intermediate-term effects of battlefield acupuncture (BFA) on self-reported pain intensity in a relatively large cohort of veterans to assess whether a more comprehensive clinical trial evaluation is warranted.

Methods: The treatment, in an outpatient group setting, consisted of up to five auricular semipermanent needles inserted into each ear at prespecified points. Efficacy of treatment was measured by self-reported pain, using the Defense and Veterans Pain Rating Scale, just before treatment and at posttreatment days 0, 1, 7, and 30.