Delay in discharge and its impact on unnecessary hospital bed occupancy.

Background: Elderly patients are potentially more vulnerable to prolonged hospital stay as they frequently require additional resources to facilitate their discharge. In an acute hospital setting, we aimed to quantify and compare length of stay (LOS) for all patients over and under the age of 65, and identify the number and cause of days lost under the care of a single surgical unit.

Methods: Over a 4 month period from January to April 2010, data on the management and source of potential delay was collected daily on consecutive patients admitted and discharged under the care of one consultant surgeon at a district general hospital.

Recurrent locked knee caused by an impaction fracture following inferior patellar dislocation: a case report.

Introduction: Locked knee caused by inferior patellar dislocation is considered rare in elderly patients. It was originally thought that, in the osteoarthritic knee, osteophytes on the pole of the patella become entrapped in the inter-condylar notch, which is managed by performing closed reduction and immobilization in a knee splint for three to four weeks. We present an unusual case of a locked knee with an impaction fracture.

Anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha-loaded microspheres as a prospective novel treatment for Crohn's disease fistulae.

Background And Aims: Antibodies to tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) have been successful in treating perianal fistulae in Crohn's disease, but current modes of delivery are limited. Microspheres are currently being assessed as scaffolds for tissue engineering and drug delivery devices. The aim of this study was to produce anti-TNF-α antibody-encapsulated microspheres using thermally induced phase separation (TIPS) and to characterize their behavior.

Perianal fistulae in Crohn's Disease: current and future approaches to treatment.

: affecting sphincter integrity and continence. Traditional surgical and medical approaches are not without their limitations and may result in either comorbidity, such as fecal incontinence, or incomplete healing of the fistulae. Over the last 2 decades these limitations have led to a paradigm shift toward the use of biomaterials, and more recently cell-based therapies, which have met with variable degrees of success.