Tranexamic acid (TXA) is an antifibrinolytic drug widely used to reduce blood loss in major surgeries and trauma patients, thus reducing morbimortality. In recent years, clinical indications for TXA have expanded, including many off-label uses. This broad use has led to an increased incidence of reported side effects and administration errors with serious neurological and cardiovascular outcomes, such as seizures, myoclonus, and arrhythmias.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe goal of this comprehensive review was to verify if the prevalence of () bacteria in patients with dyspepsia is higher in the oral cavity of periodontal or non-periodontal patients. The bibliographic search was conducted on scientific studies published in PubMed, Cochrane Library, SciELO, and BVS. The focus question was: "In patients with dyspepsia and periodontitis, is the prevalence of Hp bacteria in the oral cavity higher than in patients with only dyspepsia or without any disease?" The inclusion criteria were human studies in English, Portuguese, or Spanish languages, published between 2000 and 2022, that included patients over the age of 18 and aimed to evaluate the presence of bacteria in the oral cavity and in the protective mucosal layer of the gastric lining of patients with the diseases (periodontitis and dyspepsia) or without disease; clinical trials, randomized controlled clinical trials, comparative studies, case-control studies, cross-sectional studies, and cohort studies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction Rigid esophagoscopy (RE) has long been a part of otolaryngology practice. In the past decades, the procedure was less commonly performed due to the advances and availability of flexible endoscopic techniques. This study aims to describe the outcomes of RE performed to treat foreign body ingestion and to evaluate risk factors associated with postoperative complications.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInvasive pneumococcal disease is a serious infection with an elevated case-fatality rate that can be even higher among patients with asplenia. Its impact has been blunted by the widespread use of vaccines; even recently, in 2021, two new pneumococcal conjugate vaccines emerged. The authors present a case of a 58-year-old male, splenectomised with the immunisation schedule complete, who died of invasive pneumococcal disease with a fulminant course.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction Family satisfaction with intensive care units (ICU) is recognized as a key component of the quality of care. As a result, family members are now more involved in the care process, and their needs are recognized throughout the ICU stay. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) changed healthcare worldwide, due to the several restrictions imposed; the communication patterns changed drastically, and institutions were forced to adapt to create a balance between security and the needs of relatives.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Assessing functional improvement after intensive care unit discharge is particularly challenging. The aim of this study was to measure the association between (1) changes in knee extension muscle strength or quadriceps femoris and rectus femoris muscle thickness and (2) changes in functionality/function-related measurements in post-intensive care unit patients.
Methods: This prospective cohort study included adult patients without previous disability, consecutively selected after intensive care unit discharge.
Tracheobronchial injury (TBI) is a rare life-threatening injury that can result from either penetrating or blunt trauma. Treatment may be surgical or conservative, but the evidence regarding which is the best approach is still very scarce. This case report describes the successful conservative management of a 32-year-old male with a traumatic tracheal laceration.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF: This integrative review aimed to identify studies comparing the periodontal health in patients wearing multibracket orthodontic appliances and clear aligners. : An integrative literature search was performed through different databases, PubMed/Medline, PMC, and the Cochrane Library. This work was submitted to a search strategy following the PICO method and included the focus question: "Could the chosen orthodontic appliance change significantly the oral hygiene of the patient, impairing the periodontal health?" This work included analytical and controlled studies on humans published between 2005 and 2020, in the English language, establishing a comparison of the periodontal status in patients undergoing orthodontic multibracket and clear aligners therapies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Environ Res Public Health
December 2021
Background: The objective was to determine if asymmetric facial features, nasal and chin deviations, affect the perception of attractiveness of a dental midline angulation, and if it is consistent among both dentists and laypeople. It was also analyzed if factors, such as the sex, age group of the participants and the dentist's area of operation are relevant in their assessment.
Methods: A cross-sectional study, approved by the Ethics Committee of Fernando Pessoa University.
The present study had a convenience sample with 236 laypeople and 242 dentists who completed an online questionnaire to choose the most attractive image among six pairs for comparison. Control image: symmetric (parallelism between occlusal plane (OP), commissural line (CL), and interpupillary line (IL)). Change of Control, obtaining three images with a 3-degree inclination of the labial commissures.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSeveral studies have suggested that self-forgiveness promotes psychological well-being. The state self-forgiveness scale (SSFS) and the differentiated self-forgiveness process scale (DSFPS) are two self-report questionnaires that assess self-forgiveness in psychotherapy, personal change, and health. The present study aims to examine the psychometric properties of the SSFS and the DSFPS in a Portuguese sample, highlighting reliability and validity properties for scores on both scales.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Improving the quality of information and communication is a priority in organised breast cancer screening and an ethical duty. Programmes must offer the information each woman is looking for, promoting informed decision-making. This study aimed to develop and evaluate a web-based dynamic decision aid (DA).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFetal and perinatal growth charts and tables are essential for proper interpretation of autopsy anthropometric parameters. These parameters depend on factors that may vary between populations; thus, it is recommended that standards be developed from local target populations to ensure that they are truly representative. In this study, we established standards for a complete set of autopsy fetal parameters, including biometrical measurements, organ weights and long bone lengths, based on autopsy data collected retrospectively from a sample of Portuguese fetuses and neonates.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStudy Objective: To determine the incidence, risk factors, and predictors of survival of perioperative cardiac arrests (PCAs) occurring in patients who underwent non-cardiac and non-obstetric surgery from January 2008 to May 2015 at a tertiary hospital; determine the incidence and risk factors of anesthesia-related PCA.
Design: Retrospective observational study.
Setting: Operating room and postoperative recovery area.
Background And Objectives: Surgical patients frequently require admission in high-dependency units or intensive care units. Resources are scarce and there are no universally accepted admission criteria, so patients’ allocation must be optimized. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between postoperative destination of patients submitted to colorectal surgery and the scores ColoRectal Physiological and Operative Severity Score for the enUmeration of Mortality and Morbidity (CR-POSSUM) and Surgical Apgar Score (SAS) and, secondarily find cut-offs to aid this allocation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Mastery of history taking and physical exam skills is a key competence of medical students. Objective Structured Clinical Examinations are the gold standard to assess these competencies, but their implementation in Portugal is poorly documented. We describe the implementation and our seven years experience with a high-stakes Objective Structured Clinical Examination to assess these skills in the School of Medicine, University of Minho.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Urgent airway management is one of the most important responsibilities of otolaryngologists, often requiring a multidisciplinary approach. Urgent surgical airway intervention is indicated when an acute airway obstruction occurs or there are intubation difficulties. In these situations, surgical tracheostomy becomes extremely important.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlthough canine identification of body odor (BO) has been widely used as forensic evidence, the concept of nosewitness identification by human observers was only recently put to the test. The results indicated that BOs associated with male characters in authentic crime videos could later be identified in BO lineup tests well above chance. To further evaluate nosewitness memory, we assessed the effects of lineup size (Experiment 1) and retention interval (Experiment 2), using a forced-choice memory test.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Primary aldosteronism (PA) is characterized by the autonomous overproduction of aldosterone. Its prevalence has increased since the use of the aldosterone (ALD)/plasma renin activity (PRA) ratio (ARR). The objective of this study is to determine ARR and ARC (ALD/plasma renin concentration ratio) cut-off values (COV) and their diagnostic concordance (DC%) in the screening for PA in an Argentinian population.
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