Prospective and multicentre study of radiofrequency treatment in anal fistula.

Background: The most effective treatment for anal fistula is fistulotomy, but it involves a risk of anal incontinence. To reduce this morbidity, sphincter-sparing treatments have been developed, but their success in real life is often less than 50%. The aim is to determine the clinical healing rate 6 months after radiofrequency treatment.

Benzodiazepine dose reduction in prisoner patients: 15 years' teamwork between psychiatrists and pharmacists.

What Is Known And Objective: Benzodiazepines are widely consumed in prisons, despite the iatrogenic risks associated with this therapeutic class. A multidisciplinary pharmacotherapy programme was therefore initiated by pharmacists in 2001. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the efficacy of teamwork between psychiatrists and pharmacists in benzodiazepine dose adjustment, with 15 years of hindsight.

Sleep Disorders and Therapeutic Management: A Survey in a French Population of Prisoners.

In a French prison, most inmates reported not being satisfied with their sleep. Life habits between good and bad sleepers were not significantly different except for television and smoking. The most frequently reported symptom of insomnia was several awakenings at night, and the most frequently cited etiologies were rumination of thoughts and noise.

[The law of 25 February 2008 on safety retention: legal bearings and clinical questions].

The authors review the new provisions from the law of 25 February 2008 on security measures on retention for safety and on reporting of criminal irresponsibility related to mental disorder. In doing so, they aim to bring a medical perspective to the discussion. Issued after a long process of reflection which began in 2005 with the report from the Health Justice Committee, the law provides for the possibility of keeping offenders considered dangerous detained after the end of the term of their sentence.

Benzodiazepine dependence: focus on withdrawal syndrome.

Benzodiazepines are potentially addictive drugs: psychological and physical dependence can develop within a few weeks or years of regular or repeated use. The socioeconomic costs of the present high level of long-term benzodiazepine use are considerable. These consequences could be minimised if prescriptions for long-term benzodiazepines were decreased.