Major postoperative complications following surgical procedures for pelvic organ prolapse: a secondary database analysis of the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program.

Background: Surgical approaches to the correction of pelvic organ prolapse include abdominal, vaginal, and obliterative approaches. These approaches require vastly different anatomical dissections, surgical techniques, and operative times and are often selected by the patient and surgeon to match preoperative multimorbidity and ability of the patient to tolerate the stress of surgery.

Objective: We sought to describe the occurrence of postoperative complications occurring after 3 different surgical approaches to treat pelvic organ prolapse: vaginal, abdominal, and obliterative.

An antibiotic formulary for a tertiary care foot clinic: admission avoidance using intramuscular antibiotics for borderline foot infections in people with diabetes.

Aims: To develop an antibiotic foot formulary for the empirical treatment of diabetes-related foot infections presenting to our service. Subsequently, to asses costs associated with the introduction of our protocol, in particular to assess the effect on admissions avoidance and any cost savings achieved.

Methods: We reviewed several existing antibiotic protocols.

Pedal neuroarthropathy in a nondiabetic patient as a result of long-term amiodarone use.

Unlabelled: In this article, we describe a case of a man without diabetes with a long history of amiodarone use. He presented with a foot deformity and plantar ulceration. Examination showed him to have a symmetrical peripheral neuropathy and findings consistent with a Charcot foot.

The importance of nursing research.

Nursing research has a tremendous influence on current and future professional nursing practice, thus rendering it an essential component of the educational process. This article chronicles the learning experiences of two undergraduate nursing students who were provided with the opportunity to become team members in a study funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research. The application process, the various learning opportunities and responsibilities performed by the students, and the benefits and outcomes of the experience are described.

Computer-aided, case-based diagnosis of mammographic regions of interest containing microcalcifications.

Rationale And Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a mapped-database diagnostic system in reducing the incidence of benign biopsies and misdiagnosed cancers among mammographic regions of interest (ROIs).

Materials And Methods: A novel neural network was devised (a) to respond to a query ROI by recommending to biopsy or not to biopsy and (b) to map each ROI in the database as a dot on a computer screen. The network was designed so that clusters in the array of dots help the radiologist to find proved ROIs visually similar to the query ROI.

Get patient information anytime, anywhere.

In a hospital faced with rapidly changing community needs, system integration will unite data from beside monitors and ancillary equipment with the hospital's information system. The technology enables faster, easier, and fewer patient transfers, flexible monitor use, continuous monitoring, and remote access of patient information.

Transurethral ultrasound-guided laser-induced prostatectomy: National Human Cooperative Study results.

Between November 1990 and March 1992, 150 patients at 10 United States institutions were treated with transurethral ultrasound-guided laser-induced prostatectomy (TULIP) for the relief of bladder outlet obstruction secondary to benign prostatic hypertrophy. The TULIP system incorporates ultrasound visualization with a 90-degree angle, side-firing laser to effect coagulation necrosis of prostate tissue. The overall preoperative prostate volume in this TULIP study was 40 cc and all types of prostatic enlargement, including median lobe obstruction, were treated.

Intraoperative use of ureterorenoscope.

A new intraoperative use of the ureterorenoscope is described for open stone surgery. A mid ureteral stone that had moved back into the kidney was retrieved successfully through a ureterotomy incision, avoiding further procedures.

The management of ureteral calculi during pregnancy.

During the past seven years, 14 pregnant patients were admitted to our hospital for treatment of ureteral calculus. During this same period, 22,495 deliveries were performed, for an incidence of one calculus per 1,600 pregnancies. Eleven patients spontaneously passed the calculus, ten prior to delivery and one patient postpartum.