MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among students (N = 364) from six sciences schools at International Islamic University Malaysia via an online survey, which contained three main parts; socioeconomic status, mental well-being assessment using the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS), and assessment of mental help-seeking attitude using the General Mental Help-Seeking Attitude Scale (MHSAS). Data were analysed using SPSS, version 29.0.
RESULTS: Only 7.1% of the students have positive mental well-being, while 44.8% scored positive mental help-seeking attitude. There were no significant differences (P > 0.05) in students' mental well-being and any of SES components. There was a significant association between students' year of study and mental help-seeking attitude (P = 0.029), in addition, WEMWBS and MHSAS scores showed a positive correlation (P < 0.01).
CONCLUSION: Future studies are essential to find out the contributing factors, prevention, and intervention that can be done to help the student in need.
OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to develop and evaluate a mhealth application for healthcare providers that offers quick access to updated recommendations, evidence-based guidelines, and protocols for managing patients with HCAIs.
METHOD: The study included the development of the app, followed by a pilot test of its usability among physicians and nursing staff by using the Mobile Application Usability Questionnaire (MAUQ).
RESULTS: The mhealth application, named HCAI Shield, was developed with four main menus. The menu includes HCAI's care bundle: hand hygiene, personal protective equipment, and standard precautions. The information has been gathered following standards established by both national and international organizations. Twenty-one participants took part in the evaluation, and the mean score for the application's usability was 5.28 ± 0.38. The areas of "ease of use," "interface and satisfaction" received high mean scores.
CONCULSION: The HCAI Shield app provides convenient access to evidence-based guidelines and standards for HCAI management. Further evaluation is recommended.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: All patients with biopsy-proven GCT, involving either the distal femur or proximal tibia, and treated with either curettage with bone grafting (CBG), curettage with bone cementation (CBC), or curettage combined with grafting and cementation (the Sandwich technique) were included. They were further classified according to Campanacci grading. Patients were followed for a minimum of two years, and all complications were recorded.
RESULTS: The three groups showed a statistically significant difference in terms of persistent pain after surgery (p=0.03), development of long-term arthritis (p=0.01), as well as overall complications (p=0.005). There was no significant difference in terms of the overall recurrence rate between each group (p>0.05). For Campanacci Grade II lesions, there was a statistically significant difference in terms of local recurrence (p=0.01), with lower recurrence rates observed after cementation procedures.
CONCLUSION: The study indicates that the Sandwich technique was associated with a lower rate of complications compared to CBG or CBC. Patients in the CBG group reported persistent pain, while those in the CBC group exhibited early arthritic changes within five years of the index surgery. Although there was no overall difference in recurrence rates, cementation procedures had a significantly lower rate of recurrence in Campanacci Grade II lesions.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: This experimental research included 27 samples of hydroxyapatite derived from clam shell waste (CSW-HAP), hydroxyapatite derived from eggshell waste (ESW-HAP), and commercial synthetic hydroxyapatite, with nine samples of each. The calcination method was used to process clam shell waste and eggshell waste into hydroxyapatite, which was then compared with synthetic hydroxyapatite from Bongros® for calcium and phosphate content. Scanning electron microscopy was used to compare their morphological structures.
RESULT: The mean calcium levels in the CW-HAP, EW-HAP, and control groups were 41.3±2.9%, 41.5±2.3%, and 39.6±5.0%, respectively. According to One Way ANOVA, there was no significant difference between the CW-HAP or EW-HAP groups and the control group (p=0.49). The mean phosphate levels in the CW-HAP, EW-HAP, and control groups were 8.1±1.2%, 8.1±1.3%, and 9.4±2.0%, respectively. The results were also not significant (p=0.146).
CONCLUSION: Clam shell waste and eggshells can be an alternative source of hydroxyapatite substitution, as demonstrated by the structural and porous formation of hydroxyapatite obtained from these sources (CW-HAP and EW-HAP) when compared to commercial synthetic hydroxyapatite.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: The medical records of 51 patients who were diagnosed with thoracolumbar spinal metastatic tumour and underwent palliative single-stage posterior approach spinal surgery between June 2015 and June 2022 were recruited retrospectively. Patient demographic data, pre-operative and post-operative pain scores, neurological assessment and survival duration were collected from the medical records. Radiological findings were studied using respective imaging and reports.
RESULTS: The mean age was 57.5 years, and the median survival was nine months after the surgical treatment. The post-operative pain improvements were statistically significant at two weeks (VAS improved from 5 to 2), and three months follow-up VAS was one (p<0.001 and p=0.009, respectively). At initial presentation, patients with a single-level spinal involvement had higher VAS compared to multiple spinal metastases (p=0.018). A total of 18 (35.3%) patients had improved one or more ASIA grades, of which eight (15.7%) of them had gain of ambulatory function (p<0.001). Twenty-seven (52.9%) patients were ambulatory post-operative. The slow growth type of primary carcinoma, post-operative ambulatory ability, and the absence of perioperative morbidity were factors associated with favourable survival duration (p=0.006, p<0.001 and p<0.001, respectively). Synchronous visceral metastases adversely affected the survival duration (p=0.008).
CONCLUSION: Single-stage posterior decompression and stabilisation improved the clinical outcomes of spinal pain and neurological deficit in metastatic spinal tumours. Type of primary tumour, visceral metastasis, perioperative morbidity, and post-operative ambulatory status significantly impact post-operative survival duration.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective cohort study involving 240 patients undergoing mobile-bearing medial UKA was conducted. Group A (na=80) received postoperative correction of Vitamin D3 Deficiency (VDD), Group B (nb=80) received pre-operative correction of VDD, while Group C (nc=80) had normal Vitamin D3 levels to begin with (≥30ng/ml). Correction was done by three doses of intramuscular injection of 600,000 IU Arachitol® (Vitamin D3) given at an interval of one week each. All groups were matched for demography and outcome measures. The level of bone pain by checking for tibial shin tenderness quantified by the visual analog scale (VAS) and evaluated pre-operatively, and at 2, 4, 6 and 12 weeks post-operatively.
RESULTS: Group B and C showed similar post-operative trends and remained significantly superior to Group A till the 6th-week follow-up. The biostatistical difference between Group A and the other two groups started decreasing after the completion of post-operative correction regime as noticed on the 6th-week follow-up. By 12 weeks post-operatively, all three groups had similar levels of bone pain.
CONCLUSION: Vitamin D3 serves as an important preoperative investigation in patients undergoing UKA as it is a modifiable risk factor affecting post-operative bone pain. Its correction pre-operatively gives excellent post-operative pain control.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: Retrospective analysis of patients operated by transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) in POS was done. Confirmed clinico-radiological diagnosed POS cases, not responding within three to four weeks were included. Normalisation of CRP and radiological stable reconstruction was assessed for objective clearance of POS and bony union.
RESULTS: Ninety-five patients were included in the study with minimum follow-up period of two years. The mean age was 51.63±13.63 years. There were organisms cultured in 55 patients (57.89%). The ODI improvement of the patients was noted to improve from 88.71±5.3 to 20.80±9.7 (8 weeks) and was incremental at 2 years follow-up (10.12±6.41) and maintained further at final follow-up at 9±4.3. Bony union achieved in all with stable reconstruction. The resumption of activities of daily living (ADL) was quick (15.90±8.20 days) and job (3.67±1.31 months) was achieved in all the patients. In poor outcomes, two patients didn't respond, and one patient died due to uncontrolled infection.
CONCLUSION: Early diagnosis and intervention is the key to effective management of POS. Utilisation of aggressive TLIF yields faster ADL resumption.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: This retrospective study involved 15 patients with unstable pelvic injuries requiring surgical intervention from January 2015 to December 2020 who undergone anterior stabilisation of the sacroiliac joint. Radiological outcome assessments were done postoperatively by using Lindahl criteria. The complete functional outcome was assessed at least six months postoperatively when patients were able to weight bear by using Majeed system. Descriptive statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics Version 27.
RESULTS: The participants consist of 73.3% male and 26.7% female patients. A total of 66.7% of patients had a Tile type B pelvic ring injury, and the remaining 33.3% had a Tile type C pelvic ring injury. Based on the Majeed system, 73.3% of patients had excellent functional outcomes, and based on Lindahl criteria; there were 60% of patients who had excellent radiological outcome. However, there was no significant agreement between functional and radiological outcomes.
CONCLUSION: Definitive fixation of the sacroiliac joint by anterior plate stabilisation provided an excellent functional and radiological outcome mainly due to good anatomical reduction and mechanical stability. However, further study may be needed to evaluate the correlation between functional and radiological outcomes and compare the various method of fixation with a larger sample size.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: We retrospectively identified 27 patients who underwent antegrade intramedullary nail fixation for traumatic humeral shaft fractures and received follow-up for at least 5 years post-operatively. The patients were divided into two groups: those without tears and those with partial or complete tears, diagnosed using ultrasonography. We compared the functional and radiological shoulder outcomes between the two groups.
RESULTS: Of the 27 patients, 10 had partial or complete supraspinatus tears with a mean follow-up of 7.5 years postoperatively. The incidence of acromial spurs was significantly higher in patients with partial or complete tears than in those without tears (P<0.001). There were no significant differences in the age and sex-adjusted Constant score, or the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeon score between the two groups.
CONCLUSION: Our results revealed that 37% of patients developed partial or complete supraspinatus tendon tears in the mid-term. Post-operative rotator cuff tears were significantly associated with the formation of acromial spurs; however, they had no significant effect on mid-term shoulder functional outcomes.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, 25 patients who underwent Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction (ACLR) as a daycare surgery in our setup were assessed retrospectively. Post-operatively patients were reviewed for pain, complications, conversion from daycare to inpatients, readmission within two weeks post ACLR and cost-effectiveness.
RESULTS: None of the patients required readmission within two weeks post-operatively, two patients were admitted on request from Surgical Day Care (SDC) to inpatient postoperatively, two patients developed urinary retention. Daycare ACLR was also cost-effective, as shown by cost analysis a reduction of cost by 26.9 %.
CONCLUSION: Daycare ACLR is safe, feasible, and cost-effective treatment modality for young patients and can provide a substantial cost saving.
OBJECTIVES: To determine the benefits and harms of acupuncture (e.g. needle acupuncture with or without electrical stimulation; laser acupuncture; non-penetrating types of manual or embedded acupressure) on mortality and morbidity in neonates with HIE, compared with 1) no treatment, 2) placebo or sham treatment, 3) any pharmacologic treatment, or 4) different types of acupuncture.
SEARCH METHODS: We searched CENTRAL, PubMed, Embase, ClinicalTrials.gov, and the WHO ICTRP in March 2023. We conducted a search of the grey literature to identify reports of trials conducted by or referenced in research by CORDIS EU, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), and NHSGGC Paediatrics for Health Professionals. We also checked the reference lists of relevant articles to identify additional studies.
SELECTION CRITERIA: We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) or quasi-RCTs and cluster-randomized trials. We included studies where participants were term infants (37 weeks or greater) and late preterm infants (34 + 0 to 36 + 6 weeks' gestation) 10 days of age or less, with evidence of peripartum asphyxia. We included studies on acupuncture (e.g. needle acupuncture with or without electrical stimulation; laser acupuncture; non-penetrating types of manual or embedded acupressure). We included studies where acupuncture was compared with: 1) no treatment; 2) placebo or sham treatment; 3) any pharmacologic treatment; or 4) different types of acupuncture.
DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: We used standard Cochrane methods. Our primary outcomes were all-cause mortality at the latest follow-up, major neurodevelopmental disability in children aged 18 to 24 months and aged 3 to 5 years, adverse events until hospital discharge, and length of hospital stay.
MAIN RESULTS: We included four studies (enrolling 464 infants) that compared acupuncture with no treatment. The studies ranged in size from 60 to 200 infants. Three studies were conducted in China and one in Russia. None of the four studies reported on any of the prespecified outcomes of our review. We did not identify any ongoing studies.
AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: There is limited availability of studies addressing this specific population. The included studies did not assess mortality, long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes, or adverse effects of acupuncture. We are unable to draw any conclusions about the benefits and harms of acupuncture for HIE in neonates. In light of the current limitations, clinicians are urged to approach the use of acupuncture in neonates with HIE cautiously, as there is no evidence to support its routine application. The available trials assessed surrogate outcomes that have a relatively small impact on newborns, and failed to report important outcomes such as mortality and long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes. Other available trials were performed on older infants who had experienced neonatal HIE. Given the lack of available evidence, well-designed randomized controlled trials with relevant outcomes such as mortality and neurodevelopmental outcomes are essential to evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture for HIE in neonates.