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Cureus Oct 2018Fascia is a cacophony of functions and information, a completely adaptable entropy complex. The fascial system has a solid and a liquid component, acting in a perfect... (Review)
Review
Fascia is a cacophony of functions and information, a completely adaptable entropy complex. The fascial system has a solid and a liquid component, acting in a perfect symbiotic synchrony. Each cell communicates with the other cells by sending and receiving signals; this concept is a part of quantum physics and it is known as quantum entanglement: a physical system cannot be described individually, but only as a juxtaposition of multiple systems, where the measurement of a quantity determines the value for other systems. Fascial continuum serves as a target for different manual approaches, such as physiotherapy, osteopathy and chiropractic. Cellular behaviour and the inclusion of quantum physics background are hardly being considered to find out what happens between the operator and the patient during a manual physical contact. The article examines these topics. According to the authors' knowledge, this is the first scientific text to offer manual operators' new perspectives to understand what happens during palpatory contact. A fascial cell has not only memory but also the awareness of the mechanometabolic information it feels, and it has the anticipatory predisposition in preparing itself for alteration of its natural environment.
PubMed: 30538897
DOI: 10.7759/cureus.3397 -
Brain Sciences Jul 2020Opioids are the mainstay for the management of moderate to severe pain. However, their acute use is associated with several side effects, ranging from nausea, itching,...
Opioids are the mainstay for the management of moderate to severe pain. However, their acute use is associated with several side effects, ranging from nausea, itching, sedation, hypotension to respiratory depression, and death. Also, chronic use of these drugs can lead to the development of tolerance, dependence, and eventually addiction. The most serious side effect, lethality due to opioid-induced overdose, has reached the level of national emergency, i.e., the opioid crisis, which is now the forefront of medicine. In a detailed review (Novel Synthetic Opioids: The Pathologist's Point of View), Frisoni and colleagues have discussed the side effects of novel licit and illicit fentanyl derivatives, as well as the related compounds which are more potent and faster acting than morphine and other conventional opioids (Frisoni, et al., 2018). These drugs affect the central nervous system (CNS) and can promote the development of addiction due to the quick rush they induce because of their faster entry into the brain. These drugs also arrest the cardiovascular and pulmonary systems, increasing the chance of respiratory arrest, leading to opioid-induced overdose morbidity and mortality. The respiratory arrest induced by opioids can be potentiated by other CNS depressants, such as alcohol or benzodiazepines, and therefore may occur more frequently in polydrug users. Therefore, the use of these newer fentanyl derivatives as well as other fast acting opioids should be avoided or limited to specific cases and must be kept out of the reach of children and adolescents who are more vulnerable to become addicted or overdose themselves.
PubMed: 32726995
DOI: 10.3390/brainsci10080485 -
BMJ Open Quality Jan 2022Procedural time-outs and checklists are proven to be an effective means of improving teamwork and preventing wrong-sided procedures. The main objective of this study was...
BACKGROUND
Procedural time-outs and checklists are proven to be an effective means of improving teamwork and preventing wrong-sided procedures. The main objective of this study was to ensure that all regional nerve blocks being performed in the preoperative area at our hospital were executed with a proper time-out. The goal of this project was to increase integration of a safe preoperative block process including a time-out checklist to ensure; complete consents, correct patient and laterality were marked prior to each procedure. We focused on recognising events that took place before, during and after the nerve block including non-compliance with the checklist and deviations from protocol.
METHODS
A safe preoperative block process current and future state flowchart, revised time-out checklist and action/implementation plan as part of our Plan-Do-Study-Act model was constructed using a multidisciplinary approach. Pre-implementation and post- implementation data were collected by medical students acting anonymously via direct observation noting the presence of an anaesthesiologist, resident, nurse, time-out for procedure, checklist completed and procedure start and sedation time representing a complete time-out.
RESULTS
The direct observations in the pre-implementation group showed a 20% (3/15) compliance with a correct time-out. The direct observations in the post implementation group showed 85% (12/14) compliance. This revealed a 65% increase in all portions of the time-out checklist completed. Comparative analysis confirmed decrease in non-compliance and deviations from protocol as displayed by 65% increase in all portions of time-out checklist completed.
CONCLUSION
We aimed to improve safety, communication and compliance for preoperative nerve blocks through development and implementation of a safe preoperative block process using a multidisciplinary model. We conclude that creation of a safe nerve block was achieved by integration of a preoperative nerve block process which included increased compliance to the time-out checklist, verifying patients and laterality with marking of patient prior to each procedure, identifying proper consents were completed and ensuring each regional nerve block was executed with a proper time-out.
Topics: Checklist; Communication; Humans; Nerve Block; Patient Safety
PubMed: 35012932
DOI: 10.1136/bmjoq-2021-001370 -
Acta Medica Portuguesa 2015The superwarfarin-type anticoagulant rodenticides are used throughout the world and distinguish themselves from warfarin for its high potency and long acting...
The superwarfarin-type anticoagulant rodenticides are used throughout the world and distinguish themselves from warfarin for its high potency and long acting anticoagulant activity. Easy access to these products enables the accidental or deliberate human poisoning. A case of voluntary rodenticide poisoning (RATIBRONÂ) by a woman who ingested an estimated 27.5 mg of bromadiolone total quantity for two weeks, with minor bleeding episodes, whose reversal of the anticoagulant effect with the correction of the abnormal values of the clotting tests took about one month to reverse is reported here. The correction of the haemostasis defects takes usually a long time and there are no treatment guidelines, but a gradually vitamin K dosage reduction, as out patients, along with the monitoring of the International Normalized Ratio levels, allows a safe evaluation of the therapeutic response.
Topics: 4-Hydroxycoumarins; Female; Humans; Middle Aged; Rodenticides; Suicide, Attempted
PubMed: 26421794
DOI: No ID Found -
Respiratory Care Jun 2018Asthma exacerbation is defined as a progressive increase in symptoms of shortness of breath, cough, or wheezing sufficient to require a change in therapy. After ruling... (Review)
Review
Asthma exacerbation is defined as a progressive increase in symptoms of shortness of breath, cough, or wheezing sufficient to require a change in therapy. After ruling out diagnoses that mimic an asthma exacerbation, therapy should be initiated. Short-acting β agonists and short-acting muscarinic antagonists are effective as bronchodilators for asthma in the acute setting. Systemic corticosteroids to reduce airway inflammation continue to be the mainstay therapy for asthma exacerbations, and, unless there is a contraindication, the oral route is favored. Based on the current evidence, nebulized magnesium should not be routinely used in acute asthma. The evidence favors the use of intravenous magnesium sulfate in selected cases, particularly in severe exacerbations. Methylxanthines have a minimum role as therapy for asthma exacerbations but may be considered in refractory cases of status asthmaticus with careful monitoring of toxicity. Current guidelines recommend the use of helium-oxygen mixtures in patients who do not respond to standard therapies or those with severe disease.
Topics: Acute Disease; Anti-Asthmatic Agents; Asthma; Disease Management; Disease Progression; Drug Therapy, Combination; Humans
PubMed: 29794211
DOI: 10.4187/respcare.05953 -
Clinical Ophthalmology (Auckland, N.Z.) 2016This review evaluates the current surgical options for the management of idiopathic macular holes (IMHs), including vitrectomy, ocriplasmin (OCP), and expansile gas use,... (Review)
Review
This review evaluates the current surgical options for the management of idiopathic macular holes (IMHs), including vitrectomy, ocriplasmin (OCP), and expansile gas use, and discusses key background information to inform the choice of treatment. An evidence-based approach to selecting the best treatment option for the individual patient based on IMH characteristics and patient-specific factors is suggested. For holes without vitreomacular attachment (VMA), vitrectomy is the only option with three key surgical variables: whether to peel the inner limiting membrane (ILM), the type of tamponade agent to be used, and the requirement for postoperative face-down posturing. There is a general consensus that ILM peeling improves primary anatomical hole closure rate; however, in small holes (<250 µm), it is uncertain whether peeling is always required. It has been increasingly recognized that long-acting gas and face-down positioning are not always necessary in patients with small- and medium-sized holes, but large (>400 µm) and chronic holes (>1-year history) are usually treated with long-acting gas and posturing. Several studies on posturing and gas choice were carried out in combination with ILM peeling, which may also influence the gas and posturing requirement. Combined phacovitrectomy appears to offer more rapid visual recovery without affecting the long-term outcomes of vitrectomy for IMH. OCP is licensed for use in patients with small- or medium-sized holes and VMA. A greater success rate in using OCP has been reported in smaller holes, but further predictive factors for its success are needed to refine its use. It is important to counsel patients realistically regarding the rates of success with intravitreal OCP and its potential complications. Expansile gas can be considered as a further option in small holes with VMA; however, larger studies are required to provide guidance on its use.
PubMed: 26834454
DOI: 10.2147/OPTH.S96090 -
Comprehensive Psychiatry Apr 2021Two of Europe's most influential psychopathologists at the start of the twentieth century (Eugen Bleuler and Karl Jaspers) pointed out the fact that patients rarely act... (Review)
Review
OBJECTIVES
Two of Europe's most influential psychopathologists at the start of the twentieth century (Eugen Bleuler and Karl Jaspers) pointed out the fact that patients rarely act according to their delusions. This study proposes an investigation of how this issue is addressed in psychopathological literature.
METHODS
This article offers a critical review of psychopathological literature which focuses on the influence of delusional ideation on behaviour.
RESULTS
Phenomenological psychiatry has relied on the paradox pointed out by Bleuler and Jaspers to emphasize disorders of self-experience in psychosis whereas analytical philosophy of delusion has focused on the psychological status of delusion, regarded as belief, certainty, or imagination. The empirical studies conducted during the past three decades - which were devoted to acting on delusion - focused on violent and safety-seeking behaviours. These studies have shown that these behavioural disorders are motivated by an emotional outburst (anger and/or fear) rather than by delusional content.
CONCLUSION
Delusional inconsequentiality can be clarified by conceptual research in phenomenological psychiatry and analytical philosophy, even though its role in the psychopathological processes has not yet been clearly identified or conceptualised. Empirical psychopathology on acting on delusion confirms the delusional inconsequentiality, but only implicitly, by highlighting the role of affectivity (rather than beliefs) in delusional actions. Given the major implications of better understanding this phenomenon, in terms of psychopathology and clinical practices, we suggest considering delusional inconsequentiality as a promising concept which could guide further research in contemporary psychopathology.
Topics: Delusions; Humans; Psychiatry; Psychopathology; Psychotic Disorders; Thinking
PubMed: 33581447
DOI: 10.1016/j.comppsych.2021.152230 -
Frontiers in Psychiatry 2022The goal of this paper is to try and close the gap between the ways in which pathological and normal personality, including their development, are conceptualized. To... (Review)
Review
The goal of this paper is to try and close the gap between the ways in which pathological and normal personality, including their development, are conceptualized. To this end, attention is drawn to parallels that exist between the ways self-function is conceptualized in contemporary personality psychology and in recent iterations of the major psychiatric nosologies, particularly ICD-11. Conceptualizations in both normal and abnormal personality see a fundamental dichotomy between and (vs autonomous). Evidence is reviewed supporting a basic dichotomy between two categories of personality pathology that can be subsumed under the labels "Acting Out" and "Anxious-Inhibited." It is suggested that fundamental to the personality pathology subsumed under "Acting Out" is a deficient interdependent self, while a defective self-identity is proposed to underlie the personality pathology subsumed under "Anxious-Inhibited."
PubMed: 36339855
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1023236 -
Frontiers in Psychiatry 2022Scientific and clinical work concerning the etiology of substance use and addiction has come a long way in the past decades. Current theories highlight the notion that...
Scientific and clinical work concerning the etiology of substance use and addiction has come a long way in the past decades. Current theories highlight the notion that addiction is rooted in deficits in neurobiological and psychological reward mechanisms, but also as a coping-oriented effort to contend with, or "self-medicate," negative emotional experiences. As such, contemporary approaches in the dynamic psychotherapy of addiction highlight the compensatory nature of addiction, encouraging clinicians to detect the mental suffering underlying addiction and promote alternative coping behaviors. In this perspective article, the authors advocate for an integrative approach toward understanding and addressing addiction in psychotherapy, acknowledging its biological, psychological and social aspects. We propose that in addition to the regulatory process of self-medication, in which negative emotions are being suppressed, compulsive substance use may also reflect a substitutive function, in which negative emotions are being 'acted-out' through the use of drugs or alcohol. We suggest an integrative clinical approach which addresses these psychological aspects in a sequential manner and discuss consequent benefits for clinicians and patients working with and through addiction.
PubMed: 35222121
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.820660