Reporting controlled trials.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to A Grant.
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Ultrasound and pulsed electromagnetic energy therapies are increasingly used for perineal trauma sustained during childbirth. The study included 414 women with moderate or severe perineal trauma randomly allocated to receive active ultrasound, or active pulsed electromagnetic energy, or corresponding placebo therapies; the allocation was double-blind for each machine. Overall, more than 90% thought that treatment made their problem better. There were no clear differences between the groups in outcome either immediately after treatment, or 10 days or 3 months postpartum, other than more pain associated with pulsed electromagnetic energy treatment at 10 days. Bruising looked more extensive after ultrasound therapy but then seemed to resolve more quickly. Neither therapy had an effect on perineal oedema or haemorrhoids. The place of these new therapies in postnatal care should be clarified by further controlled trials before they become part of routine care.
Commonly used suture materials and techniques for perineal repair following vaginal delivery were compared in a randomized controlled trial involving 1574 women. Three comparisons were made using a modified factorial design. In the comparison of teflon-coated polyglycolic acid (Dexon plus) with chromic catgut for repair of the vagina and deep perineal tissues there was no clear difference other than less short-term analgesia being required in association with polyglycolic acid. Outcome was also similar after skin repair with either polyglycolic acid or chromic catgut or silk, although silk repair required more packets of material and was associated with delay in resuming sexual intercourse; polyglycolic acid was more likely to need removal than chromic catgut but it appeared to reduce the need for resuturing. There was no clear difference between continuous subcuticular and interrupted transcutaneous sutures for repair of perineal skin.
A systematic review of the 14 relevant controlled trials was conducted because there is no agreement about the choice of material and technique for repair of perineal trauma sustained during childbirth. Derivatives of polyglycolic acid (marketed as Dexon and Vicryl) appear to be the absorbable material of choice for both deep and skin closure. Compared with catgut their use is associated with about a 40% reduction in short-term pain and need for analgesia. The main drawback is that some material often needs removal during the puerperium. Glycerol-impregnated catgut is ruled out because of its link with long-term dyspareunia. Compared with the non-absorbable materials (silk and nylon) polyglycolic acid skin sutures were associated with less short-term perineal pain, and had no clear disadvantages. Continuous, subcuticular stitching appears preferable to interrupted, transcutaneous suturing, particularly in terms of perineal pain in the early puerperium.
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Sixty patients (eighty hips) who had slipped capital femoral epiphysis were treated by epiphyseodesis with a cannulated-screw technique. Forty-nine patients (sixty-seven hips) were available for follow-up, forty-four (sixty hips) of whom were followed for a minimum of two years. Thirty-five patients (forty-six hips) were followed until the hardware was removed. Of seventy-two hips in which contrast medium was injected, arthrographic results were obtained in three. In these three hips, there was evidence of pre-existing narrowing of the joint space. Four patients (six hips) who did not have evidence of penetration by a screw or guide-wire had evidence of either pre-existing chondrolysis or osteoarthrosis. Chondrolysis did not develop postoperatively in any patient who had no evidence of it preoperatively.
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Brindley anterior sacral root stimulators have been implanted into 22 spinal cord injured patients from the spinal injury units in Cardiff and Sheffield. The group comprised 20 men and 2 women (15 paraplegics and 7 tetraplegics); 16 patients are using the implant, of whom 11 (68%) are continent. Of the remaining 5, 4, who empty completely, are incontinent because of inability to use the implant with sufficient frequency; 6 patients are not using their implant, though 4 are continent. Of 11 patients with detrusor/sphincter dyssynergia, sphincterotomy was necessary in 3 patients before implantation and in a further 3 after implantation. Of 4 patients with abnormal upper tracts prior to implantation, 2 resolved and 2 deteriorated, in the presence of dyssynergia; 1 patient developed hydronephrosis after implantation, having previously had normal upper tracts. Although erectile function with the stimulator was clinically adequate in 6 patients, in no patient has intercourse been achieved because of concurrent lower limb spasm.
Controversy continues about the use of beta-mimetic drugs in preterm labour. One reason for this is that the adequately controlled trials of these drugs have all been small and have thus provided very imprecise estimates of their effects. We have therefore conducted a 'meta-analysis' using data relating to 890 women who participated in the 16 methodologically acceptable controlled trials of these agents in the treatment of preterm labour. This analysis demonstrates an unequivocal effect of beta-mimetic tocolytic administration in delaying delivery, and this is reflected in a reduction in the frequency of preterm birth and low birthweight. However, no beneficial effect of this treatment on perinatal mortality or severe neonatal respiratory disorders could be detected.
Women who had participated in a randomised controlled trial of policies of restricted (10%) versus liberal (51%) episiotomy during spontaneous vaginal delivery were recontacted by postal questionnaire three years after delivery. Altogether 674 out of 1000 responded, and there was no evidence of a differential response rate between the two trial groups. Similar numbers of women in the two groups reported further deliveries, almost all of which had been vaginal and spontaneous. Fewer women allocated to restrictive use of episiotomy required perineal suturing after subsequent delivery, but this difference was not significant. Pain during sexual intercourse and incontinence of urine were equally reported in the two groups. The similarity in incontinence rates persisted when severity, type of incontinence, and subsequent deliveries were taken into account. Liberal use of episiotomy does not seem to prevent urinary incontinence or increase long term dyspareunia.
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Biopsy specimens were taken from lesional and normal skin of nine patients with mycosis fungoides before and after total body electron beam therapy. By electron microscopy, lesional skin had one and one-half to ten times as many epidermal Langerhans cells and indeterminate cells as did the normal skin. In successfully treated lesional skin 1 month after the end of electron beam therapy, the density of epidermal Langerhans cells and indeterminate cells had decreased markedly. In incompletely resolved lesions, Langerhans cells and indeterminate cells were still at pretreatment levels. Epidermal T6 and Ia antigens showed the same pattern of response. Epidermal cell suspensions from lesional and normal skin before and after electron beam therapy were assayed for epidermal thymocyte activating factor. The values of production of this factor did not correlate with the source of the epidermal cells, response to therapy, or the patient's disease course. Skin lesions resembling xerosis and parapsoriasis and histologically lacking the criteria for mycosis fungoides appeared during clinical remissions. These nonspecific skin lesions had densities of epidermal Langerhans cells, indeterminate cells, and T6-positive and Ia-positive cells comparable to levels found in pretreatment lesional skin.
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In a prospective randomized multi-centre study, the mortality following internal fixation surgery for fracture of the upper femur was investigated in 538 elderly patients allocated to receive subarachnoid blockade or general (narcotic-relaxant) anaesthesia. The 28-day mortality was 6.6% with subarachnoid, and 5.9% with general, anaesthesia. The difference was not significant (95% confidence limits: -3.5 to +4.8). At 1 year following surgery, the mortality was 20.4%. Increasing age, ischaemic heart disease, cardiac failure, preoperative arrhythmias and poor ASA status were all associated with increases in early and long term mortality. A delay to surgery of more than 24 h from admission was also associated with an increased 28-day mortality. Senile dementia and admission other than from the patient's own home, were factors associated with a poorer long term outcome. From the point of view of mortality, subarachnoid anaesthesia did not appear to confer any advantages over general anaesthesia in non-prosthetic surgery for hip fracture in the elderly.
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Plasminogen activator, secreted by metastatic tumor cells, was strongly inhibited in buffer or tissue culture medium containing physiological concentrations of NaCl. Intact cells, however, expressed strong activity under similar conditions. Thus, if plasminogen activator is involved in invasion and metastasis, the cellular activity, acting as an ectoenzyme, may be more important than secreted enzyme under physiological conditions.