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Biomedical subjects

F F Muakkassa

Publications and source records attributed to F F Muakkassa.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Laparoscopic appendectomy. Initial experience in a teaching program.

From February 1990 to December 1991, 16 laparoscopic procedures were performed for right lower quadrant pain. There were nine men and seven women, aged 16 to 47 years (mean, 27.2 years). All procedures were performed by surgical chief residents with prior experience in laparoscopic cholecystectomy, first-assisted by an attending surgeon. The appendix was visualized and a definitive diagnosis was made in all patients. One patient with acute salpingitis underwent diagnostic laparoscopy only; two patients underwent laparotomy (perforated appendicitis, perforated diverticulitis). A fourth patient had an acute torsion of an ovarian cyst managed laparoscopically. Laparoscopic appendectomy was successfully performed in 12 patients (acute appendicitis, 9; fibrosis or chronic inflammation, 2; normal appendix, 1). Mean operative time for laparoscopic appendectomy was 95.7 minutes, and mean postoperative stay was 2.5 days. The authors conclude that operative time, diagnostic accuracy, and complication rates for laparoscopic appendectomy are acceptable. Within the context of a training program, laparoscopic appendectomy provides an opportunity for surgical residents to expand laparoscopic skills.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Complications of pelvic fractures from blunt trauma.

Significant external forces are required to fracture a normal pelvis. These forces usually result from rapid deceleration or crushing injuries, and energy often is delivered to multiple anatomic sites in addition to the pelvis. Associated injuries are common, and numerous complications can occur in patients with pelvic fractures. During 4 years, the authors treated 144 men and 92 women with pelvic fractures from blunt trauma who were admitted directly to the University of Mississippi Medical Center. They had a mean age of 31.5 years, a mean Injury Severity Score of 21.3, and an average hospital stay of 16.8 days. Seventy-seven of the 236 patients (32.6%) had 137 complications, including 18 deaths. Most of these were infections such as pneumonia (6), urinary tract infections (8), wound infections (8), or sepsis without a defined source (10). There was a high incidence of pulmonary complications including Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome (12), significant atelectasis (7), and fat emboli (3). Musculoskeletal complications (13) and coagulopathy (12) also occurred frequently. Eight patients had thromboembolic events, but prophylactic, subcutaneous heparin was not beneficial in preventing these complications. Patients with complications had higher Injury Severity Scores, lower Trauma Scores, increased transfusion requirements, longer hospital stays, and greater hospital charges compared to those without complications (P less than 0.01 for all variables). There was no association of complications with patient age, sex, mechanism of injury, anatomic site or amount of displacement of the pelvic fracture, or vector of injury. Patients with unstable pelvic fractures were much more likely to have complications than were those with stable pelvic fractures (P = 0.013).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Effect of dietary fish oil on plasma thromboxane B2 and 6-keto-prostaglandin F1 alpha levels in septic rats.

Increased mortality from sepsis is associated with high levels of thromboxane B2 (TXB2) and 6-keto-prostaglandin F1 alpha (PGF1 alpha). Linoleic acid, an n-6 essential fatty acid, is the usual precursor of TXB2 and PGF1 alpha, while fish oil is rich in n-3 essential fatty acid, the precursor of less active moieties. Rats were fed chow, an essential fatty acid-deficient diet, or an essential fatty acid-deficient diet supplemented with linoleic acid or fish oil for 2 weeks. The animals then underwent a sham operation or cecal ligation and puncture to induce sepsis. Six hours later, blood was obtained for analysis. The chow and linoleic acid diets produced significant (twofold to fivefold) increases in levels of both TXB2 and PGF1 alpha after sepsis. The essential fatty acid-deficient diet and fish oil diet protected against increases in levels of TXB2 or PGF1 alpha during sepsis. Dietary restriction of linoleic acid or fish oil supplementation may play an important role in altering the inflammatory mediator response to sepsis.

6-Ketoprostaglandin F1 alpha↗
PubMed1991

Pelvic fracture from major blunt trauma. Outcome is determined by associated injuries.

Pelvic hemorrhage has been implicated as the cause of death in 50% of patients who die following pelvic fractures. To establish correlates of morbidity and mortality from pelvic fractures due to blunt trauma, we reviewed 236 patients treated during 4 years. The average age of the 144 men and 92 women was 31.5 years, the average Injury Severity Score was 21.3, the average blood requirement was 5 units, and the average hospital stay was 16.8 days. One hundred fifty-two patients (64.4%) were injured in motor vehicle accidents, 33 (14%) had motor vehicle-pedestrian accidents, 16 (6.8%) had crush injuries, 12 (5.1%) each had either motorcycle accidents or falls, and 11 (4.6%) had miscellaneous accidents. Eighteen patients (7.6%) died, with seven (38.9%) deaths due to hemorrhage. Only one death was caused by pelvic hemorrhage. Other deaths were due to hemorrhage from other sites (6), head injury (5), sepsis or multiple-organ failure (4), pulmonary injury (1), and pulmonary embolus (1). None of the septic deaths was related to a pelvic hematoma. Multivariate multiple regression analysis showed that the severity of injury was correlated with indices of severity of pelvic fractures such as fracture site (p less than 0.0001), fracture displacement (p less than 0.005), pelvic stability (p less than 0.0001), and vector of injury (p less than 0.01). However death could not be predicted on the basis of these indices of severity (p greater than 0.28). Of the nine patients who underwent pelvic arteriography, three required embolization of actively bleeding pelvic vessels, but seven had intra-abdominal hemorrhage that required laparotomy, and eight developed a coagulopathy. Massive bleeding from pelvic fractures was uncommon, and the major threat of hemorrhage was from nonpelvic sites. Furthermore, although injury severity was correlated with the severity of the pelvic fracture, hospital outcome was determined by associated injuries and not by the pelvic fracture.

Accidental Falls↗
PubMed1991

Adult respiratory distress syndrome.

The adult respiratory distress syndrome carries a mortality rate of 60-65% which has remained unchanged since its description more than 20 years ago. As our knowledge of the pathophysiology of ARDS improves, so does our ability to better define this disease entity. This is important since our therapy has been supportive with no change in outcome. The recent thinking is that ARDS is part of a multi-system disease process where there is activation of a total body inflammatory response. Identifying these inflammatory mediators and their role in the pathogenesis of ARDS may allow specific drugs to inhibit or modulate their release and action and hopefully alter the course of the disease. New therapeutic options, like exogenous surfactant, are emerging and undergoing clinical trails. Till a cure for ARDS is proven effective, prevention and support are our only current therapeutic options in battling ARDS.

Humans↗
PubMed1990

Cost-effective use of microcomputers for quality assurance and resource utilization in the surgical intensive care unit.

Need for organ system support, severity of illness, and the risk of life-threatening complications are major factors in determining the need for ICU care and directly affect ICU costs. Using a microcomputer and a relational database program, an ICU database was developed to study ICU utilization. The following information was collected for each ICU patient on admission, then daily, and on ICU discharge: demographic data, procedures, monitors used, laboratory tests, complications, outcome, and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE II) score as a measure of acuity. In our study, this information was used as a first step in an attempt to define categories of patients who might benefit most from intensive care and those who would not. From September 1, 1987 to March 1, 1989, 1,062 patients were admitted to the surgical ICU (SICU). Otorhinolaryngology (ENT) patients with major head and neck resections, routinely admitted to the SICU, were compared with those from other surgical services. The ENT patients had the lowest mean admission APACHE II (6.8 +/- 0.4 vs. 11.4 +/- 0.3), lowest mean daily APACHE II (7.8 +/- 0.4 vs. 13.2 +/- 0.1), lowest percent of ventilated patients (7.6% vs. 39.4%) and ventilator days (18.9% vs. 64.6%), and had the least monitoring by central venous catheters (20.9% vs. 57.1%) or pulmonary artery catheters (0.9% vs. 29.8%) (p less than .0001 for all of above). They also had the shortest mean ICU stay (1.2 +/- 0.1 vs. 3.3 +/- 0.2 days, p less than .05). The only complication in 105 ENT patients was one uncomplicated myocardial infarction.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1990

ABGs and arterial lines: the relationship to unnecessarily drawn arterial blood gas samples.

Arterial blood gas measurements (ABGs) are the most common tests ordered in an ICU. ABG utilization in a surgical ICU over a 1-year period (September 1, 1987-October 31, 1988) was evaluated to identify factors that might help reduce overutilization. A total of 842 admissions comprising 2,381 patient days were reviewed. ABGs were the most commonly ordered test (mean of 4.8/patient/day). Patients with arterial lines (A-lines) had more ABGs drawn than those who did not regardless of the value of PaO2 (p less than 0.01), PaCO2 (p less than 0.01 except for PaCO2 greater than 55), APACHE II score (p less than 0.01), use of ventilators (p less than 0.01), pulse oximeters (p less than 0.01), or a combination of the last two (p less than 0.01). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that the presence of an A-line was the most powerful predictor of the number of ABGs drawn per patient (p less than 0.0001) independent of all other measures of the patient's clinical status such as the use of ventilators, oximeters, and values of PaO2, PaCO2, or the APACHE II score. This suggests that ABGs are being drawn unnecessarily simply because of the presence of an A-line. To reduce the number of ABGs drawn, a policy for specific indications for placement of A-lines and ABG analysis should be adopted.

Blood Gas Analysis↗