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Biomedical subjects

R A Bruce

Publications and source records attributed to R A Bruce.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1998

Acute cortisol responses of calves to scoop dehorning using local anaesthesia and/or cautery of the wound.

OBJECTIVE: To measure plasma cortisol responses in calves dehorned using a scoop after administration of local anaesthesia and/or cautery of the wounds. DESIGN: A physiological study with controls. PROCEDURE: There were six treatments: control handling with and without local anaesthesia, dehorning, dehorning after local anaesthesia, dehorning followed by wound cautery, and dehorning after local anaesthesia followed by wound cautery. Blood samples were taken before and after dehorning. RESULTS: Dehorning caused an increase in plasma cortisol concentrations, which decreased a little to plateau values and then declined to pretreatment values 3 to 4 h after dehorning. The peak was smaller after local anaesthesia was administered but when its effects wore off, cortisol concentrations increased and thereafter were similar to those in the dehorned animals. The combination of local anaesthesia and cautery resulted in a plasma cortisol response similar to those in control calves with or without local anaesthesia. CONCLUSIONS: If plasma cortisol concentrations reflect the distress being experienced by the calves, then local anaesthesia reduces the acute distress for about 3 h after dehorning but not during the subsequent 3 to 4 h. Combining local anaesthetic and cautery prevented the significant increase in plasma cortisol following dehorning and may eliminate the acute distress caused by scoop dehorning.

Anesthesia, Local↗
PubMed1998

Acute cortisol responses of calves to four methods of dehorning by amputation.

OBJECTIVE: To measure the plasma cortisol response in calves dehorned by four different methods (scoop, guillotine shears, saw, embryotomy wire) for 9 h after dehorning. DESIGN: A physiological study with controls. PROCEDURE: Horn amputation was carried out on calves restrained manually in a race. RESULTS: The four methods of dehorning provoked similarly increased cortisol responses which lasted for 6 h. During the first hour after dehorning the plasma cortisol concentrations were similar to those following ACTH injection. The overall cortisol response to control handling was about 30% of the responses to dehorning. CONCLUSIONS: The similarity of the cortisol responses produced by the four methods of dehorning suggests that the distress experienced by calves following dehorning by amputation is similar regardless of method used.

Amputation, Surgical↗
PubMed1997

Effects of shallow scoop and deep scoop dehorning on plasma cortisol concentrations in calves.

Scoop dehorning is one method of horn amputation. Plasma cortisol concentrations were used to investigate the effects of wound depth caused by shallow scoop and deep scoop dehorning on the acute pain-induced distress experienced by 15 week-old calves during the first 9 hours following horn amputation. Shallow scoop and deep scoop dehorning caused a prolonged cortisol elevation which returned to control values within 8 hours and 6 hours, respectively. There were no significant differences between shallow and deep dehorning with regard to mean plasma cortisol concentrations and integrated cortisol responses during the 9 hours after dehorning. Linear regression analysis revealed no significant correlation between wound depth and integrated cortisol response. Hence, at the investigated scoop wound depths, there was no detectable benefit in implementing a shallow scoop strategy in order to reduce acute pain-induced distress caused by scoop dehorning in 15 week-old calves.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1997

Acute cortisol responses of lambs to castration using a rubber ring and/or a castration clamp with or without local anaesthetic.

Changes in plasma cortisol concentrations during the first 4 hours after castration of 6-week-old lambs by one of four methods were measured. The methods were application of a rubber ring above the testes, application of a ring to shorten the scrotum below the testes, use of a castration clamp plus a ring, and use of a castration clamp alone. The efficacy of local anaesthetic in reducing or abolishing the cortisol responses to castration by all these methods except short scrotum was assessed. Local anaesthetic was injected into the neck of the scrotum, both spermatic cords, the scrotal neck plus spermatic cords, or into both testes. The combined clamp plus ring method was used to test whether or not clamp damage to afferent nerves from the testes would reduce the cortisol response to ring castration. The short scrotum method elicited a significantly lower cortisol response than that caused by ring castration. Injection of local anaesthetic into both spermatic cords marginally reduced the cortisol response to ring castration, but the response was virtually abolished by prior scrotal neck, or scrotal neck plus spermatic cords, or intra-testicular local anaesthetic injections. The clamp plus ring method, where each spermatic cord and the associated scrotal tissue were crushed separately for 1, 5 or 10 seconds with no overlap between the two crush lines, did not elicit lower cortisol responses than the ring-only method. Local anaesthetic injected into the scrotal neck virtually abolished, and spermatic cord injections markedly reduced, the cortisol responses to combined clamp plus ring castration. The IO-second clamp application caused a more protracted cortisol response than did ring-only castration, whereas the cortisol responses to 1-second clamp application and to ring-only castration were similar. Local anaesthetic injected into the scrotal neck or spermatic cords did not affect significantly the cortisol response to the IO-second clamp application. The following conclusions were drawn from this work: the testes as well as the scrotum were sources of noxious sensory input after ring application; the clamp plus ring method used here was ineffective in reducing the pain-induced distress (as indicated by cortisol concentrations) caused by ring-only castration; injection of local anaesthetic into the scrotal neck or into the testes prior to ring application blocked most noxious sensory input from both the scrotum and the testes; and on the basis of the present cortisol responses the 10-second clamp applications method could not be recommended in reference to the ring-only method, but the l-second clamp application method might be equally acceptable for castrating 6-week-old-lambs. Of the methods examined, injections of local anaesthetic into the scrotal neck or both testes were the most effective in reducing the pain-induced distress caused by ring-only castration.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1997

Acute cortisol responses of lambs castrated and docked using rubber rings with or without a castration clamp.

OBJECTIVE: To measure the plasma cortisol response in lambs castrated and docked by three different methods (ring castration and tail docking, ring and clamp castration and tail docking; ring and clamp castration and ring tail docking) for 4 h after treatment. DESIGN: A physiological study with controls. PROCEDURE: A rubber ring was applied to the scrotum. Then the castration clamp was placed, distal to the ring, on each spermatic cord such that there was no overlap of the crush lines. RESULTS: There were no differences in the cortisol secretion of the lambs castrated and tail docked by the ring only and by the ring plus castration clamp methods. Using the castration clamp in addition to the ring on the tail had no effect on cortisol secretion. CONCLUSIONS: Using the castration clamp did not appear to reduce the cortisol response to ring castration and docking, as demonstrated elsewhere, because the areas of uncrushed tissue between the two castration clamp crush lines allowed nociception from ischemic scrotal tissue to be transmitted cranially via undamaged nerve fibers.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1996

Cortisol responses of calves to two methods of tail docking used with or without local anaesthetic.

Tail docking of dairy cows to facilitate milking is carried out on calves or on heifers before calving. By monitoring changes in plasma cortisol concentrations, this study evaluated the distress in calves when docked by a rubber ring or docking iron (cautery) with or without local anaesthetic. The cortisol responses indicated that in most calves docking using a rubber ring or docking iron was no more distressing than control handling and simulated docking. A small proportion of calves in control and tail docked groups exhibited larger cortisol responses, the magnitudes of which suggested that they experienced some mild distress. There was no detectable benefit with either method of docking when local anaesthetic was used. The rubber ring is the preferable method, as there was some haemorrhage after docking with the docking iron.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1996

Cortisol responses of calves to two methods of disbudding used with or without local anaesthetic.

Cattle are disbudded or dehorned using a variety of methods. In this study, plasma cortisol concentrations were used to monitor distress in 6-week-old Friesian calves during the 9 hours following disbudding. Disbudding was carried out with a cautery iron or a dehorning scoop, with or without local anaesthetic. Cautery caused a transient rise in cortisol concentrations which returned to control values within 3 hours. The cortisol response to the scoop was more prolonged, as the plasma cortisol concentrations did not return to control levels until 7.5 hours after disbudding. The administration of a local anaesthetic reduced the cortisol response during the first 2 hours after scoop dehorning. This reduced response was followed by a delayed rise in cortisol concentrations between 2 and 7.5 hours. Cautery caused less distress than the scoop. The administration of local anaesthetic had little effect in alleviating distress in calves disbudded using the cautery iron.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1994

Clinical exercise testing. A review of personal and community practice experience.

Protocols for clinical exercise stress testing aid functional evaluation of cardiac impairment of ambulatory persons. Normal standards, criteria for functional impairment and exercise-enhanced prediction of risk of future cardiac events provide guidelines for clinical management. This review highlights development and evolution of relevant personal and community practice studies over decades that contributed to understanding and application of exercise testing for functional evaluation and enhanced risk prediction.

Aerobiosis↗
PubMed1993

The second Chalmers J. Lyons Academy study of fractures of the edentulous mandible.

A review of 167 fractures in 104 edentulous mandibles treated by several surgeons using a variety of methods was undertaken. Most patients (81.5%) had open reduction and internal fixation using bone plates. Problems in healing, either delayed or fibrous union, occurred in 21 of 167 fractures (12.6%) in 16 of 104 patients (15%). One fourth of patients treated by closed reduction techniques had problems with union, whereas extraoral open reduction with bone plate fixation produced very good results. The factors involved in treating these challenging fractures is discussed and comparisons are made with the previous Chalmers J. Lyons Academy study.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Arthroscopic resection of glenoid labral tears in the athlete: a report of 29 cases.

This article is a retrospective review of 28 overhead-throwing and striking athletes who underwent 29 arthroscopic partial glenoid labral resections. Indications for the procedure were a sudden inability to perform because of pain and the presence of a palpable "click" on clinical examination. At a minimum of 2 years follow-up, there was a statistically significant difference in the functional outcome between patients with stable and those with unstable glenohumral joints. In those with stable joints, there was a 91% good or excellent functional outcome. In those with unstable joints, there was a 25% good functional outcome and a 75% fair or poor functional outcome. We also noted a statistically significant difference in labral tear location between the stable and unstable glenohumeral joints. Seven of eight superior labral tears were in stable shoulders. Fourteen of 19 anterior labral tears were in stable shoulders. Both posterior labral tears were in unstable glenohumeral joints. Injury of the glenoid labrum without anatomic instability was observed in 72% of patients. Arthroscopic resection of a longitudinal labral tear in a stable shoulder can relieve the patient's discomfort and allow him or her to return to athletic competition. No patient developed clinical subluxation as a result of labral debridement, nor did any patient convert from a subluxing shoulder to a dislocating shoulder following surgery. In patients with anterior instability and labral tears, labral debridement was not a successful alternative to formal stabilization.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Ameloblastic carcinoma. Report of an aggressive case and review of the literature.

Odontogenic carcinomas of the jaws are classified as malignant ameloblastoma, ameloblastic carcinoma or primary intraosseous carcinoma. Because these lesions are extremely rare, microscopic diagnosis is difficult. An aggressive case of ameloblastic carcinoma of the mandible is presented. In spite of radical surgery and radiotherapy, the patient expired eight months following initial diagnosis. - A review of the literature seems to indicate that so called simple ameloblastomas rarely can dedifferentiate and metastasize following multiple inadequate surgical procedures. Although radical surgery is not necessary, local excision should be thorough. - Ameloblastic carcinoma and primary intraosseous carcinomas may be histogenetically similar. They are highly malignant tumours which should be treated aggressively. Metastasis is common and prognosis is poor.

Ameloblastoma↗
PubMed1991

Observations on the eradication of Brucella ovis infection from a ram flock.

The measures taken to eradicate Brucella ovis infection from a naturally infected flock of 64 rams are described. Lesions of epididymitis were detected in 18 rams, all of which gave either positive or suspicious reactions in the complement fixation test. A further 20 rams gave serological reactions in the complement fixation test. Subsequently, semen was collected from 14 of these 20 rams and B. ovis was cultured from the semen of all 14 rams. Serum samples from two rams failed to react in the complement fixation test. However, they were identified as infected with the aid of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and the subsequent culture of semen samples. It is suggested that, when eradicating B. ovis infection from ram flocks, the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay be used in addition to both the complement fixation test and the physical examination. Using a combination of tests as described can increase the likehood of an earlier eradication of B. ovis infection.

Journal Article↗