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Biomedical subjects

W C Beck

Publications and source records attributed to W C Beck.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Regulations, standards, and guidelines.

Standards appearing in the Federal Register are law and are mandatory. Voluntary guidelines only constrain an institution if the guidelines are incorporated into the hospital's rules. Hospitals are required to have rules and regulations; however, they apply only to each individual hospital.

Hospital Administration↗

Appendicitis: the perforation rate when reviewed by decades in a general hospital.

Acute appendicitis at this medical center for 1984 was reviewed and compared with previous studies reporting 1944 and 1964. In 1984, the perforation rate was strikingly higher than the earlier years. It was zero in 1944, rose to 13.6 per cent in 1964, and to 31.4 per cent in 1984. One quarter of perforations in 1984 occurred during the first decade of life. In 1984, 14 per cent (10/70) of all patients with appendicitis were examined by a physician prior to eventual hospitalization; nine had perforated the appendix, representing 41 per cent of all perforations. Major factors responsible for the increase in perforations included (1) an increase in patients less than ten years old (a group at high risk for perforation), and (2) physician or patient delay in hospitalization. We suggest that physician and public education, which has proven effective in the past, should be reinstituted. Critical review of appendicitis should be carried out at individual institutions to identify, and thus, modify trends in this disease. Perforation increases morbidity and cost, yet is easily avoidable.

Adolescent↗

Mastectomy performed by Lawrence Heister in the eighteenth century.

In 1720, Heister successfully removed a massive tumor of the breast. The lesion was probably a massive cystosarcoma phylloides rather than infiltrating carcinoma of the duct. His thorough description reveals that patients and surgeons have changed little in two and one-half centuries.

Breast Neoplasms↗

Aseptic barriers in surgery: their present status.

Aseptic barriers are employed in the form of surgical gowns, drapes, and wrappers for sterile goods. They possess many of the attributes of textiles, but must also protect sterile zones from microbial invasion. Surgeons rely on them to resist penetration by liquids and other bacterial vehicles. A large variety of both woven and nonwoven materials are being produced for this purpose. The user is faced with difficult choices. The provider of the barrier materials must assure the surgeon of their barrier quality under the usual conditions of their use in operating rooms. Identical standards of quality can be and should be applicable whether these materials are created to be used once and discarded or are reusable.

Antisepsis↗

Choosing surgical illumination.

(1) Lighting systems for the surgical task are combinations of ambient room lighting to complement the operating task light. The two must match to produce a good effect. (2) Only a few surgical task lights are available, and their characteristics and relative merits should be studied. (3) Ideally the surgeon should test the task light to judge its suitability for his taste.

General Surgery↗