ABSTRACT
Historically, opium was used as a potent analgesic and to treat dyspnea and cough. It is documented that opium can increase exercise tolerance and relieve breathlessness. However, its overdose can suppress respiratory centers. The purpose of this study was to evaluate effects of opium on spirometric lung volumes. The study was done on two groups of patients referred to the lung clinic of Labbafi Nejad hospital. Group A was composed of 84 patients who were smokers and group B was made up of 40 patients who were smokers and opium addicts. Patients underwent spirometry and demographic questionnaires were collected. Significant differences were noted on lung volumes between two groups. Forced Vital Capacity [FVC] was 56 +/- 4.6 % in Group A and 72 +/- 4.7 % in Group B [P < 0.001]. Difference on Forced Expiratory Volume in one second [FEV1] was also statistically significant, 53 +/- 6.6 % in Group A versus 69 +/- 4.4 % in Group B [P < 0.001]. In this study, lung volumes were considerably larger in patients who were opium addicts and smokers compared to patients who were only smokers. Further studies are warranted to confirm these results, and such confirmation may lead to better understanding about role of opioids in respiratory diseases
ABSTRACT
Generally ICU patients are in critical status and need long stay in ICU. Pulmonary rehabilitation program [PRP] is considered as an important tool to improve outcome and shorten the length of stay in ICU. The aim of this study was to investigate whether PRP can affect outcome and duration of hospitalization in ICU patients. This study was performed in medical ICU of Labafi Nejad hospital, Tehran, Iran during 2012 and 2013. All of patients who had more than one day stay in ICU were included in the study. They underwent PRP. We compared length of stay, mortality rate and number of hospitalized patients within 2 years in patients with PRP and patients without PRP. In 2012, 155 patients and in 2013, 173 patients were admitted in ICU. Admission period was 15 +/- 2.7 and 11 +/- 2.1 days, respectively [p< 0.001]. Pulmonary physiotherapy showed no effect on patients' outcome in which during 2012, 94 patients were discharged and 61 patients were died and in 2013, 98 patients were discharged and 64 patients were died [p=0.9]. Our study shows that PRP can shorten hospitalization time which can indirectly decrease hospitalization costs but there is no effect on overall survival
ABSTRACT
At present, air way support plays pivotal role in management of patients in the ICU [Intensive Care Unit] and also RCU [Respiratory Care Unit]. Ventilator weaning is an important step in the care of ICU and RCU patients. It is the gradual removal of mechanical ventilatory support. Different predictors are used for initiation of weaning. This study was designed to investigate the rapid shallow breathing index [RSBI] as a predictor for successful weaning. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 70 patients who had mechanical ventilation for more than 48 hours in a respiratory care unit in Tehran Labbafi Nejad Hospital. They were clinically stable and had the criteria for weaning from the ventilator. We measured RSBI, and then evaluated the value of RSBI for successful extubation. RSBI was calculated when patients were on spontaneous breathing mode with PSV=0 and PEEP=0 for one minute. A total of 70 patients were included in this study; 63[90%] patients had RSBI