Topical Oxygen Jet Therapy (TOJT) for treating infected chronic surgical wounds

ABSTRACT Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of Topical Oxygen Jet Therapy (TOJT) in the treatment of surgical wounds in adult patients who has clinical signs of infection for over 30 days; and to identify the pathogens causing complicated skin and soft tissue infections. Method: Parallel, randomized clinical trials randomly divided into "Control Group" (CG) and "Treatment Group" (TG), which were followed up for 10 consecutive days. Venous antibiotics and dressings were used in both groups. In addition, TOJT were used on the wounds in the TG. The outcome criteria were based on clinical indicators: Pressure Ulcer Scale for Healing (PUSH) and Visual Analog Scale Pain (VAS). The paired t-test or Wilcoxon, chi-squared or Fisher's exact test, and Student's t-test or Mann-Whitney tests were used with a significance level of 5%. Results: 73 inpatients were included and followed up: 39 in TG and 34, CG. There were no significant differences in socio-demographic variables or of initial laboratory tests, except for blood glucose that was higher in TG than in CG (p = 0.044). Ten days into treatment, both the area of PUSH wounds (p < 0.001) and the pain scale (p = 0.029) were significantly reduced in TG. Staphylococcus aureus was the most prevalent pathogen (40%) with no significant difference between the two groups. Discussion: Although the follow-up time was of only ten days, a significant improvement was observed in TG. As a limitation of the study, the small sample size precluded the comparison of S. aureus infections between the two groups. Conclusion: TOJT accelerated the healing process, reduced pain and contributed to an improvement in the clinical status of the wounds when compared to CG. These findings demonstrate the effectiveness and relevance of the employed technique. It can be easily incorporated as a routine procedure in hospitals without extra investment.

Risk factors for presbycusis in a socio-economic middle-class sample / Estudo de fatores de risco para presbiacusia em indivíduos de classe sócio-econômica média

Presbycusis, or the aging ear, involves mainly the inner ear and the cochlear nerve, causing sensorineural hearing loss. Risk factors include systemic diseases and poor habits that cause inner ear damage and lead to presbycusis. Correct identification of these risk factors is relevant for prevention. AIM: To evaluate the prevalence and to identify the risk factors of presbycusis in a sample aged over 40 years. Study design: a retrospective case series. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: medical records of 625 patients were evaluated. Presbycusis was identified using pure tone audiometry, speech audiometry and impedance testing of all patients. RESULTS: The prevalence of presbycusis was 36.1 percent; the mean age was 50.5 years ranging from 40 to 86 years; 85.5 percent were male and 14.5 percent werf female. Age, the male gender, diabetes mellitus, and hereditary hearing loss were identified as risk factors. Cardiovascular diseases, smoking and consumption of alcohol were not confirmed as risk factors, although these have often been mentioned as risk factors for presbycusis. CONCLUSION: Notwithstanding the idea that presbycusis has multiple risk factors, this study identified few risk factors for this disease.

A presbiacusia é consequência de lesões histopatológicas da orelha interna e nervo coclear e leva à deficiência auditiva sensório-neural. Fatores de risco como doenças sistêmicas e hábitos inadequados são agravantes para presbiacusia. A identificação destes fatores é relevante para sua prevenção. OBJETIVO: Avaliar a prevalência da presbiacusia e correlacionar eventuais fatores de risco numa amostra populacional. CASUÍSTICA E MÉTODO: Estudo retrospectivo de série de casos com amostragem aleatória de 625 prontuários de indivíduos sem e com presbiacusia determinada por avaliação audiológica convencional. Foi feita a análise da associação da presbiacusia com fatores de risco pré-estabelecidos. RESULTADOS: A prevalência da presbiacusia foi de 36,1 por cento na amostra, com idade média de 50,5 anos e variou de 40 anos a 86 anos e foi constituída de 85,5 por cento do gênero masculino e 14,5 por cento do gênero feminino. Os fatores de risco associados foram idade, gênero masculino, diabetes melito e história familiar de presbiacusia. Não houve associação entre presbiacusia e profissão, hipertensão arterial sistêmica, dislipidemia, hábitos de fumar e de beber. CONCLUSÃO: Os resultados demonstram que, embora a presbiacusia apresente múltiplos fatores de risco enumerados na literatura, estes fatores na presente amostra foram limitados ao antecedente familiar de presbiacusia, idade, gênero masculino e diabetes melito.

Ineffectiveness for infants of immunization of mothers with pneumococcal capsular polysaccharide vaccine during pregnancy

Pneumococcal (Pnc) carriage is associated with pneumococcal diseases. Breast feeding and maternal vaccination may be a useful approach to prevent pneumococcal infection in young infants. We examined the risk of Pnc carriage by infants at six months of age after pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccination of pregnant women. We selected 139 pregnant woman. The woman were randomly allocated to receive 23-valent polysaccharide vaccines during pregnancy (Group 1) after pregnancy (Group 2) or not receive any vaccine (Group 3). Nasopharyngeal swabs were collected from the infants at three and six months of age. The infants were evaluated monthly during the first six months. We included 47 mothers in Group 1, 45 mothers in Group 2 and 47 mothers in Group 3. Forty-seven percent of the babies were exclusively breast fed until six months, 26 percent received both breast feeding and artificial feeding and 13 percent received only artificial feeding. Among those patients, 26 percent were colonized by Pnc at six months (12 from Group 1, 13 from Group 2, and 12 from Group 3). There was no significant difference in colonization between the three groups. Thirty percent of the children were colonized by a non-susceptible strain. We concluded that young infants (three months old) are already susceptible to pneumococcal carriage. Vaccination during pregnancy with a polysaccharide vaccine did not decrease Pnc colonization.