ABSTRACT
Prone positioning is a strategy shown to reduce mortality in patients who are mechanically ventilated for acute respiratory distress syndrome and has been used in the COVID-19 pandemic. It is not, however, without complications. Barotrauma, pressure sores, ventilator associated pneumonia and peripheral nerve injuries have all been implicated as complications of prone positioning. There have also been several reports of brachial plexopathy in patients who have undergone prolonged mechanical ventilation with prone positioning. Patient characteristics including body weight index, degree of critical illness, and suboptimal prolonged positioning have all been suggested as possible contributing factors, although, there has been less discussion concerning the action of rolling patients, and how it may contribute to the development of injuries. We describe 3 cases of left brachial plexus injury in patients who were consistently rolled on their left sides. Patients presented with isolated left upper extremity weakness without any structural etiology found on imaging. Electrodiagnostic studies subsequently confirmed a left brachial plexopathy in each of the cases. We suggest that the action of proning patients may contribute to injury. This observation has not yet been suggested in the literature, and carries clinical relevance, as greater attention and meticulous care may need to be employed when moving these individuals. © 2023, University of Toronto. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
In conjunction with the development of technology, teaching in educational institutions around the world has also changed from traditional teaching, where blackboards and chalk were used, to modern teaching with blended or completely online learning environments. Online teaching became a necessity over the past year as the COVID-19 pandemic occurred throughout the world. One of the biggest problems that arose was the impossibility of students to work with equipment on the spot during laboratory exercises. In turn, many universities have used labs with physical devices that can be launched remotely through the Internet from anywhere. One such device is presented in this paper. An automatic device for the remote measurement of geometric tolerances, circularity, was developed and applied in the teaching process at the University of Novi Sad. The exercises were performed by students who remotely started and controlled the device and measured the deviation of the actual from the defined diameter of the work piece in the desired cross section. At the end of the semester, students completed an evaluation questionnaire and expressed satisfaction with the implementation of this exercise. © 2021 University of Kuwait. All rights reserved.