Cuidados generales en el manejo del traumatismo craneoencefálico grave: consenso latinoamericano / General care in the management of severe traumatic brain injury: Latin American consensus

El traumatismo craneoencefálico grave (TCEg) continúa siendo prevalente en la población adulta joven. Lejos de descender, su incidencia se mantiene elevada. Uno de los pilares en los que se asienta su tratamiento es evitar, detectar y corregir complicaciones secundarias de origen sistémico que agravan la lesión primaria. Gran parte de este objetivo se logra manteniendo un microambiente fisiológico adecuado que permita la recuperación del tejido cerebral lesionado. Las medidas de cuidados generales son acciones inespecíficas destinadas a cumplir dicho objetivo. Las guías disponibles de manejo del TCEg no han incluido la mayoría de los tópicos motivo de este consenso. Para ello, hemos reunido un grupo de profesionales miembros del Consorcio latinoamericano de Injuria Cerebral (LABIC), involucrados en los diferentes aspectos del manejo agudo del TCEg (neurocirujanos, intensivistas, anestesiólogos, neurólogos, enfermeros, fisioterapeutas). Se efectuó una búsqueda bibliográfica en las bases de datos LILACS, PubMed, Embasse, Scopus, Cochrane Controlled Register of Trials y Web of Science de los tópicos seleccionados. Para establecer recomendaciones o sugerencias con su respectiva fortaleza o debilidad, fue aplicada la metodología Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE). Adicionalmente, ciertas recomendaciones (incluidas en material complementario) no fueron valoradas por GRADE, por ser las mismas un conjunto de acciones terapéuticas de cumplimento efectivo, en las que no fue posible aplicar dicha metodología. Fueron establecidas 32 recomendaciones; 16 fuertes y 16 débiles, con su respectivo nivel de evidencia. El presente consenso intenta homogeneizar y establecer medidas de cuidados generales básicas en esta población de individuos

Severe traumatic brain injury (sTBI) remains prevalent in the young adult population. Indeed, far from descending, the incidence of sTBI remains high. One of the key bases of treatment is to avoid, detect and correct secondary injuries of systemic origin, which aggravate the primary lesion. Much of this can be achieved by maintaining an adequate physiological microenvironment allowing recovery of the damaged brain tissue. General care measures are nonspecific actions designed to meet that objective. The available guidelines on the management of sTBI have not included the topics contemplated in this consensus. In this regard, a group of members of the Latin American Brain Injury Consortium (LABIC), involved in the different aspects of the acute management of sTBI (neurosurgeons, intensivists, anesthesiologists, neurologists, nurses and physiotherapists) were gathered. An exhaustive literature search was made of selected topics in the LILACS, PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Cochrane Controlled Register of Trials and Web of Science databases. To establish recommendations or suggestions with their respective strength or weakness, the GRADE methodology (Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation) was applied. Additionally, certain recommendations (included in complementary material) were not assessed by GRADE, because they constitute a set of therapeutic actions of effective compliance, in which it was not possible to apply the said methodology. Thirty-two recommendations were established, 16 strong and 16 weak, with their respective levels of evidence. This consensus attempts to standardize and establish basic general care measures in this particular patient population

General care in the management of severe traumatic brain injury: Latin American consensus. / Cuidados generales en el manejo del traumatismo craneoencefálico grave: consenso latinoamericano.

Severe traumatic brain injury (sTBI) remains prevalent in the young adult population. Indeed, far from descending, the incidence of sTBI remains high. One of the key bases of treatment is to avoid, detect and correct secondary injuries of systemic origin, which aggravate the primary lesion. Much of this can be achieved by maintaining an adequate physiological microenvironment allowing recovery of the damaged brain tissue. General care measures are nonspecific actions designed to meet that objective. The available guidelines on the management of sTBI have not included the topics contemplated in this consensus. In this regard, a group of members of the Latin American Brain Injury Consortium (LABIC), involved in the different aspects of the acute management of sTBI (neurosurgeons, intensivists, anesthesiologists, neurologists, nurses and physiotherapists) were gathered. An exhaustive literature search was made of selected topics in the LILACS, PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Cochrane Controlled Register of Trials and Web of Science databases. To establish recommendations or suggestions with their respective strength or weakness, the GRADE methodology (Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation) was applied. Additionally, certain recommendations (included in complementary material) were not assessed by GRADE, because they constitute a set of therapeutic actions of effective compliance, in which it was not possible to apply the said methodology. Thirty-two recommendations were established, 16 strong and 16 weak, with their respective levels of evidence. This consensus attempts to standardize and establish basic general care measures in this particular patient population.

Controversias en la retirada de la ventilación mecánica y extubación en el paciente neurocrítico / Controversies in weaning from mechanical ventilation and extubation in the neurocritical patient

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The multicultural sensitivity of physician assistant students.

Using a specially designed instrument, the authors examined physician assistant students' multicultural sensitivity at four points before, during, and after the 30 months of a master's degree program. The students (n = 19) were found to have become more multiculturally sensitive by the end of the program, even in the absence of specific relevant instruction. The greatest improvement followed the end of clerkship rotations, where the students had experiences with low-income patients of other racial/ethnic backgrounds. The authors suggest that increasing such experiences during training may enhance students' multicultural sensitivity.

Tailored, interactive soap operas for breast cancer education of high-risk Hispanic women.

BACKGROUND: While Hispanic women have lower rates of breast cancer than do women of other ethnic groups, they are the least likely to undergo screening examinations. This study evaluated a culturally sensitive and linguistically appropriate, tailored, computer-based, educational program for early detection of breast cancer aimed at high-risk Hispanic women. METHODS: Spanish-speaking Hispanic women from an inner-city community health clinic were recruited and randomly assigned either to a computer intervention with an interactive soap-opera format (n = 118) or to a comparison group (n = 60). Pre- and posttests were used to identify any change in breast-cancer-related knowledge and beliefs. RESULTS: Both younger (18-40 years old) and older (41-65 years old) women in the intervention group demonstrated significant increases in their breast cancer screening knowledge and beliefs as compared with the younger and older women in the comparison group (n < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Computer-based tailored and interactive soap operas that are linguistically and culturally appropriate are effective in increasing breast cancer screening knowledge and beliefs among underserved Spanish-speaking Hispanic women.