Utility of nasal application of lignocaine gel using cotton tip swab versus squirting with slip-tip syringe for transnasal fibreoptic bronchoscopy: a pilot randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: During flexible fibreoptic bronchoscopy through the nasal route, anaesthesia of the nasal passage is achieved by lignocaine gel application by a slip-tip syringe or with the help of a cotton tip swab. No studies in existing literature have compared the two techniques in terms of efficacy. METHODS: 137 consecutive patients undergoing bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) were recruited over a 2-year period. The patients underwent BAL after nasal anaesthesia-either by slip-tip syringe or by cotton tip swab smeared with 2% lignocaine gel. Patients were monitored for intraprocedural epistaxis, discomfort and improvement in operator visibility of nasal passage. RESULTS: 67 patients were randomised to cotton swab and 70 patients to the gel instillation group. There were no significant differences in terms of epistaxis, 29.9% in the cotton tip swab (95% CI 19.3% to 42.3%) versus 24.3% in the gel instillation group (95% CI 14.8% to 36%) or detection of nasal blocks, 7.5% in the cotton tip swab (95% CI 2.5% to 16.6%) versus 10% in the gel instillation group (95% CI 4.1% to 19.5%) in the two groups, although a significant difference was there in terms of visibility, 73.1% in the cotton tip swab (95% CI 60.9% to 83.2%) versus 42.9% in the gel instillation group (95% CI 31.1% to 55.3%). There was no difference in the mean pain score across the two groups either during the procedure or 1 hour after it. A short systematic review of existing literature on the topic has been provided for comparison. CONCLUSION: Application of 2% lignocaine gel by slip-tip syringe and cotton tip swab are equivalent in terms of observed and narrated pain experienced by patients, frequency of epistaxis and nasal blocks. Vision was better preserved in the cotton tip swab group.

Effectiveness of an institutional COVID-19 central sampling team during pandemic at a tertiary care centre.

BACKGROUND: An efficient sampling is one of the key methods to identify all those affected by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). OBJECTIVES: To analyze how efficient setting up of a central sampling team would be to prevent any outbreak within the institution by minimizing the movement of suspected COVID-19 patients admitted in the inpatient wards. The secondary objective was to train maximum resident doctors to collect samples of admitted patients. METHODOLOGY: A central sampling team comprising of resident doctors from various departments was made who did sampling of the suspected COVID-19 inpatients admitted under various specialties. RESULTS: There were a total of 341 patients [209 males (61.29%), 132 females (38.7%)] and 335 patients underwent sampling. There was a positive correlation between: (1) number of calls from a department vs percentage of positive samples in that department [Pearson correlation coefficient (R) = 0.47; P = 0.026], (2) number of samples taken by resident of a particular department from central sampling team vs number of positive samples taken by resident of that department [R = 0.8739, P = 0.01] and (3) number of visits to a department vs number of residents trained in that department [R = 0.93; P = 0.00001]. CONCLUSION: Formulation of a central sampling team led to changes like a separate donning and doffing area in each ward and training of many resident doctors posted in different wards. This made each ward self-sufficient in collection of samples. This venture also ensured minimal movement of suspected COVID-19 patients in the hospital and thus least exposure to the hospital staff.

Involvement of CYP 3A5 In the Interaction Between Tacrolimus and Nicardipine: A Case Report.

Tacrolimus is a calcineurin inhibitor primarily metabolized by CYP3A4 and secondarily by CYP3A5. Several drugs can modify tacrolimus blood levels as calcium channel blockers (CCBs). Interaction with nicardipine was reported in some cases. A man with a history of malignant arterial hypertension treated with nicardipine, underwent kidney transplantation. After transplantation, he was treated with tacrolimus, mycophenolate mofetil and corticoids. Therapeutic drug monitoring of tacrolimus was done regularly showing a mean trough concentration (C0) of 24.39 ng/mL with some concentrations reaching 52 ng/mL. After changing nicardipine by prazosine, the first tacrolimus C0 after stopping nicardipine was 3.2 ng/mL. Increase of tacrolimus trough concentrations is due to the inhibition of CYP3A4. Very high levels of tacrolimus suggest the non expression of CYP3A5. Thus, because of the possible lack of the secondary pathway, therapeutic drug monitoring of tacrolimus is highly recommended at the introduction of CCBs and also at its stopping.

[Cardiac stimulation in children. 20 years' experience]. / La stimulation cardiaque infantile. Expérience de vingt ans.

Between July, 1967 and December, 1987, 71 children and adolescents (43 boys, 28 girls) aged from 9 days to 20 years (mean 7.8 years) underwent pacemaker implantation. In 91 p. 100 of the cases this treatment was performed for complete atrioventricular block (CAVB). Surgical CAVB was the reason for 59 p. 100 of implantations (correction of tetralogy of Fallot and, more recently, of complex cardiopathies), the second main reason (16.9 p. 100) being nonsurgical CAVB associated with heart disease; the children in this group were young (mean age 4.2 years), and the prognosis mainly depended on the heart disease. Isolated congenital CAVB accounted for only 8.5 p. 100 of pacemaker implantations; these were older children (mean age 13.7 years), and the decision to implant was often difficult to reach in the absence of major functional disorders; following implantation, it was frequently found that isolated congenital CAVBs regarded as being well tolerated in fact were unrecognized handicaps. Acquired CAVB (7 p. 100) mostly consisted of Kearns' syndrome (4/5 cases). In addition, 3 children with sinus node disease and 1 with Romano-Ward syndrome benefited from cardiac pacing. Seven children died; death was in no case due to pacing but to the heart disease associated with CAVB. Endocardial pacing (68.2 p. 100 of primary implantations during the last decade) was preferred to epicardial pacing. Since 1985 we have been using exclusively screwed endocardial monopolar electrodes. The pacemakers were usually of the single-chamber ventricular type (85.9 p. 100 of primary implantations), but since 1987 dual-chamber pacemakers have been increasingly preferred for children with permanent CAVB or for replacement of pacemaker cases. Single-chamber noncompetitive ("demand") pacemakers were implanted in only 2 children: one pacemaker was connected to a ventricular electrode (atrial paralysis), the other to an atrial electrode. Whatever the type of electrode used, the pacemakers were implanted in the abdominal region in very young infants and in the pectoral region in children older than 3 or 4 years. Breakage of the wire was the main complication. Rises in threshold are the major drawback of epicardial pacing, as they require reoperation when the energy delivered cannot be effectively programmed. Endocardial pacing, preferably with a dual-chamber instrument, seems to be the best method, being the least aggressive, with minimal complications in short and very long term; it is justified as first-line treatment of permanent or predominant CAVB.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)