Assessment of Anemia and Quality of Life in Patients With Renal Transplantation.

PURPOSE: Anemia is associated with poor quality of life in dialysis patients. However, data on this association are scarce on transplant patients. We aimed to find the frequency of anemia, and the effect of anemia on the quality-of-life parameters in patients who have undergone kidney transplantation. METHODS: Anemia was defined by a hemoglobin (Hgb) level of <12 g/dL and severe anemia by a Hgb level of <10 g/dL. All patients were evaluated with the Kidney Disease Quality of Life (KDQOL-SF) scale forms. RESULTS: Two hundred patients (128 male and 72 female; mean age, 39.2 ± 11.5 years) were examined. Anemia was found in 19% and severe anemia was found in 4.5% of all patients. Low glomerular filtration rate, young age, and female gender were demographic parameters associated with anemia. Parathormone levels were higher in the anemic group. The use of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers, and mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitors was significantly higher in the anemic group. In addition, patients with anemia had a lower KDQOL-SF mental health component score than that of the patients without anemia. CONCLUSIONS: Anemia was related to the degree of renal function in posttransplant patients. Anemia had an important influence on mental health in renal transplant patients.

The Usefulness of Early Surgical Rib Stabilization in Flail Chest.

BACKGROUND: Flail chest is a clinical condition observed in patients with blunt thorax trauma. Surgical stabilization methods performed on selected patients shorten the durations of mechanical ventilation and intensive care monitoring and significantly reduce the rates of ventilator-associated morbidity and mortality. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Patients treated and diagnosed with flail chest between 2009 and 2014 were studied retrospectively. RESULTS: There were two groups: 10 patients in the group treated surgically and 10 patients in the group treated non-surgically. The groups were similar in terms of age, ISS score, degree of pulmonary contusion, number of rib fractures and location of flail chest. There were no significant differences between the stabilization and non-surgical therapy groups in hospitalization and mechanical ventilation period, tracheostomies, hospital costs and mortality. However, there were significant differences in the intensive care period. The number of the patients who developed pneumonia was significantly lower in the stabilization group, and the difference was statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Early surgical rib stabilization in flail chest is a safe treatment method which has a low complication rate and can reduce the morbidity and mortality which develop from mechanical ventilation.