Myocardial oxygen consumption in the bed bath and shower bath in patients with acute coronary syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Bed and shower hygiene measures are performed by the nursing staff in patients admitted with Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS). Few studies have evaluated the difference in energy consumption between the two types of bath. OBJECTIVES: To analyse and compare the variation in Heart Rate (HR), Systolic Blood Pressure (SBP) and rate-pressure-product (RPP) between bed and shower bath in ACS patients. DESIGN: Quantitative, analytical, prospective study. SETTINGS: This study was conducted in a Coronary Intensive Care Unit, including patients over 18 years admitted for ACS in Killip classes I and II. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The level of myocardial oxygen consumption was assessed by calculating the RPP before, immediately after and 5 minutes after the first bed bath and the first shower bath. Differences in mean RPP before, during and 5 minutes after each body hygiene were compared using the paired-samples Student's t-test. RESULTS: Seventy patients were included. No important clinical variation was found in HR, SBP and RPP during bed bath and during shower bath. The comparison of HR, SBP and RPP between bed bath and shower showed no statistically significant difference. CONCLUSION: Bed bath and shower bath did not significantly increase energy expenditure in patients with acute coronary syndrome and there was no difference in energy expenditure between the two types of body hygiene.

Low-level laser therapy improves repair following complete resection of the sciatic nerve in rats.

The aim of this study is to analyze the effects of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) on the regeneration of the sciatic nerve in rats following a complete nerve resection. Male Wistar rats were divided into a control injury group, injury groups irradiated with a 660-nm laser at 10 or 50 J/cm(2), and injury groups irradiated with an 808-nm laser at 10 or 50 J/cm(2). Treatment began 24 h following nerve resection and continued for 15 days. Using the sciatic functional index (SFI), we show that the injured animals treated with 660 nm at 10 and 50 J/cm(2) had better SFI values compared with the control injury and the 808-nm groups. Animals irradiated with the 808-nm laser at 50 J/cm(2) show higher values for fiber density than do control animals. In addition, axon and fiber diameters were larger in animals irradiated with 660 nm at 50 J/cm(2) compared to the control group. These findings indicate that 660-nm LLLT is able to provide functional gait recovery and leads to increases in fiber diameter following sciatic nerve resection.