Metoclopramide as an analgesic in severe migraine attacks: an open, single-blind, parallel control study.

Metoclopramide is a well-known anti-emetic drug with central and peripheral pharmacological effects. Some authors have reported metoclopramide as an adjunct therapy to other analgesics in patients with migraine attacks. Treatment of migraine headache using a mix of metoclopramide and an NSAID has been patented (European Patent EP1014961) as well as a short series showing great efficacy and tolerability of metoclopramide in patients wtih migraine attacks. We decided to conduct an open, single-blind, parallel control study in the emergency department to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of metoclopramide in patients with severe migraine attacks. 93 consecutive patients with severe migraine attacks were randomized into two groups (groups A and B). Patients in group A received 10mg of intravenous metoclopramide and patients in group B received 1 g of intravenous paracetamol. Patients were evaluated 5 minutes before (baseline), 15, 30, 60 and 120 minutes after drug delivery, and before being discharged from the emergency department They were then contacted by phone 48 hours after being discharged from the hospital (phone questionnaire). Patients treated with either metoclopramide or paracetamol showed a significant reduction in the intensity of pain at the 120 minute time point, with an 86% and 82% improvement respectively. However, patients treated with metoclopramide showed a more rapid improvement at the 15 and 30 minute evaluations. Patients with severe migraine attacks treated with metoclopramide as monotherapy showed a significant improvement in terms of pain relief and a faster improvement in pain intensity compared to those treated with paracetamol. Metoclopramide and other dopamine antagonistic drugs should be considered a therapeutic option in severe migraine headache attacks.

Estudio de las interconsultas solicitadas por el Servicio de Cirugía General al Servicio de Medicina Interna / Analyces of the consult from the department of general surgery to the department of Internal Medicine

Fundamento y objetivo: Conocer mejor las características de las interconsultas solicitadas por el servicio de Cirugía General a un servicio de Medicina Interna, valorar los resultados y la experiencia desde la visión del internista. Pacientes y método: Estudio prospectivo de las 129 interconsultas de pacientes ingresados en el servicio de Cirugía General solicitadas durante el año 2005 al servicio de Medicina Interna. Resultados: Equivalen al 4% de todos los ingresos del servicio de Cirugía General (el 6,5% de los pacientes ingresados desde urgencias y el 2% de los ingresados de forma programada). La media de edad de los pacientes fue de 74 años. Los pacientes fueron visitados una media de 3,3 días. Las causas más frecuentes que motivaron la solicitud fueron la disnea (29%), la fiebre (21%), la tos (11%) y las arritmias (8%). Los diagnósticos más frecuentemente realizados fueron la insuficiencia cardiaca (17%), la enfermedad pulmonar obstructiva crónica (15%), la sobre infección respiratoria y/o acumulación de secreciones bronquiales (13%), la neumonía (9%) y la fibrilación auricular (7%). El 31% de los diagnósticos ha correspondido a agudización de enfermedad crónica previamente conocida. Los fallecimientos han sido 19 (15%), porcentaje mayor al global en el servicio de Cirugía General (2%). La media de edad de los fallecidos fue de 82 años. La mortalidad fue mayor cuando el ingreso se realizó desde urgencias (17 de 91) que cuando se realizó de forma programada (2 de 38). La causa más frecuente ha sido el fallo de sutura con peritonitis y sepsis en 5 pacientes. Conclusiones: La labor del internista no sólo se ha dirigido al tratamiento de las enfermedades crónicas, sino que también ha ayudado en el diagnóstico y tratamiento de procesos agudos relacionados o no con el motivo inicial de ingreso. A destacar la nula especificidad de la tos como síntoma guía en el diagnóstico de pacientes previamente intervenidos. Las causas del fallecimiento se han relacionado casi exclusivamente con el proceso que requirió el ingreso en Cirugía General o las complicaciones de éste (17 de 19)

Rational and aim: to better understand the nature of the consults solicited by the Department of General Surgery to the Department of Internal Medicine and to examine the results and the experience from the point of view of an Internal Medicine specialist. Patients and methods: Prospective analysis of the 129 consults from patients admitted in General Surgery to the Department of Internal Medicine during 2005. Results: The number of consults was 4% of all patients admitted in General Surgery (6,5% of de admitted patients were from the emergency service and 2% from the planning programme). The median age was 74 years. The patients were visited a mean of 3.3 days. The most frequent reasons for consultation were dyspnea (29%), fever (21%), cough (11%) and dysrhythmias (8%). The most frequent diagnosis were cardiac failure (17%), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (15%), respiratory infection and/or accumulation of bronchial secretions (13%), pneumonia (9%) and a trial fibrillation (7%). In 31% of cases the diagnosis was decompensation of previously diagnosed chronic disease. Nineteen patients died (15%), higher than the global average admitted in General Surgery (2%). The average age of these patients was 82 years. The mortality was higher when the admission was from the emergency service (17 of 91) than when it was from the planning programme. The most frequent cause of death was suture failure and peritonitis with secondary septicemia in 5 patients. Conclusions: The task of the Internal Medicine specialist was not only the treatment of chronic diseases, but also to assist in the diagnosis and treatment of acute diseases related or unrelated to the cause of the admission. To point up the invalid specificity of cough as a guide symptomin the diagnosis of previously operated patients. The causes of death were almost exclusively related to the disease that resulted in the admission to the Department of Surgery or with its complications (17 of 19)

[Analyses [corrected] of the consults from the Department of General Surgery to the Department of Internal Medicine]. / Estudio de las interconsultas solicitadas por el Servicio de Cirugía General al Servicio de Medicina Interna.

UNLABELLED: RATIONAL AND AIM: to better understand the nature of the consults solicited by the Department of General Surgery to the Department of Internal Medicine and to examine the results and the experience from the point of view of an Internal Medicine specialist. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Prospective analysis of the 129 consults from patients admitted in General Surgery to the Department of Internal Medi-cine during 2005. RESULTS: The number of consults was 4% of all patients admitted in General Surgery (6,5% of de admitted patients were from the emergency service and 2% from the planning programme). The median age was 74 years. The patients were visited a mean of 3.3 days. The most frequent reasons for consultation were dyspnea (29%), fever (21%), cough (11%) and dysrhythmias (8%). The most frequent diagnosis were cardiac failure (17%), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (15%), respiratory infection and/or accumulation of bronchial secretions (13%), pneumonia (9%) and atrial fibrillation (7%). In 31% of cases the diagnosis was decompensation of previously diagnosed chronic disease. Nineteen patients died (15%), higher than the global average admitted in General Surgery (2%). The average age of these patients was 82 years. The mortality was higher when the admission was from the emergency service (17 of 91) than when it was from the planning programme. The most frequent cause of death was suture failure and peritonitis with secondary septicemia in 5 patients. CONCLUSIONS: The task of the Internal Medicine specialist was not only the treatment of chronic diseases, but also to assist in the diagnosis and treatment of acute diseases related or unrelated to the cause of the admission. To point up the invalid specificity of cough as a guide symptom in the diagnosis of previously operated patients. The causes of death were almost exclusively related to the disease that resulted in the admission to the Department of Surgery or with its complications (17 of 19).

Insights into the evolution of Yersinia pestis through whole-genome comparison with Yersinia pseudotuberculosis.

Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of plague, is a highly uniform clone that diverged recently from the enteric pathogen Yersinia pseudotuberculosis. Despite their close genetic relationship, they differ radically in their pathogenicity and transmission. Here, we report the complete genomic sequence of Y. pseudotuberculosis IP32953 and its use for detailed genome comparisons with available Y. pestis sequences. Analyses of identified differences across a panel of Yersinia isolates from around the world reveal 32 Y. pestis chromosomal genes that, together with the two Y. pestis-specific plasmids, to our knowledge, represent the only new genetic material in Y. pestis acquired since the the divergence from Y. pseudotuberculosis. In contrast, 149 other pseudogenes (doubling the previous estimate) and 317 genes absent from Y. pestis were detected, indicating that as many as 13% of Y. pseudotuberculosis genes no longer function in Y. pestis. Extensive insertion sequence-mediated genome rearrangements and reductive evolution through massive gene loss, resulting in elimination and modification of preexisting gene expression pathways, appear to be more important than acquisition of genes in the evolution of Y. pestis. These results provide a sobering example of how a highly virulent epidemic clone can suddenly emerge from a less virulent, closely related progenitor.