Archive for the ‘Medicine Consultant’ Category
Palate Infection
Question:
I have a health concern with the roof of my mouth. The roof of my mouth (palate) gets small pimples and mucous after I eat or drink. They go away shortly after. It does not hurt when the pimples surface or go away and I can not see them in the mirror but can feel them with my tongue.The pimples or spots leave what feels like small scars but no bleeding accurs at all. What feels like scarring does not last long either. When I drink a heavy alcholic beaverage the pimples do not appear at all nor does the mucous. The condition came about after some one played a prank on me by placing my tooth brush in toilet. What is this condition called and what can I take to get rid of this problem?
High Blood Sugar Tied to Surgical Site Infections (CME/CE)
Postoperative hyperglycemia — with or without reaching the threshold for diabetes — is an independent predictor of surgical site infections, a retrospective review of medical records showed.
The review, encompassing records for more than 1,500 patients, found that the odds of developing a surgical site infection after general surgery increased steadily as serum glucose levels climbed above 110 mg/dL, according to Ashar Ata, MBBS, MPH, of Albany Medical College in New York, and colleagues.
Patients with postoperative glucose levels of 111 to 140 mg/dL were 3.61 times more likely to develop an infection, and the odds were 12.31 times greater for those with glucose levels higher than 220 mg/dL, Ata and co-authors reported in the September issue of the Archives of Surgery.
“If hyperglycemia is confirmed in future prospective studies with better postoperative glucose data to be an independent risk factor for post-surgical infection in general surgery patients, this would give surgeons a modifiable variable to reduce the incidence of postoperative infection,” they wrote.
It has been well established that patients with diabetes have an increased risk of post-surgical and other nosocomial infections.
Excessive Oral Bony Growths
Question:
I am a dental hygienist, and have encountered a pt.who continues to present with a dry mouth and an abundance of bony growths in the oral cavity. We are talking exostosis, maxillary and mandibular, mandibular tori and palatal torus. These growths are visibly larger at each 6 mo. Check up. He pt. Now mplains of migraine, an cannot open her jaw fully. She is in constant pain in her lower jaw. A referral to an oral surgeon stated arthritis. Is there a connection with these symptoms and any systemic disorders I might investgate? Gardners syndrome came to mind, but my pt.is 45 years of age and it is my understanding that gardners syndrome has a life expectancy of 35-45.
Operating Soon After Hip Fractures May Save Lives
MONDAY, Sept. 13 (HealthDay News) — Elderly patients who have surgery soon after suffering a hip fracture reduce their risk of dying by 19 percent, a new analysis shows.
Hip fractures are associated with a death rate of 14 percent to 36 percent in the year following the fracture. Current guidelines recommend surgery within 24 hours of a hip fracture. However, some doctors believe delaying surgery helps decrease the risk of complications.
In this study, Canadian researchers reviewed 16 previous studies that included a total of 13,478 patients aged 60 and older.
Elderly May Benefit From Minimally Invasive Shoulder Surgery
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 8 (HealthDay News) — Minimally invasive arthroscopic surgery to repair torn shoulder muscles in elderly people can reduce pain and improve function, a new study finds.
Many doctors are reluctant to perform this type of surgery in older patients because of fears of complications. But the researchers at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago said their findings show that seniors shouldn’t be excluded from having this surgery.
About 20 percent of people older than 65 suffer tears in the rotator cuff, the group of four muscles and their tendons that form a “cuff” over the top of the upper arm bone and stabilize the back of the shoulder joint.
Lower Risk of Surgery Than Thought for Kids With Crohn’s
FRIDAY, Sept. 3 (HealthDay News) — The risk of bowel surgery for children with Crohn’s disease is much lower than reported in previous studies, according to new findings.
Crohn’s disease involves chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. The exact cause is not known, but the condition is often associated with an immune response problem. Some recent studies have found that the risk of bowel surgery is as high as 34 percent one year after diagnosis and as high as 47 percent five years after diagnosis.
This new multi-center study included 854 children under 16 years of age who were newly diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which consists of two main conditions: ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.