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Internal Medicine Wards (internal + medicine_ward)
Selected AbstractsImproved aetiological diagnosis of ischaemic stroke in a Vascular Medicine Unit , the significance of transesophageal echocardiogramINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PRACTICE, Issue 3 2008A. Martignoni Summary Background:, The TOAST study estimates that 34% of ischaemic strokes are of undetermined aetiology. Improvements in the diagnosis of the pathogenetic mechanism of ischaemic stroke would translate into a better care, in analogy to other fields of vascular and internal medicine. Objective:, To measure the reduction of undetermined aetiology strokes performing a set of additional diagnostic tests. Design:, Consecutive case series with historical controls. Setting:, Internal Medicine Ward with a stroke area (SA) admitting most stroke patients of a large hospital in Italy. Subjects:, A total of 179 ischaemic stroke patients admitted to SA in 2004,2005 compared with 105 ischaemic stroke patients admitted to the whole department in 2001. Intervention:, To perform more diagnostic tests, including transesophageal echocardiography (TEE), in the greatest possible number of ischaemic stroke inpatients admitted in SA of the Internal Medicine Department, in the years 2004,2005. Results:, More diagnostic tests were performed during the study period than in 2001, especially TEE (56% of patients in 2004,2005 vs. 3% of patients in 2001). We observed a significant reduction of undetermined aetiology from 38% in 2001 to 16% in 2004,2005 (p < 0.0001), largely for an increased identification of cases of cardio-embolic mechanism (from 18% to 40%, p = 0.0002). In the years 2004,2005 the fraction of patients on anticoagulant treatment at discharge was 21% vs. 12% in 2001 (p = 0.041). Conclusion:, Performing more tests, particularly TEE, brought improvements in the aetiological diagnosis of stroke, increasing cardio-embolism diagnosis and anticoagulant treatment. [source] Adverse drug reactions in patients in an Iranian department of internal medicine,PHARMACOEPIDEMIOLOGY AND DRUG SAFETY, Issue 2 2009Sara Pourseyed MD Abstract Purpose Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are a major cause of hospital admission and inpatient morbidity. The department of internal medicine is not an exception to this issue. This study was performed to determine the nature and frequency of ADRs in an internal medicine ward in Iran. Methods This survey was a prospective observational study based on admissions of 400 patients to the internal medicine ward over a 15-week period. Patients were intensively followed in order to assess any ADR as a cause of admission or occurring during hospitalization. Any suspicious ADR was confirmed by a pharmacist/pharmacologist. Results There were 47 patients of 400 patients (11.75%) that experienced at least one ADR. ADR leading to the admission was seen in seven cases (1.75%) and in 40 (10%) it occurred during hospitalization. ADRs were identified as preventable reactions in 50% of cases and as predictable in 94.3%. The severity of 18.6% of the ADRs was identified as mild, 62.9% as moderate, 14.3% as severe and 4.3% as lethal. Gastrointestinal system disorders (44.3%) represented the most frequent ADRs. The therapeutic groups that most commonly associated with suspected ADRs were antineoplastic, immunosuppressive and medicines used in palliative care (54.8%). Conclusions ADRs are common among hospitalized patients in department of internal medicine and can be severe and even lethal. Since most ADRs occurred during hospitalization in studied patients and half of them were preventable, prevention strategies should be considered in hospitals. Also, our findings confirmed the role of hospital pharmacists in the reducing ADRs. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Computerized physician order entry (CPOE) system: expectations and experiences of usersJOURNAL OF EVALUATION IN CLINICAL PRACTICE, Issue 4 2010Jasperien E. Van Doormaal PharmD Abstract Objectives, To explore physicians' and nurses' expectations before and experiences after the implementation of a computerized physician order entry (CPOE) system in order to give suggestions for future optimization of the system as well as the implementation process. Method, On four internal medicine wards of two Dutch hospitals, 18 physicians and 42 nurses were interviewed to measure expectations and experiences with the CPOE system. Using semi-structured questionnaires, expectations and experiences of physicians and nurses with the CPOE system were measured with statements on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = completely disagree, 5 = completely agree). The percentage respondents agreeing (score of 4 or 5) was calculated. Chi-squared tests were used to compare the expectations versus experiences of physicians and nurses and to assess the differences between physicians and nurses. Results, In general, both physicians and nurses were positive about CPOE before and after the implementation of this system. Physicians and nurses did not differ in their views towards CPOE except for the overview of patients' medication use that was not clear according to the nurses. Both professions were satisfied with the implementation process. CPOE could be improved especially with respect to technical aspects (including the medication overview) and decision support on drug,drug interactions. Conclusion, Overall we conclude that physicians and nurses are positive about CPOE and the process of its implementation and do accept these systems. However, these systems should be further improved to fit into clinical practice. [source] Impact of regular attendance by infectious disease specialists on the management of hospitalised adults with community-acquired febrile syndromesCLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY AND INFECTION, Issue 10 2004A. Borer Abstract The impact of attendance by infectious disease specialists (IDS) on hospitalised adults with community-acquired infection was assessed by studying 402 consecutive febrile adults who were admitted randomly to either of two internal medicine wards over a 4-month period and given intravenous antibiotics. In ward 1, patients were attended by IDS, whereas those in ward 2 were attended by physicians from other specialties. In total, 160 patients were treated in ward 1 and 242 in ward 2 (median age 66 years; 49% male). The case-mix was comparable. Only 39% of ward 2 patients underwent minimal fever diagnostic tests compared to 82% in ward 1 (p < 0.001). Ward 1 and 2 patients received 188 and 315 antibiotic courses, respectively, of which 32% and 20% required approval from IDS (p 0.003). Patients in ward 1 were more likely to receive ceftriaxone (7.5% vs. 2%; p 0.002), erythromycin (7% vs. 1.5%; p 0.002) and cefuroxime (48% vs. 26%; p < 0.0001), but were less likely to receive amoxycillin,clavulanate (8% vs. 28%; p < 0.0001). The mean durations of therapy were 3.6 and 3.2 days (not significant), and therapy was deemed to be completely appropriate in 55.5% and 43% of cases, respectively (p 0.012). The crude mortality rates were 6.3% and 7.9%, respectively (not significant), while the medication costs were US$ 27.4 and US$ 26.4/patient/antibiotic day, respectively. Regular attendance by IDS resulted in significantly higher rates of accurate diagnosis and appropriate therapy. IDS prescribed more restricted (and expensive) agents, but preferred less expensive agents among unrestricted drugs, thereby offsetting the overall medication costs. [source] Trends in antibiotic prescribing in general internal medicine wards: antibiotic use and indication for prescriptionCLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY AND INFECTION, Issue 1 2000B. Maraha [source] | ||||||||||