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Minimal Intervention (minimal + intervention)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	50%

Selected Abstracts

The Corset Platysma Repair: A Technique Revisited

DERMATOLOGIC SURGERY, Issue 3 2002
Carolyn I. Jacob MD
background. Platysma banding along with excess submental adipose tissue and sagging skin can lead to an aged appearance. Several methods for improving neck and submental contours exist, including neck liposuction, bilateral platysma plication, midline platysma plication with transection of distal fibers, necklift with skin excision, and botulinum toxin injection for platysma relaxation. With the current interest in minimally invasive procedures, surgeons and patients are searching for techniques that produce maximal improvement with minimal intervention. objective. To present a modified technique for maximizing neck contouring, discuss possible complications of the procedure, and describe appropriate candidates for the corset platysmaplasty. methods. We performed a retrospective analysis of 10 consecutive patients who underwent neck liposuction with concomitant corset platysmaplasty at our institution. results. All 10 patients achieved good to excellent submental and jawline contouring, determined by both physician and patient assessment, with no visible platysma banding at 6 months follow-up. No major complications were noted. conclusion. Use of corset platysmaplasty is a safe and effective method for neck rejuvenation. This variation of platysmaplasty can be used in conjunction with neck liposuction to maximize jawline and neck contour enhancement. [source]

Spontaneous succession in limestone quarries as an effective restoration tool for endangered arthropods and plants

JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY, Issue 1 2010
Robert Tropek
Summary 1. The view of post-mining sites is rapidly changing among ecologists and conservationists, as sensitive restoration using spontaneous succession may turn such sites into biodiversity refuges in human-exploited regions. However, technical reclamation, consisting of covering the sites by topsoil, sowing fast-growing herb mixtures and planting trees, is still commonly adopted. Until now, no multi-taxa study has compared technically reclaimed sites and sites left with spontaneous succession. 2. We sampled communities of vascular plants and 10 arthropod groups in technically reclaimed and spontaneously restored plots in limestone quarries in the Bohemian Karst, Czech Republic. For comparison, we used paired t -tests and multivariate methods, emphasizing red-list status and habitat specialization of individual species. 3. We recorded 692 species of target taxa, with a high proportion of red-listed (10%) and xeric specialist (14%) species, corroborating the great conservation potential of the quarries. 4. Spontaneously restored post-mining sites did not differ in species richness from the technical reclaimed sites but they supported more rare species. The microhabitat cover of leaf litter, herbs and moss, were all directly influenced by the addition of topsoil during reclamation. 5.Synthesis and applications. Our results show that the high conservation potential of limestone quarries could be realized by allowing succession to progress spontaneously with minimal intervention. Given the threat to semi-natural sparsely vegetated habitats in many regions, active restoration measures at post-mining sites should be limited to maintenance of early successional stages, instead of acceleration of succession. [source]

Parent-administered modified dry-bed training for childhood nocturnal enuresis: evidence for superiority over urine-alarm conditioning when delivery factors are controlled

BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTIONS, Issue 4 2002
Shazia Nawaz
We compared the relative efficacy of modified dry-bed training and standard urine-alarm conditioning for treating functional nocturnal enuresis in 36 children aged 7,12 years attending health centres in Glasgow, Scotland. A minimal intervention, self-help approach was adopted. Parents and children received standardized instruction, which, for each method, consisted of one clinic interview and a manual and videotape for home viewing. Outcomes were contrasted with those from untreated controls. Twelve children were randomly assigned to each condition. All groups were matched for age, gender, social class (deprivation category), and baseline wetting frequency. In the two treated groups, an intake interview was followed by two review appointments, otherwise families carried out the programmes independently at home with fortnightly telephone support either until the success criterion of 14 consecutive dry nights was met or the 16 week maximum treatment period expired. Of the 12 children treated by dry-bed training, eight achieved initial success compared with only three of the 12 treated by the conventional urine-alarm method. One waiting-list control child remitted spontaneously. ANOVA showed highly significant differences in wet nights per week immediately after intervention for both treatment and time factors (p,<,0.001) and their interaction (p,<,0.01). The dry-bed group averaged 0.8 nights per week wet on treatment cessation, a frequency which was significantly superior to the average of 3.25 for the urine-alarm group and 5.00 for the controls. Six months after attaining initial success, one child in each treated group had relapsed. Our results show an outcome of 58% long-term remission (67% initial arrest, 13% relapse) for dry-bed training when delivered by minimal intervention methods and indicate dry-bed training as being more effective than orthodox urine-alarm conditioning for the same input of clinic time and instruction. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Evaluation of a primary care-oriented brief counselling intervention for obesity with and without orlistat

JOURNAL OF INTERNAL MEDICINE, Issue 4 2006
W. S. C. POSTON
Abstract. Objective., There is a significant need for an obesity treatment model suitable for the primary care environment. We examined the effectiveness of a brief counselling intervention alone, in combination with orlistat, and drug-alone in a 12-month randomized-clinical trial at a medical school obesity centre. Methods., Participants (N = 250) with body mass index (BMI) ,27 were randomized. Changes in body weight, lipids, blood pressure and serum glucose were examined. Drug adherence and attendance were also evaluated. Results., Completers analysis was conducted on 136 participants with data at baseline, 6 and 12 months and intention-to-treat analyses (ITT) for the total sample. Amongst completers, participants in the drug only (P = 0.012) and drug + brief counselling (P = 0.001) groups lost more weight (mean ± SD: ,3.8 ± 5.8 kg and ,4.8 ± 4.4 kg, respectively) than participants in the brief counselling only group at 6 months (,1.7 ± 3.3 kg), but there were no significant group differences at 12 months. ITT model results were similar to completers at 6 months and remained significant at 12 months, but the weight losses were more modest (<3 kg) for both groups receiving orlistat. For brief counselling alone, participants gained weight (1.7 ± 4.2 kg). Cardiovascular disease (CVD) parameter changes were negligible. Conclusions., Pharmacotherapy alone or combined with brief counselling resulted in modest weight losses that had minimal impact on cardiovascular parameters, but were greater than brief counselling alone. Whilst brief interventions and primary pharmacotherapy have been suggested as viable treatments for implementation in primary care settings, our study suggests that such minimal interventions provide minimal benefits. [source]