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Mild Fever (mild + fever)

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Medical Sciences	100%

Selected Abstracts

Simultaneous onset of acute inflammatory response, sepsis-like symptoms and intestinal mucosal injury after cancer chemotherapy

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CANCER, Issue 2 2003
Eiichi Tsuji
Abstract Chemotherapy is 1 method for the treatment of cancer, but serious side effects can sometimes limit the dosage given. Mild fever and diarrhea are common side effects of cancer chemotherapy. Gastrointestinal injury induced by chemotherapeutic agents may result in bacterial/endotoxin translocation from the gut into the systemic circulation. An experimental study was therefore conducted to clarify the effect of systemic chemotherapeutic agents on gastrointestinal barrier function. Male Wistar rats were divided into a 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) group (100 mg/kg/day for 4 days; n = 27) and a control group (n = 5). All rats were fasted and central venous catheterization was performed for total parenteral nutrition and blood sampling. Intestinal tissue was also sampled for pathological examination. Plasma levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor , (TNF,) were determined by ELISA, bacterial translocation was quantified by lymph node culture and plasma endotoxin content of portal blood was measured by the Limulus -amebocyte-lysate test. In the 5-FU group on day 4, a proportion of rats exhibited severe watery diarrhea (73.9%) and occasional vomiting (86.2%). The levels of plasma TNF, and IL-6 were seen to increase, peaking at day 6 (IL-6, 350.0 ± 67.8 pg/ml; TNF,, 26.1 ± 3.2 pg/ml). The pathological findings also changed on day 4. On day 6, 90% of the rats in the 5-FU group showed dramatic sepsis-like manifestations, whereas the control group did not. Within the 5-FU group, only at day 6 was bacterial translocation in the rat mesenteric lymph nodes or significantly elevated levels of endotoxin evident. These results suggest that bacterial/endotoxin translocation might cause sepsis-like manifestations after systemic chemotherapy. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

Management of childhood fever by parents: literature review

JOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 2 2006
Anne Walsh MHSc RN
Aim., This paper reports a review which draws together findings from studies targeting parents' temperature-taking, antipyretic administration, attitudes, practices and information-seeking behaviours. Background., Parents' concerns about the harmful effects of fever have been reported for more than two decades. These concerns remain despite successful educational interventions. Method., Medline, CINAHL, PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES and Web of Science databases were searched from 1980 to 2004 during November 2004. The search terms were fever, child, parent, education, knowledge, belief, concern, temperature, antipyretic and information, and combinations of these. Findings., In the 1980s, studies were mainly descriptive of small single site samples of parents with a febrile child seeking assistance from healthcare professionals. From 1990, sample sizes increased and multi-site studies were reported. Educational interventions were designed to increase knowledge and reduce unnecessary use of health services. One 2003 study targeted knowledge and attitudes. Parental knowledge about normal body temperature and the temperature that indicates fever is poor. Mild fever is misclassified by many as high, and they actively reduce mild fever with incorrect doses of antipyretics. Although some parents acknowledge the benefits of mild fever, concerns about brain damage, febrile convulsions and death from mild to moderate fever persist irrespective of parental education or socio-economic status. Many base their fever management practices on inaccurate temperature readings. Increased use of antipyretics to reduce fever and waking sleeping febrile children for antipyretics or sponging reflects heightened concern about harmful effects of fever. Educational interventions have reduced unnecessary use of healthcare services, improved knowledge about fever and when to implement management strategies, and reduced incorrect parental accuracy of antipyretic dosing. Information-seeking behaviours in fever management differ according to country of origin. Conclusion., Despite successful educational interventions, little has changed in parents' fever management knowledge, attitudes and practices. There is a need for interventions based on behaviour change theories to target the precursors of behaviour, namely knowledge, attitudes, normative influences and parents' perceptions of control. [source]

Percutaneous drainage of hydatid cyst of the liver: long-term results

HPB, Issue 4 2002
KY Polat
Background Previously surgical operation was the only accepted treatment for hydatid liver cysts. Recently percutaneous management has become more preferable because of its low morbidity rate and lower cost. Patients and methods In all, 101 patients harbouring 120 hydatid cysts of the liver were treated by percutaneous drainage between October 1994 and December 1997. Of these cysts, 89 were in the right liver and 31 in the left liver. Thirty-one patients had had previous operations for hydatid disease. All cysts had an anechoic or hypoechoic unilocular appearance on ultrasound scan. The mean dimension of the cysts was 7.5 ± 2.9 cm (range 3,10.4 cm). All patients received oral albendazole 10 mg/kg perioperatively. After aspiration under sonographic guidance, cysts were irrigated with 95% ethanol. Results The amount of cyst fluid aspirated was 220 ± 75 ml and the amount of irrigation solution used was 175 ± 42 ml. Four patients developed mild fever and three had urticaria. Mean length of hospital stay was 2.1 ± 0.7 (range 1,4) days, and patients were followed up for 43,62 months (mean 54 ± 5.4 months). Maximal cyst diameter decreased from 7.5 ± 2.9 cm to 3.2 ± 15 cm (p<0.001). Sonographic examinations revealed high-level heterogeneous echoes in the cyst cavity (heterogeneous echo pattern), while the cyst cavity was completely obliterated by echogenic material (pseudotumour echo pattern). Discussion Most hydatid cysts of the liver can be managed successfully by acombinationof drugtherapyand percutaneous drainage. [source]