1/21. Maggot therapy for the treatment of intractable wounds.BACKGROUND: Fly maggots have been known for centuries to help debride and heal wounds. Maggot therapy was first introduced in the USA in 1931 and was routinely used there until the mid-1940s in over 300 hospitals. With the advent of antimicrobiols, maggot therapy became rare until the early 1990s, when it was re-introduced in the USA, UK, and israel. The objective of this study was to assess the efficacy of maggot therapy for the treatment of intractable, chronic wounds and ulcers in long-term hospitalized patients in israel. methods: Twenty-five patients, suffering mostly from chronic leg ulcers and pressure sores in the lower sacral area, were treated in an open study using maggots of the green bottle fly, Phaenicia sericata. The wounds had been present for 1-90 months before maggot therapy was applied. Thirty-five wounds were located on the foot or calf of the patients, one on the thumb, while the pressure sores were on the lower back. Sterile maggots (50-1000) were administered to the wound two to five times weekly and replaced every 1-2 days. Hospitalized patients were treated in five departments of the Hadassah Hospital, two geriatric hospitals, and one outpatient clinic in Jerusalem. The underlying diseases or the causes of the development of wounds were venous stasis (12), paraplegia (5), hemiplegia (2), Birger's disease (1), lymphostasis (1), thalassemia (1), polycythemia (1), dementia (1), and basal cell carcinoma (1). Subjects were examined daily or every second day until complete debridement of the wound was noted. RESULTS: Complete debridement was achieved in 38 wounds (88.4%); in three wounds (7%), the debridement was significant, in one (2.3%) partial, and one wound (2.3%) remained unchanged. In five patients who were referred for amputation of the leg, the extremities was salvaged after maggot therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Maggot therapy is a relatively rapid and effective treatment, particularly in large necrotic wounds requiring debridement and resistant to conventional treatment and conservative surgical intervention.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = suffering (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/21. The lived experience of having a pressure ulcer: a qualitative analysis.In this descriptive, qualitative, phenomenological study, the researchers explored the phenomena of the lived experience of having a pressure ulcer to determine the essential structure of the experience. The sample included 8 respondents: 4 individuals who currently had a pressure ulcer and 4 who previously had a pressure ulcer that had healed. Four respondents also had a spinal cord injury and 5 had surgical flap reconstruction. Respondents were asked to reflect and reply to the following statements: "Please describe your experience of having a pressure ulcer. Share all the thoughts, perceptions, and feelings you can recall until you have no more to say about this experience." From verbatim transcriptions of interviews, 7 themes evolved with related sub-themes. The themes that emerged were (1) perceived etiology of the pressure ulcer; (2) life impact and changes; (3) psychospiritual impact; (4) extreme painfulness associated with the pressure ulcer; (5) need for knowledge and understanding; (6) need for and effect of numerous, stressful treatments; and (7) the grieving process. In this paper, the essential nature of the experience of living with a pressure ulcer is presented. Pressure ulcers had a profound impact upon the subjects' lives, including physical, social, and financial status; change of body image; and/or loss of independence and control. Those with a Stage IV pressure ulcer and flap repair and/or those with a spinal cord injury experienced the grieving process in some form. Although the experience of having a pressure ulcer has similarities for each individual, each experiences it in a unique manner. patients with a pressure ulcer with or without a spinal cord injury have significant needs in learning to cope and live with their condition.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.93482581142117keywords = physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/21. spinal cord injury in children.The spinal injured child has speical needs owing to the processes of physical, mental and social growth. goals of physical treatment programs include prevention of: genitourinary complications; contractures; pressure sores; long bone fractures, hip subluxation and dislocation; spinal deformity. Nonoperative treatment of spinal deformity employing external support should be initiated when the potential for spinal deformity exists. External support delays the development of spinal deformity, improves sitting balance and allows free upper extremity use. The overall treatment programs must consider altered body proportions, immaturity of strength and coordination. Case examples of children with spinal injury are presented above to illustrate specific problems stemming from immaturity of physical, cognitive, and social development. Spinal surgery can be a conservative measure in the growing child when there is radiologic evidence of progressive spinal deformity. Posterior spinal fusion with Harrington instrumentation and external support permits immediate return to vertical activity.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 2.8044774342635keywords = physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/21. spinal cord injury medicine. 2. Medical complications after spinal cord injury: Identification and management.This is a self-directed learning module that reviews medical complications associated with spinal cord injury (SCI). It is part of a chapter on SCI medicine in the Self-Directed Physiatric Educational Program for practitioners and trainees in physical medicine and rehabilitation. This article includes discussion of common medical complications that impact rehabilitation and long-term follow-up for individuals with SCI. Issues addressed include the rehabilitation approach to SCI individuals with pressure ulcers, unilateral lower-extremity swelling (deep venous thrombosis, heterotopic ossification, fractures), along with the pathophysiology, assessment, and treatment of spasticity, autonomic dysreflexia, orthostatic hypotension, and pain. overall ARTICLE OBJECTIVE: To describe diagnostic and treatment approaches for medical complications common to individuals with SCI.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.93482581142117keywords = physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/21. Musculoskeletal deterioration and hemicorporectomy after spinal cord injury.BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The long-term management following an hemicorporectomy (HCP) is not well documented in the scientific literature. The purpose of this case report is to describe the 25-year history of a man with a spinal cord injury who experienced severe musculoskeletal deterioration and hemicorporectomy. CASE DESCRIPTION: The client sustained T10 complete paraplegia at age 18 years, developed severe decubitus ulcers, and required an HCP as a life-saving measure 13 years later. The authors describe the chronology of several rehabilitation and prosthetic strategies and speculate on factors that may have contributed to their successes and failures. OUTCOMES: The client survived 12 years after the HCP and returned to independent mobility, self-care, and schooling despite complications with continued skin breakdown. Over the 12 years following discharge from the hospital after the spinal cord injury, he spent 749 days in the hospital. During the 12 years he lived after discharge from the hospital following the HCP, he was hospitalized 190 days. DISCUSSION: The authors discuss factors contributing to the client's musculoskeletal deterioration including chronic wounds, postural deviations, and incomplete adherence to pressure-relief recommendations and raise considerations for physical therapists who treat patients after HCP.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.93482581142117keywords = physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
6/21. air support therapy: ethical considerations.Pressure ulcers are a major health problem for the elderly population in the united states. Billion of health care dollars are spent for hospitalization, air support therapy, wound care products, and nursing care. In addition, the cost in human suffering is priceless. Many patients with pressure ulcers have several chronic diseases that make wound healing difficult. nurses must begin to examine the ethical principles that guide their care of these patients. This article focuses on some ethical issues related to the care of patients with pressure ulcers and the difficulties encountered with pressure ulcer care. Careful analysis of the goals of pressure ulcer treatment may help nurses develop ethical guidelines to direct them in the care of these patients.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = suffering (Clic here for more details about this article) |
7/21. The use of honey for the treatment of two patients with pressure ulcers.Chronic wounds such as pressure ulcers, leg ulcers and diabetic wounds are a common problem among older people and alternative methods to the current time-consuming and costly practices of wound management in the nursing home need to be identified. To this end, we trialled the use of a honey alginate on two elderly males in our nursing home who were suffering from pressure ulcers (one on the ankle and one on the sacral region), to evaluate its effectiveness as a viable alternative to the current wound management practices in nursing homes. The use of honey resulted in a rapid and complete healing of both wounds. In addition, the antibacterial activity of honey had a deodorizing effect on the wounds and its anti-inflammatory actions helped reduce the level of pain. Similar healing results are also being observed in other patients with pressure-induced ulcers and as a result honey alginates are now being used as the 'standard' treatment for chronic wounds in our nursing home.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = suffering (Clic here for more details about this article) |
8/21. A study of a complex ARDS patient.With a high percentage of ICU patients suffering from ARDS from a direct or indirect lung injury, successful therapy and treatment modalities are important for all of us to know. It is our hope, as critical care professionals, to assist the patient through the course of this complication and prevent further lung injury related to the increasing oxygen demands, high positive pressure ventilation, and high volumes. When traditional methods of improving ventilation fail, we do have the options of proning our patients and/or trying high frequency oscillating ventilation to optimize oxygen exchange. The authors outline the course of events surrounding the care of a young patient with ARDS over 44 days in ICU. Proning, high frequency ventilation, and the use of steroids played a role in the recovery of Mr. M. Aggressive nursing care helped minimize the complications from these treatments and aided in the psychosocial aspects of a challenging family dynamic.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = suffering (Clic here for more details about this article) |
9/21. Is bed rest an effective treatment modality for pressure ulcers?Despite the well-documented medical, physical, and psychological complications associated with this care management option, bed rest remains a frequently prescribed treatment modality for conditions such as pressure ulcers. Cognitive and psychosocial complications of bed rest include depression, learned helplessness, perceptual changes, and fatigue. Physically, complications can include contractures, muscle atrophy, osteoporosis, pathologic fractures, urinary tract infections, decreased cardiac reserve, decreased stroke volume, resting and post-exercise tachycardia, orthostatic hypotension, pulmonary embolism, deep venous thrombosis, pneumonia, anorexia, constipation, and bowel impaction. Furthermore, the literature does not contain evidence supporting the use of bed rest to facilitate healing of pressure ulcers. More suitable approaches to pressure ulcer care include limiting bed rest, initiating occupational therapy, integrating meaningful tasks into daily activities, increasing outside stimulation, involving patients in care decisions and addressing their concerns, optimizing nutritional status, and managing pressure and shear throughout daily activities. Recommendations for implementing alternatives to bed rest are addressed.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.93482581142117keywords = physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
10/21. Malnutrition in the institutionalized elderly: the effects on wound healing.Under-nutrition and protein-energy malnutrition are seen at alarmingly high rates in institutionalized elderly and in patients admitted to hospitals. A combination of immobility and loss of lean body mass - which comprises muscle and skin - and immune system challenges increases the risk of pressure ulcers by 74%. The development of pressure ulcers in the hospital affects 10% of admissions, with the elderly at the highest risk. Common causes of malnutrition in the elderly involve: decreased appetite, dependency on help for eating, impaired cognition and/or communication, poor positioning, frequent acute illnesses with gastrointestinal losses, medications that decrease appetite or increase nutrient losses, polypharmacy, decreased thirst response, decreased ability to concentrate urine, intentional fluid restriction because of fear of incontinence or choking if dysphagic, psychosocial factors such as isolation and depression, monotony of diet, and higher nutrient density requirements along with the demands of age, illness, and disease on the body. All have been found to delay healing and increase the risk of pressure ulcer development. In addition, what is ingested should contain nutrients to support health and healing. The financial impact of malnutrition is high and the consequences for patient morbidity and mortality are severe. Practical suggestions to improve the nutritional status of long-term care residents include liberalizing previous diet restrictions where safe and appropriate, addressing impairments to dentition and swallowing, addressing physical and/or cognitive deficits, encouraging family and friends to provide favorite foods, auditing/addressing specific food under-consumption, and providing prudent nutrient supplementation. Clinicians must be aware of the numerous factors in play with regard to nutrition and its impact on not only general well-being but also on wound care. Nutritional intervention in pressure ulcer management is truly "healing from the inside out."- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.93482581142117keywords = physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
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