This cohort study included 254 adult patients who used a urinary catheter (UC) during their hospitalization in a university hospital ward. The following were evaluated: catheter use, indication, time of permanence, urinary infection density, mortality, and hospital stay. Throughout the studied period, 14% of the hospitalized patients received UC, totaling 1735 UC-day. In 23% of cases, the proce...

BACKGROUND Because of an expected shrinking supply of medical doctors for hospitalist posts, an increased emphasis on efficiency and continuity of care, and the standardization of many medical procedures, the role of hospitalist is increasingly allocated to physician assistants (PAs). PAs are nonphysician clinicians with medical tasks. This study aims to evaluate the effects of substitution of ...

BACKGROUND Low-back pain (LBP) affects about 40% of people at some point in their lives. In the presence of "red flags", further tests must be done to rule out underlying problems; however, biomedical imaging is currently overused. LBP involves large in-hospital and out-of-hospital economic costs, and it is also the most common musculoskeletal disorder seen in emergency departments (EDs). PAT...

Background: Postoperative infections (POIs) contribute to morbidity and mortality of surgical patients. There was no data on the prevalence and associated risk factors of POIs in the Limbe Regional Hospital (RLH). Methods: Selected patients were those who underwent a surgical procedure and were admitted into the surgical or maternity ward of the LRH between January 2009 and August 2012. Data st...

Prospective data on hip fracture from 3686 patients at a United Kingdom teaching hospital were analysed to investigate the risk factors, financial costs and outcomes associated with deep or superficial wound infections after hip fracture surgery. In 1.2% (41) of patients a deep wound infection developed, and 1.1% (39) had a superficial wound infection. A total of 57 of 80 infections (71.3%) wer...

Mortality and cost outcomes of elderly intensive care unit (ICU) trauma patients were characterised in a retrospective cohort study from an Australian tertiary ICU Trauma patients admitted between January 2000 and December 2005 were grouped into three major age categories: aged > or =65 years admitted into ICU (n = 272); aged -65 years admitted into general ward (n = 610) and aged < 65 years ad...

Delirium occurs in 10-20% of medical patients on admission and a further 10-30% develop delirium as an inpatient. Delirium is associated with increased length of stay, morbidity, mortality, and risk of institutional placement. There is poor knowledge of delirium recognition and management, and a need to raise awareness and training of all staff. NICE have produced guidelines for diagnosis, prev...

Public hospitals are typically run by diagnosis-related groups (DRG) as income. There is, however, a major problem in that medical reimbursement per patient is dropping and at the same time the surgery-related costs have increased remarkably in recent years. It is therefore necessary to optimize income as well as reduce expenses as much as possible. The major part of the expenses for a patient ...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Randomized trials have demonstrated reduced morbidity and mortality with stroke unit care; however, the effect on length of stay, and hence the economic benefit, is less well-defined. In 2001, a multidisciplinary stroke unit was opened at our institution. We observed whether a stroke unit reduces length of stay and in-hospital case fatality when compared to admission to a...