IMPORTANCE The standard practice of irrigation and debridement (I&D) of open fractures within 6 hours of injury remains controversial. OBJECTIVE To prospectively evaluate the effect of the time from injury to the initial I&D on infectious complications. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS A total of 315 patients who were admitted to a level 1 trauma center with open extremity fractures from S...

On the basis of published earnings data, estimated compensation ratios, and estimated hours, China's manufacturing employees averaged about 57 cents compensation per hour worked in 2002 W ith by far the world's largest manufacturing workforce, at more than 100 million, 1 China is widely known to have low labor costs. Statistics available for the first time for the entire country for 2002 now pe...

PURPOSE Interventions made by pharmacists to resolve issues when filling a prescription ensure the quality, safety, and efficacy of medication therapy for patients. The purpose of this study was to provide a current estimate of the number and types of interventions performed by community pharmacists during processing of prescriptions. This baseline data will provide insight into the factors inf...

BACKGROUND Anticoagulant effect of clopidogrel is of utmost importance in coronary artery disease, especially in prevention of coronary stent thrombosis. Recently, many new local brands of clopidogrel have been launched, with unknown efficacy. This study was conducted with the aim to compare two locally prepared clopidogrel brands, in terms of the effect of a loading dose of 600 mg on inhibitio...

CONTEXT Medical educators worry that the 2003 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) duty-hour rules (DHR) have encouraged a "shift work" mentality among residents and eroded their professionalism by forcing them either to abandon patients when they have worked for eighty hours or lie about the number of hours worked. In this qualitative study, we explore how medical and s...

Background: Local Anaesthesia is now being accepted universally as a safe alternative to general anaesthesia for thyroid surgery. Aim: This study was carried out to compare the outcomes of patients undergoing thyroid surgery under local and general anaesthesia. Material and Methods: Hundred patients who underwent thyroid surgery for benign and malignant diseases under local and general anaesthe...