[The dengue fever in Mexico. Knowledge for improving the quality in health]. / El dengue en México. Conocer para mejorar la calidad de la atención.

Dengue is a systemic infectious disease of viral etiology, transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes. It causes between 50 and 100 million cases annually over 100 countries. In most of the cases it presents as influenza-like illness or undifferentiated fever and more than 500,000 patients develop dengue hemorrhagic fever. In America, dengue fever is considered the most important resurgent disease and its hemorrhagic form is becoming more relevant, especially given the steady increase in the number of deaths. The first outbreaks of dengue in America were described in 1635. Since the apparition of dengue hemorrhagic fever, in 1962, it has been considered a public health problem because half of the population lives in endemic areas. The purpose of this paper is to carry a briefly review of the epidemiology, clinical features, pathophysiology, prevention and treatment of dengue fever, as well as create recommendations in order to improve the quality of care and decrease mortality in these patients.

[Analysis of dengue fever deaths in Mexico: 2009]. / Defunciones por dengue en México. Análisis del año 2009.

OBJECTIVE: to describe the dengue fever mortality. METHODS: a descriptive and retrospective study including 104 files reported deaths caused by dengue fever during 2009 to march 2010, was done. RESULTS: sixty (58 %) were women and 44 (42 %) men. An increased mortality between the ages of 11 and 40 years old (47 %) was observed. Colima was a state with high incidence of cases and Jalisco had the highest mortality. Thrombocytopenia was the rule (90.4 %) and in one third of the cases platelets were below 50,000/mm(3). A quarter of cases were associated with comorbility. The initial clinical manifestations included: bleeding, hypovolemia by depletion or hemorrhage, tachycardia, paleness, depressed level of consciousness and circulatory failure. The main cause of death was hypovolemic shock or sepsis. In 42 cases, severe dengue was considered. CONCLUSIONS: an association between the severity of dengue fever and mortality was observed. The main cause of mortality was a shock state.

[Medical error: adverse events]. / El error médico. Eventos adversos.

At the present time, care the patients safety during across the process of health is a priority target and determine the urgent necessity, to guarantee the satisfaction of their health needs, on best conditions as possible as it is, without complications for adverse events occurring in the medical attention. This paper purpose definition of different concepts like medical error, medical criteria, adverse and sentinel event, in order to define these concepts. Also try to show the sequence of events for a correct or incorrect medical decision, the consequent mistake and the possibility to produce an adverse event, with patient's damage. An important goal is that the medical practice is immersing in a biological paradigm, define like unpredictable, suitable, reactive and creative; very different to the exact science that has a predictable and structured paradigm, supported in mathematical rules. In the medical practice, each patient is an inedited situation and required all the knowledge, skills and experience in order to satisfy specific health needs, particularly in critical moments. The way for protect from the occurrence of medical error include the clinical practices guidelines, evidence-based medicine, the maintenance of professional competences by the continuous training, the close medical-patient relationship, integral approach of the illness and scrupulous data at the clinical record. In consequence, very often medical errors produce adverse events with damage of patients, or sentinel events with serious consequences of health, integrity or patient's life. Is important to say that the adverse events could be appear even without a medical error, just for failures in structural and systems issues, including resources and it's maintaining, organizational variables, communication, human resources, training programs, process without standardization, failures an supervision or control phases. This paper shows current adverse and sentinel events, and distinguish between the possibility of its measurement with good and standardized register systems.

[Analysis of maternal deaths in Mexico occurred during 2009]. / Análisis de las muertes maternas en México ocurridas durante 2009.

BACKGROUND: Mexico reported 955 maternal deaths in 2011, with a ratio of 49 deaths per 100,000 live births. For 2015, the WHO commitment is to reduce the ratio to 22, equivalent to 415 maternal deaths. METHODS: it is a descriptive and retrospective study. In 1257 maternal deaths in 2009, we reviewed a sample of 173 records. Simple frequencies and percentages were calculated. RESULTS: direct causes of maternal death were preeclampsia-eclampsia, infection and obstetrical hemorrhage secondary to uterine atony, placental accreta and placenta previa. Fifteen patients died from abortion complications. Four patients died from extra-uterine pregnancy, because of delayed diagnosis and treatment. Indirect causes of maternal death were neoplasms, abdominal sepsis, vascular events, metabolic problems and heart disease; twenty-five patients died of atypical pneumonia and 11 more of influenza A H1N1. CONCLUSIONS: it is feasible to reduce maternal mortality by means of an adequate prenatal care, in quantity and quality of consultations, and avoiding high risk pregnancies caused by a history of obstetric factors and associated severe diseases. Influenza A H1N1 interrupted the downward trend in maternal mortality.

Introducción: en 2011 ocurrieron 955 defunciones maternas en México, 49.9 por 100 000 nacidos vivos. La meta de la Organización Mundial de la Salud para 2015 es reducir la tasa a 22.5: 560 defunciones anuales. Métodos: estudio descriptivo y retrospectivo de 1257 muertes maternas ocurridas en México durante 2009, con una muestra representativa de 173 expedientes. Se calcularon frecuencias simples y porcentajes. Resultados: las muertes maternas ocurrieron por causas directas como preeclampsia-eclampsia, infección y hemorragia obstétrica secundaria a atonía uterina, acretismo placentario y placenta previa. Quince mujeres tuvieron complicaciones por abortos. Cuatro murieron por embarazo extrauterino debido a diagnóstico y tratamiento tardíos. Las causas indirectas de la muerte materna fueron neoplasias, sepsis abdominal, eventos vasculares, problemas metabólicos y cardiopatías. Veinticinco pacientes fallecieron por neumonía atípica y 11 por influenza A H1N1. Conclusiones: es factible disminuir la mortalidad materna mediante suficientes consultas prenatales de calidad y evitar embarazos con riesgo alto por los antecedentes obstétricos y los padecimientos asociados. La influenza A H1N1 interrumpió la tendencia descendente de la mortalidad materna.

Quality of medical care and patient surgical safety: medical error, malpractice and professional liability.

BACKGROUND: over time, a significant number of definitions and concepts on quality of care have been identified. This study focuses on quality of care from the perspective of medical patients. DISCUSSION: quality of medical care includes different areas: opportunity, professional qualifications, safety, respect for ethical principles of medical practice and satisfaction with care outcomes. In this regard, at the Conamed (National Commission for Medical Arbitration), 8062 complaints have been followed, analyzed and completed between June 1996 and December 2008: in 16.8% of the complaints there were insufficient data to determine whether or not there was evidence of malpractice; 20.8% of the complaints had evidence of malpractice and in 62.4% of complaints the existence of good practice was determined according to the lex artis. Among the surgical specialties with the highest malpractice cases were the following: general surgery, gynecology, orthopedics, ophthalmology, emergency surgery, urology and traumatology. CONCLUSIONS: acknowledgment of the concept of quality of health care provides a starting point to determine the source of errors, malpractice and professional responsibility in order to resolve and prevent them. Conamed offers alternative means for conflict resolution related to physician-patient relationship by means of conciliation and arbitration, favoring patient and family, as well as the medical profession.

[Complaint analysis derived from surgical practice]. / Análisis de las quejas derivadas de las prácticas quirúrgicas.

This study reports on the analysis of medical complaints presented to the National Commission on Medical Arbitration (Comisión Nacional de Arbitraje Médico, CONAMED) between June 1996 and December 2007 to determine its magnitude and to identify the causes of safety problems in medical care. Out of 182,407 complaints presented to CONAMED, 87% were resolved by the Office of Orientation and Management. The remaining 18,443 complaints were presented to the Council Directorate. Of those cases, 48% were resolved by an agreement between the complainants and the physicians, 31% were not resolved by this method, and 3% were irresolute complaints. The highest frequency of complaints was registered in the Federal District (Distrito Federal) and the State of México (Estado de México), mainly corresponding to social security institutions and private hospitals. Among the nine most frequently involved specialties, six were surgical specialties. Malpractice was identified in 25% of all cases. The principal demands of those making complaints were the refunding of expenses in patient medical care (51%) and indemnification (40%) and, in those, the average amount of payments was 4.6 times greater. Due to the incidence of medical complaints, it was reasonable to investigate the causes and to take preventive and corrective actions required for its decrease. It was proposed to the Mexican Academy of Surgery that this organization should use their educational leadership and assume the vanguard in the dissemination and promotion of the WHO plan "Safe Surgery Saves Lives" and the implementation in Mexico of the "Surgical Safety Checklist."

[ISO System 9000 or evaluation of the quality of medical care]. / Sistema ISO 9000 o evaluación de la calidad de la atención médica.

Evaluation of the quality of medical care began in Mexico in 1956. This was done by reviewing the clinical files of patients. In 1984, Donabedian introduced the Theory of Systems that evaluates structure, process and results, adopted as a base in the IMSS to develop the System of Integral Evaluation and Continuous Improvement of the Quality of the Medical Care, through the identification and solution of the problems that affect quality in medical care as well as the improvements of the inefficient processes or those with low quality. The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care, European Foundation for Quality Management (ETQM) and International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQua) use a similar methodology in its evaluations. The ISO System (International Organization for Standardization) was created in 1947 to assure and to certify the quality of the production processes and to guarantee the quality of the products that were fabricated. In health institutions the ISO system is useful to certify the structure and organization, and it indicates that they are under conditions to assure the quality of medical care, but it does not guarantee that this must happen. On the other hand, faults in structure and organization may result in poor quality of care. We conclude that both systems are complementary, rather than exclusionary.

Análisis de las quejas derivadas de las prácticas quirúrgicas / Complaint analysis derived from surgical practice

Se analizan los asuntos presentados ante la Comisión Nacional de Arbitraje Médico desde junio de 1996 hasta diciembre de 2007, para difundir su magnitud e identificar los problemas de seguridad en la atención médica. De 182 407 asuntos, 87 % lo resolvió el Área de Orientación y Gestión. Las restantes 18 443 quejas fueron derivadas a la Dirección de Conciliación; de ellas, en 48 % se logró la conciliación entre promoventes y médicos y en 31 % esto no fue factible; 3 % se trató de quejas irresolubles. La mayor frecuencia de quejas se registró en el Distrito Federal y Estado de México, principalmente correspondientes a instituciones de seguridad social y hospitales privados. Entre las nueve especialidades involucradas con mayor frecuencia, existieron seis quirúrgicas. Se identificó mala práctica en 25 % de los casos. Las principales pretensiones de los promoventes de las quejas fueron reintegro de los gastos erogados por atención médica en 51 % de los casos e indemnización en 40 %; en estos últimos el monto promedio de lo pagado por caso fue 4.6 veces mayor. El conocimiento de las quejas médicas permite investigar sus causas y generar acciones preventivas y correctivas, para su abatimiento. Se propone que la Academia Mexicana de Cirugía, por su liderazgo académico y docente, asuma la vanguardia en la difusión y promoción del plan “Las prácticas quirúrgicas seguras salvan vidas”, de la Organización Mundial de la Salud, y la implantación en nuestro país de la “Lista de verificación de la seguridad quirúrgica”.

This study reports on the analysis of medical complaints presented to the National Commission on Medical Arbitration (Comisión Nacional de Arbitraje Médico, CONAMED) between June 1996 and December 2007 to determine its magnitude and to identify the causes of safety problems in medical care. Out of 182,407 complaints presented to CONAMED, 87% were resolved by the Office of Orientation and Management. The remaining 18,443 complaints were presented to the Council Directorate. Of those cases, 48% were resolved by an agreement between the complainants and the physicians, 31% were not resolved by this method, and 3% were irresolute complaints. The highest frequency of complaints was registered in the Federal District (Distrito Federal) and the State of México (Estado de México), mainly corresponding to social security institutions and private hospitals. Among the nine most frequently involved specialties, six were surgical specialties. Malpractice was identified in 25% of all cases. The principal demands of those making complaints were the refunding of expenses in patient medical care (51%) and indemnification (40%) and, in those, the average amount of payments was 4.6 times greater. Due to the incidence of medical complaints, it was reasonable to investigate the causes and to take preventive and corrective actions required for its decrease. It was proposed to the Mexican Academy of Surgery that this organization should use their educational leadership and assume the vanguard in the dissemination and promotion of the WHO plan "Safe Surgery Saves Lives" and the implementation in Mexico of the "Surgical Safety Checklist."

Sistema ISO 9000 o evaluación de la calidad de la atención médica / ISO System 9000 or evaluation of the quality of medical care

Evaluation of the quality of medical care began in Mexico in 1956. This was done by reviewing the clinical files of patients. In 1984, Donabedian introduced the Theory of Systems that evaluates structure, process and results, adopted as a base in the IMSS to develop the System of Integral Evaluation and Continuous Improvement of the Quality of the Medical Care, through the identification and solution of the problems that affect quality in medical care as well as the improvements of the inefficient processes or those with low quality. The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care, European Foundation for Quality Management (ETQM) and International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQua) use a similar methodology in its evaluations. The ISO System (International Organization for Standardization) was created in 1947 to assure and to certify the quality of the production processes and to guarantee the quality of the products that were fabricated. In health institutions the ISO system is useful to certify the structure and organization, and it indicates that they are under conditions to assure the quality of medical care, but it does not guarantee that this must happen. On the other hand, faults in structure and organization may result in poor quality of care. We conclude that both systems are complementary, rather than exclusionary.

El error médico: eventos adversos / Medical error: adverse events

En la actualidad, la seguridad de los pacientes durante el proceso de atención médica ha alcanzado una relevancia prioritaria, determinando la necesidad urgente de garantizarles que sus necesidades de salud se vean satisfechas en las mejores condiciones posibles, sin verse complicadas por eventos adversos ocurridos durante el proceso de la atención. En el presente documento se proponen definiciones de los términos error médico, criterio médico, evento adverso y evento centinela, a fin de manejar conceptos semejantes. Se presenta la secuencia de eventos que puede conducir a la toma de una decisión correcta o incorrecta, el error consecuente y su derivación hacia un evento adverso, con daño para el paciente. Se hace énfasis en que la práctica médica está inmersa en un paradigma biológico impredecible, adaptativo, reactivo y creativo, a diferencia de las ciencias físico-matemáticas, que están dentro de un paradigma sujeto a leyes matemáticas, predecible y estructurado. Como consecuencia de esto, en la práctica médica cada paciente es una situación inédita que requiere de todos los conocimientos, habilidades y experiencias, para satisfacer sus necesidades de salud particulares, especialmente en situaciones críticas. Se proponen los medios para protegerse del error médico, incluyendo las guías clínicas, la medicina basada en evidencias, el mantenimiento de la competencia profesional a través de capacitación y actualización continuas, la relación médico-paciente estrecha, el estudio clínico completo y los registros escrupulosos en el expediente clínico. Como consecuencia de los errores médicos, con frecuencia se da lugar a eventos adversos que representan daño para la salud del paciente, o eventos centinela, que pueden tener consecuencias graves para la salud, la integridad o la vida del paciente. Se hace énfasis en que los eventos adversos pueden presentarse sin que esté de por medio un error médico, sino por fallas en la estructura y en los sistemas, incluyendo...

At the present time, care the patients safety during across the process of health is a priority target and determine the urgent necessity, to guarantee the satisfaction of their health needs, on best conditions as possible as it is, without complications for adverse events occurring in the medical attention. This paper purpose definition of different concepts like medical error, medical criteria, adverse and sentinel event, in order to define these concepts. Also try to show the sequence of events for a correct or incorrect medical decision, the consequent mistake and the possibility to produce an adverse event, with patient's damage. An important goal is that the medical practice is immersing in a biological paradigm, define like unpredictable, suitable, reactive and creative; very different to the exact science that has a predictable and structured paradigm, supported in mathematical rules. In the medical practice, each patient is an inedited situation and required all the knowledge, skills and experience in order to satisfy specific health needs, particularly in critical moments. The way for protect from the occurrence of medical error include the clinical practices guidelines, evidence-based medicine, the maintenance of professional competences by the continuous training, the close medical-patient relationship, integral approach of the illness and scrupulous data at the clinical record. In consequence, very often medical errors produce adverse events with damage of patients, or sentinel events with serious consequences of health, integrity or patient's life. Is important to say that the adverse events could be appear even without a medical error, just for failures in structural and systems issues, including resources and it's maintaining, organizational variables, communication, human resources, training programs, process without standardization, failures an supervision or control phases. This paper shows current adverse and sentinel events, and...