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Background Preoperative investigations are important to assess the clinical condition of patients who undergo elective surgical procedures. However, there is still debate about the usefulness of performing preoperative investigations. We aimed to determine the prevalence of routine preoperative investigation abnormalities among elective general surgery patients. Methodology This retrospective hospital-record-based study was conducted at the King Abdullah Hospital in Bisha Province, southern Saudi Arabia. General and clinical data of 968 patients who underwent elective surgical interventions from February 2022 to January 2023 were retrieved and analyzed. Result A total of 968 patients (578 females and 390 males) aged between 14 and 80 years were included in the study. Four hundred and eleven (42.5%) patients were in the age group of 40 years and above. The commonly detected comorbidities among the patients were diabetes (15%), hypertension (12%), respiratory diseases (7.5%), and cardiac diseases (2.5%). Abnormalities related to hemoglobin (31%), total leucocyte count (12.7%), and platelets (8.5%) were found in 968 patients. Around 15% of patients had increased creatinine levels. Hypokalemia was observed in 6.8% of patients. Increased liver enzymes were reported in limited proportions (10% to 14%) of patients. Slightly abnormal radiological findings were reported for chest X-ray (CXR) (2.8%), electrocardiogram (ECG) (2%), and Doppler echocardiography (Echo) (0.8%). A statistically significant association between the age of the patient and abnormal findings of ECG (p <.001), Echo (p = .001), and CXR (p <.001). Cardiac abnormalities were commonly associated with patients of ≥ 40 years. Abnormal cardiac findings (CXR, ECG, Echo) were significantly (p<.05) increased with the presence of diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular comorbidities. Conclusions Preoperative testing revealed limited proportions of abnormal findings among patients with elective surgical procedures. Routine ordering of many preoperative investigations without specifications may not predict postoperative complications of the patients. Therefore, undertaking preoperative testing should be guided by targeted history, physical examination, clinical risk factors, and type of surgical procedure intended to be performed.
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Diabetes mellitus, a condition characterized by dysregulation of blood glucose levels, poses significant health challenges globally. This meta-analysis and systematic review aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of artificial intelligence (AI) in managing diabetes, underpinned by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The review scrutinized articles published between January 2019 and February 2024, sourced from six electronic databases: Web of Science, Google Scholar, PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and MEDLINE, using keywords such as "Artificial intelligence use in medicine, Diabetes management, Health technology, Machine learning, Diabetic patients, AI applications, and Health informatics." The analysis revealed a notable variance in the prevalence of diabetes symptoms between patients managed with AI models and those receiving standard treatments or other machine learning models, with a risk ratio (RR) of 0.98 (95% CI: 0.88-1.08, I2 = 0%). Sub-group analyses, focusing on symptom detection and management, consistently showed outcomes favoring AI interventions, with RRs of 0.97 (95% CI: 0.87-1.08, I2 = 0%) for symptom detection and 0.97 (95% CI: 0.56-1.57, I2 = 0%) for management, respectively. The findings underscore the potential of AI in enhancing diabetes care, particularly in early disease detection and personalized lifestyle recommendations, addressing the significant health risks associated with diabetes, including increased morbidity and mortality. This study highlights the promising role of AI in revolutionizing diabetes management, advocating for its expanded use in healthcare settings to improve patient outcomes and optimize treatment efficacy.
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BACKGROUND: A widespread and serious eye condition is a refractive error (RE). Globally, uncorrected refractive defects affect numerous individuals, with some who are blind. Numerous studies in Saudi Arabia have been conducted to assess reflective error. However, there is a lack of knowledge regarding RE among school-age children in Bisha province, southwest Saudi Arabia. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and types of RE among school-age children in Bisha, Saudi Arabia. METHODS: A cross-sectional study involved 360 schoolchildren from primary schools was carried out between December 2022 and November 2023 in Bisha. A validated questionnaire form was used to collect sociodemographic information and clinical data (history of the ocular problem, visual acuity test findings, and the refractor machine's result). RESULT: A total of 360 schoolchildren aged from seven to 14 years, with a mean of 10.1 years (standard deviation (SD)=2.05). The prevalence of hyperopia was 21% in the right eye and 23% in the left eye. In addition, the prevalence of myopia was 20% in the right eye and 22.5% in the left eye. A significant association between visual acuity and myopia (p=0.001). By contrast, there was no significant correlation between hyperopia and visual acuity (p=0.412). CONCLUSION: The current study summarized the prevalence of REs among school-age children in Bisha, Saudi Arabia. The study population included nearly half of those with at least some degree of RE. These results highlight the need for prompt and careful screening programs to detect and treat refractive disorders across this age range.