Using Animation to Improve Recovery from Acute Coronary Syndrome: A Randomized Trial.

UNLABELLED: Background: Recovery from myocardial infarction has been associated with patients' perceptions of damage to their heart. New technologies offer a way to show patients animations that may foster more accurate perceptions and encourage medication adherence, increased exercise and faster return to activities. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a brief animated intervention delivered at the patients' bedside on perceptions and recovery in acute coronary syndrome patients. METHODS: Seventy acute coronary syndrome patients were randomly assigned to the intervention or standard care alone. Illness perceptions, medication beliefs and recovery outcomes were measured. RESULTS: Post-intervention, the intervention group had significantly increased treatment control perceptions and decreased medication harm beliefs and concerns. Seven weeks later, intervention participants had significantly increased treatment control and timeline beliefs, decreased symptoms, lower cardiac avoidance, greater exercise and faster return to normal activities compared to control patients. CONCLUSIONS: A brief animated intervention may be clinically effective for acute coronary syndrome patients (Trial-ID: ACTRN12614000440628).

Management of acute sigmoid volvulus in a provincial centre-a 20-year experience.

AIM: At our institution there has been a long-standing early operative approach to large bowel volvulus as well as initial decompression with rigid sigmoidoscopy. The primary aim of this study was to investigate the safety and efficacy of this approach on reducing readmissions and complications. Secondary aims were to investigate the safety and efficacy of bedside rigid sigmoidoscopy in decompression of sigmoid volvulus and investigate the sensitivity of abdominal x-ray in the diagnosis of acute large bowel volvulus. METHOD: A retrospective study was conducted on all patients presenting with acute obstruction due to large bowel volvulus between 1 January 1998-1 January 2018. RESULTS: Thirty-four patients with acute sigmoid volvulus were identified that met the inclusion criteria with a median age of 81 years. The majority of patients 27/34 (79%) were booked for surgery on the first admission. Readmissions were reduced in the index operative group 1/20 (5%) vs the non-operative decompression group 3/4 (75%) RR 0.07 (CI 0.01-0.49 P=0.01). CONCLUSION: Early sigmoid colectomy was associated with low morbidity and found to be safe in the elderly, and the results suggest that early surgery is associated with reduced readmissions and a low complication rate, with index surgery preferable to urgent elective surgery. Rigid sigmoidoscopy is a safe method of decompression as a bridge to index surgery and was not associated with any complications in this series.