Marine Envenomation in Okinawa: Overview and Treatment Concept.

Okinawa prefecture is a popular tourist destination due to its beaches and reefs. The reefs host a large variety of animals, including a number of venomous species. Because of the popularity of the reefs and marine activities, people are frequently in close contact with dangerous venomous species and, thus, are exposed to potential envenomation. Commonly encountered venomous animals throughout Okinawa include the invertebrate cone snail, sea urchin, crown-of-thorns starfish, blue-ringed octopus, box jellyfish, and fire coral. The vertebrates include the stonefish, lionfish, sea snake, and moray eel. Treatment for marine envenomation can involve first aid, hot water immersion, antivenom, supportive care, regional anesthesia, and pharmaceutical administration. Information on venomous animals, their toxins, and treatment should be well understood by prehospital care providers and physicians practicing in the prefecture.

Perforated appendicitis in patients with schizophrenia: a retrospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: Altered pain sensitivity may affect the outcome of appendicitis in patients with schizophrenia. We aimed to compare the prevalence of perforation in appendicitis between patients with and without schizophrenia. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study with random matching. SETTING: A single tertiary medical centre in Japan. PARTICIPANTS: From 1985 to 2013, 1821 cases of appendicitis requiring appendectomy were collected. Patients with schizophrenia and a cohort of randomly selected control subjects without schizophrenia who underwent appendectomy were identified. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome was the rate of perforated appendicitis in patients with and without schizophrenia. Secondary outcome was the odds of perforated appendicitis by different clinical factors. RESULTS: 62 patients with schizophrenia and randomly sampled 200 non-schizophrenic patients were compared. The prevalence of perforation was 53% in patients with schizophrenia versus 17% in controls (p<0.0001). The adjusted OR for perforation were 4.87 (95% CI: 2.33 to 10.2) for schizophrenia, 3.35 (95% CI 1.51 to 7.45) for age >55 years and 2.18 (95% CI: 1.12 to 4.27) for delayed presentation. CONCLUSION: Appendiceal perforation was more frequent in patients with schizophrenia than controls, which may be partly attributable to delayed presentation and altered responses to pain.