Nursing and safety of silver needle diathermy treating ankylosing spondylitis.

This paper aims to discuss the nursing and safety of silver needle diathermy in the treatment for ankylosing spondylitis. We nursed 46 patients with ankylosing spondylitis treated with silver needle diathermy. Specific nursing was focused on physical condition evaluation and mental nursing before treatment, observation during and after treatment, diet nursing, needle eye nursing, functional training and propaganda and education when discharged. The result suggested that all the patients received mental nursing, diet guide, skin care, health education, functional training and follow-up visit from the nurse and all of them could endure silver needle diathermy as discomfort or drug allergy was barely found, so were slight scald and skin infection nearby the needle eye caused by fainting during acupuncture, accidental puncture or overheat. Follow-up visit showed that no patient suffered obvious untoward effect and the pain, joint range of motion and living condition were distinctly improved a week after discharging. In conclusion, during the treatment for ankylosing spondylitis applying silver needle diathermy, the nursing before, during and after the treatment can obviously reduce the complication, accelerate the recovery, which is highly safe.

Diathermy in perioperative practice.

Diathermy has revolutionised modern surgery and is an important tool for efficient and safe surgical practice. It has evolved to become the modern day scalpel, being used for cutting and coagulating tissues. This article addresses the functioning and safe use of diathermy in the perioperative setting. The various precautionary checks before surgery, which are prerequisite for safe usage, are highlighted along with the necessary safety drills during and after operation. A specific note is included about the use of electrical equipment in specialised surgeries like cardiac and laparoscopic surgery. The issues regarding the maintenance and repair of equipment are acknowledged and finally, the anticipation for a future with precise and safer cutting and coagulation devices is addressed.

Transurethral microwave therapy of the prostate.

Benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) is a medical condition causing obstructive urinary symptoms that will inevitably affect the majority of the male population. Treatments for BPH have traditionally included invasive surgical intervention to resect a portion of the prostate as a relief of obstructive symptoms or medications that act in several ways to open the urinary channel and relieve symptoms. A new, less invasive treatment for BPH has now been developed and approved. Transurethral microwave therapy is discussed in this article. A case study is presented.

Hipertermia. La modificación de la temperatura corporal como terapéutica clínica / Hyperthermia. Modification of body temperature as clinical therapeutics

La aplicación de calor o frío como terapéutica se denomina termoterapia. Ha sido empleada desde la antigüedad: egipcios, griegos y romanos utilizaban la radiación solar o la sumersión en manantiales para aplicar calor y el hielo o la nieve para el frío. Las primeras referencias científicas relacionadas con la termoterapia aparecen a finales del siglo XVIII, pero en el siglo XX se han introducido nuevas modalidades de termoterapia profunda que han ampliado sus posibilidades; así mismo su aplicación superficial cuenta con medios más cómodos y eficaces. La termoterapia, si bien requiere más experimentación para la obtención de una sólida evidencia científica que avale su uso, está levantando grandes expectativas como terapéutica en diversos campos: oncología, cirugía, neurología, etc. En el campo quirúrgico la ablación térmica se ha utilizado con éxito en el tratamiento de diversas patologías, hiperplasia benigna de próstata, tumores hepáticos y ginecológicos, entre otros. En el campo de la oncología se ha evidenciado que la diatermia mejoraría los resultados administrada en conjunción con quimio y radioterapia. Basándonos en la revisión de la bibliografía, se describirán los principales usos de la modificación de la temperatura como terapéutica, las principales indicaciones de estas técnicas, su forma de aplicación, la evidencia existente sobre sus beneficios y las complicaciones que se derivan de su manejo(AU)

The application of heat or cold therapy is called thermotherapy. Thermotherapy has been used since ancient times, Egyptians, Greeks and Romans used solar radiation or submersion in springs to apply heat and ice and snow for cold application. The first scientific references related to thermotherapy appear in late eighteenth century, but the twentieth century when the introduction of new forms of deep heat therapy have expanded their capabilities and their operation with media surface more comfortable and effective. Thermotherapy, although they require more experimentation to obtain a solid scientific proof that their use is raising great expectations in various fields such as oncology treatment, surgery, neurology, etc. In the surgical field thermal ablation has been used successfully in the treatment of various diseases, benign prostatic hyperplasia, liver and gynecological tumors, among others. In the field of oncology has been shown to improve outcomes diathermy applied in conjunction with chemo and radiation therapy. Based on the literature review, describing the main uses of the change in temperature as a therapeutic, the main indications for these techniques, as applicable, evidence of its benefits and complications arising from their use(AU)