Time and Motion at the Endoscopy Unit-A University Hospital Experience.

Background/aims: An effective workflow at the endoscopy unit is important for optimal production. We conducted a time-and-motion study to identify the amount of time that patients spend during the different steps of a regular endoscopy procedure and compared propofol with midazolam sedation. Methods: Data from 376 patients were prospectively collected. Durations of the different procedure steps were measured. Correlations between recovery times, age, and dose of sedative were calculated. Multiple regression analysis was performed to evaluate how various factors affect recovery time. Results: The use of midazolam resulted in significantly shorter procedure duration for gastroscopy (5.1 vs 8.3 min), shorter endoscopist delay duration for either types of endoscopy (5.9 vs 8.3 min for gastroscopy and 6.7 vs 11.4 min for colonoscopy), shorter endoscopy room duration for gastroscopy (22.2 vs 30.0 min), shorter recovery time for colonoscopy (23.4 vs 27.4 min) and shorter Endoscopy Unit Duration for either type of endoscopy (77.1 vs 101.4 min for gastroscopy and 99.6 vs 123.2 min for colonoscopy). There was a weak correlation between dose of midazolam and recovery time. Conclusions: In contrast to other studies, propofol administration leads to more time spent at different steps in the workflow at our unit. Implementing propofol sedation will not improve efficacy if other steps in the workflow are not taken into account.

Risk factors during pregnancy and delivery for the development of Perthes' disease, a nationwide Swedish study of 2.1 million individuals.

BACKGROUND: To ascertain or disprove a correlation between suboptimal birth characteristics, breech position at delivery and development of Perthes' disease. METHODS: Study material was collected from nationwide registers regarding diagnoses, birth statistics and delivery data. As study population were included children with a diagnosis code for Perthes' disease who were alive and living in Sweden at age 13. Children with missing birth statistics were excluded. All children with no Perthes' disease diagnosis were used as control group. Both single and multiple logistical regression analyses were used to calculate OR for the included characteristics. RESULTS: Children in breech position had a higher risk for developing Perthes' disease. Children with Perthes' disease had also a higher probability of having been born pre-term, very pre-term or post-term. Lower than normal birth weight and a lower Apgar-score were also associated with Perthes' disease. CONCLUSIONS: There is a correlation between breech birth and development of Perthes' disease. There is also correlation to suboptimal birth characteristics. Despite our findings this should not be used for screening of Perthes' disease as the percentage of children who actually develop it is very low. Also, as of yet there is no possibility to diagnose Perthes' disease before the presence of skeletal changes. Our findings could be important in finding the cause of Perthes' disease and therefore developing better diagnostics, treatment and prevention.

Incidence of Perthes' disease in children born between 1973 and 1993.

Background and purpose - The incidence of Perthes' disease as reported in the literature varies widely between and within countries. The etiology of the disease is still unknown. Both environmental and genetic factors have been suggested to play a part in either causing the disease or increasing the susceptibility of an individual. We determined the incidence of Perthes' disease in Sweden and investigated possible relationships to parental socioeconomic status, ethnicity, marital status, mothers' age when giving birth, parity, number of siblings, and smoking habits. Patients and methods - Six Swedish population-based registers were used, together covering all children born in Sweden from 1973 through 1993. Results - The incidence of Perthes' disease in Sweden was 9.3 per 100,000 subjects. The ratio between boys and girls was 3.1:1. The educational level of the father and the mother of a child with Perthes' disease was lower than in the controls. The incidence was lower when the fathers were in the highest income bracket (above the 90th percentile). A higher proportion of parents of Nordic lineage had children with Perthes' disease than parental pairs with one or both who were not of such lineage. Interpretation - This study confirms that there is an association between the incidence of Perthes' disease and the socioeconomic status of the parents.