Sharps injuries in the operating room.

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to identify who sustains needlestick and sharps injuries, under what circumstances and what actions are taken to minimize the risk and in response to intraoperative NSSIs. METHODS: The cross-sectional study was conducted in 2013 on 215 operation room personnel in 14 hospitals of the Hormozgan province, Iran. RESULTS: Two hundred and fifty appropriate responders completed the questionnaire (86 %). Anaesthesia 59 (27.4 %) and operation room technicians 55 (25.6 %) sustained the greatest numbers of NSSIs over the past year. Awareness of local protocols was significantly worse in the residents group. The commonest reasons for noncompliance with NSSIs local protocols were not sure of the local protocols 44 (20.4 %) and prolonged operation so unable to leave operation table 37 (17.3 %). CONCLUSIONS: A revision of the local protocol to reduce the time it takes to complete may improve compliance. Education is of paramount importance in making health care workers aware of this issue. The application of safety devices led to a reduction in NSSIs and reduces the risk of blood borne infection as well.

Impact of documentation errors on accuracy of cause of death coding in an educational hospital in Southern Iran.

Accurate cause of death coding leads to organised and usable death information but there are some factors that influence documentation on death certificates and therefore affect the coding. We reviewed the role of documentation errors on the accuracy of death coding at Shahid Mohammadi Hospital (SMH), Bandar Abbas, Iran. We studied the death certificates of all deceased patients in SMH from October 2010 to March 2011. Researchers determined and coded the underlying cause of death on the death certificates according to the guidelines issued by the World Health Organization in Volume 2 of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Health Related Problems-10th revision (ICD-10). Necessary ICD coding rules (such as the General Principle, Rules 1-3, the modification rules and other instructions about death coding) were applied to select the underlying cause of death on each certificate. Demographic details and documentation errors were then extracted. Data were analysed with descriptive statistics and chi square tests. The accuracy rate of causes of death coding was 51.7%, demonstrating a statistically significant relationship (p=.001) with major errors but not such a relationship with minor errors. Factors that result in poor quality of Cause of Death coding in SMH are lack of coder training, documentation errors and the undesirable structure of death certificates.

Prevalence of Strongyloides stercoralis and other intestinal parasitic infections among mentally retarded residents in central institution of southern Iran.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections among mentally retarded residents of rehabilitation center of Bandar Abbas, Hormozgan province, southern Iran. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out in central rehabilitation institute of Hormozgan province in summer 2010. Fecal samples of all 133 residents (72 males, 61 females) aged 3-52, were collected in triplicate. Specimens were examined by direct smear, formalin-ether concentration techniques and stained by permanent Trichrome, Ziehl-Neelsen stains. Statistical analysis was conducted by SPSS 13.5. RESULTS: Intestinal parasitic infections were seen in 48.5% (64 out of 133 subjects: 53.4% in males and 46.6% in females). Strongyloides stercoralis with 17.3% showed the highest incidence followed by Entamoeba coli (9.8%), Blastocystis hominis (7.5%), Giardia lamblia (2.3%), Endolimax nana (2.3%), Hymenolepis nana (0.8%), Oxyuris vermicularis (0.8%), and Chilomasix mesnili (0.8%). Double infections were found to be as: Strongyloides stercoralis + Giardia lamblia (2.3%), Entamoeba coli + Giardia lamblia (1.5%), Entamoeba coli + Blastocystis hominis (1.5%), Oxyuris vermicularis + Entamoeba coli (0.8%), Strongyloides stercoralis + Entamoeba coli (0.8%), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings reveal that strongyloidiasis is a common disease among mentally retarded population in southern Iran.

Prevalence of Strongyloides stercoralis and other intestinal parasitic infections among mentally retarded residents in central institution of southern Iran

Objective: To determine the prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections among mentally retarded residents of rehabilitation center of Bandar Abbas, Hormozgan province, southern Iran. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in central rehabilitation institute of Hormozgan province in summer 2010. Fecal samples of all 133 residents (72 males, 61 females) aged 3-52, were collected in triplicate. Specimens were examined by direct smear, formalin-ether concentration techniques and stained by permanent Trichrome, Ziehl-Neelsen stains. Statistical analysis was conducted by SPSS 13.5. Results:Intestinal parasitic infections were seen in 48.5%(64 out of 133 subjects:53.4%in males and 46.6%in females). Strongyloides stercoralis with 17.3%showed the highest incidence followed by Entamoeba coli (9.8%), Blastocystis hominis (7.5%), Giardia lamblia (2.3%), Endolimax nana (2.3%), Hymenolepis nana (0.8%), Oxyuris vermicularis (0.8%), and Chilomasix mesnili (0.8%). Double infections were found to be as: Strongyloides stercoralis+Giardia lamblia (2.3%), Entamoeba coli+Giardia lamblia (1.5%), Entamoeba coli+Blastocystis hominis (1.5%), Oxyuris vermicularis+Entamoeba coli (0.8%), Strongyloides stercoralis+Entamoeba coli (0.8%), respectively. Conclusions:Our findings reveal that strongyloidiasis is a common disease among mentally retarded population in southern Iran.

Non-cuffed dual lumen catheters in the external jugular veins versus other central veins for hemodialysis patients.

To compare prospective between insertion of non-cuffed dual lumen catheter in the external jugular vein and other central veins for hemodialysis (HD), we studied 68 chronic dialysis patients randomly allocated into two groups: one with external jugular vein catheterization as access for HD and another with other central venous catheterization, internal jugular or subclavian vein. Our results showed there were no significant differences regarding successful cannulation, com-plications, total numbers of dialysis, development of pain and infection at the site of cannulation, patency rate of the catheters, and efficacy of hemodialysis between both groups. In addition, the patency of the catheter in the external jugular vein was not affected by previous cannulation of other central veins. In contrast, there was a significant correlation between numbers of attempts for cannulation in both groups and development of hematoma and infection, (p< 0.05). In conclusion, our results showed that the external jugular vein may be an alternative for other central veins for insertion of temporary non-cuffed hemodialysis catheter.