Prevalence, predictors, and consequences of workplace violence among female healthcare workers in tertiary care hospitals: A cross-sectional study in Pakistan.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence, predictors and perpetrators of violence, and its impact on the mental health of female healthcare workers. METHODS: The cross-sectional study was conducted from June to October 2022 at three tertiary care hospitals after approval from the ethics review board of Rawalpindi Medical University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan, and comprised female healthcare workers, including doctors, nurses and paramedical staff. Data was collected regarding workplace violence using a structured questionnaire adopted from literature. The incidence of verbal, physical and sexual violence in the preceding 12 months was noted, and predictors were analysed. Data was analysed using SPSS 25. RESULTS: Of the 140 subjects with an age range of 16-60 years, verbal violence was experienced by 102(72.9%) and physical violence by 26(18.6%), while verbal and physical forms of sexual violence were reported by 33(23.6%) and 13(9.3%), respectively. Those in the Medicine department had significantly lower odds of experiencing verbal violence compared to those from the Surgery department (adjusted odds ratio=0.223; 95% confidence interval: 0.078-0.036; p=0.005). Those in the Emergency department had significantly greater odds of experiencing physical violence compared to those in Surgery (adjusted odds ratio=8.716; 95% confidence interval: 1.693-44.87; p=0.01). Violence had a significant detrimental impact on the mental health of female healthcare workers (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Violence was found to be prevalent in the healthcare sector, specifically in stressful and critical-care departments, like Emergency and Surgery.

Paraganglioma at the cerebellopontine angle: A case report and review of literature.

Paragangliomas (PGLs) are rare neuroendocrine tumors. Sometimes, these tumors secrete excessive catecholamines, which results in the manifestations of various signs and symptoms, usually with a triad of hypertension, tachycardia, and headache. We report the case of a 42-year-old woman presenting with uncontrolled hypertension, right facial palsy, vomiting, and disturbed gait. Diagnosis for PGL was confirmed on postoperative histological examination of the excised mass and correlated with preoperative clinical and radiological findings. Tumor excision was done via a suboccipital craniotomy approach. Our case presents the typically severe features of a jugulotympanic PGL, but most importantly, it highlights the necessity of biochemical diagnosing, thorough probing of the causes of hypertension, and a multi-disciplinary approach in dealing with these tumors. Moreover, the case emphasizes necessitating the use of preoperative embolization in vascular tumors of the head and neck to avoid a hemorrhagic crisis during surgery. Unfortunately, due to a lack of adequate hospital funds, the surgeon had to proceed without preoperative embolization. Despite such a risk, the excision was a success.

Analgesic efficacy and safety of erector spinae versus serratus anterior plane block in thoracic surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

BACKGROUND: Erector spinae plane block (ESPB) and serratus anterior plane block (SAPB) are regional anesthesia techniques that have shown favorable results in pain management following thoracic surgeries; however, their relative superiority is unclear. This review (PROSPERO: CRD42023443018) aims to compare the analgesic efficacy of ESPB and SAPB in patients undergoing thoracic surgeries through the pooled analysis of co-primary outcomes: postoperative oral-morphine-equivalent (mg) consumption in 24 h and pain scores (static) at 24 h. METHODS: A literature search was conducted across PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) from inception to May 2023, comparing ESPB and SAPB in thoracic surgeries. Statistical pooling was done using Review Manager 5.4.1. Bias assessment employed the Cochrane Collaboration Risk-of-Bias 2.0 tool. The strength of evidence was assessed using the guidelines from the GRADE working group. RESULTS: Nine RCTs (485 patients) were included in the study. Postoperative pain scores (static) at 24 h (mean difference (MD) = - 0.31 [- 0.57, 0.05], p = 0.02) and postoperative oral-morphine-equivalent (mg) consumption in 24 h (MD = - 19.73 [- 25.65, - 13.80], p < 0.00001) were significantly lower in the ESBP group. However, the MDs did not exceed the set threshold for clinical importance. No significant differences were observed in the opioid-related adverse effects and block-related complications. CONCLUSION: Our statistically significant results imply that ESPB has superior analgesic efficacy compared to SAPB; however, this difference is clinically unimportant. The safety profile of the two blocks is comparable; hence, current evidence cannot define the relative superiority of one block over the other. Our findings warrant further research with standardized methodologies and a longer duration of analgesic efficacy assessment to yield robust evidence for better clinical applications.

Effectiveness of adapted cognitive behaviour therapy for dysthymia: An evidence based case study.

Several empirical researches imply that cognitive behaviour therapy can be effective in treating psychiatric disorders. In the context of Pakistan, some researches with Culturally Adapted Cognitive Behaviour Therapy were found to be effective for depression, anxiety, bipolar and psychotic disorders. The present study theoretically underpinned the model of Adapted Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (ACBT) based on the inclusion of Tasbeehs (Rosary) derived from the Quran and Sunnah to be fruitful in producing the desirable change in a single case of Dysthymia with anxious distress which was assessed with the help of the Urdu versions of Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS) and Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation (BSS). ACBT produced profound differences in pre-test and post-test scores in a patient. The Tasbeeh or Rosary could provide a therapeutic means for treating psychiatric illnesses irrespective of the religious and cultural differences.