[The efficacy of intermittent pneumatic compression in the prevention of venous thromboembolism in medical critically ill patients].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of intermittent pneumatic compression (IPC) in the prevention of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in medical critically ill patients. METHODS: A prospective, randomized, controlled study was conducted. One hundred and sixty-two medical critically ill patients were randomly assigned to IPC group and control group by random number table after admitted to intensive care unit (ICU) from June 2008 to June 2010. Patients under anticoagulation medicine therapy were excluded. Patients in the IPC group were treated with IPC to prevent VTE after ICU admission. No measures were taken to prevent VTE in the control group. The rate of VTE [deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE)], duration of mechanical ventilation(MV), the length of stay in ICU, rate of non-sudden cardiac death and ICU mortality rate and related side-effects of IPC were compared during the subsequent 28 days between two groups. RESULTS: Compared with control group, IPC group was shown to have a significantly lower rate of DVT [3.80%(3/79) vs. 19.28%(16/83), P<0.01], lower rate of PE [0 (0/79) vs. 9.64%(8/83), P<0.01] and lower rate of non-sudden cardiac death [1.26%(1/79) vs. 7.23%(6/83), P<0.01]. Compared with control group, duration of MV (days: 8±6 vs. 9±8) and length of stay in ICU (days: 9±7 vs. 10±7) were shorter, and the ICU mortality rate of 28 days (24.05% vs. 31.32%) was lower in the IPC group, but they were not statistically significant (all P>0.05). No related side-effects were found in the IPC group. CONCLUSION: IPC can prevent VTE, and lower the rate of non-sudden cardiac death, and it is safe in medical critically ill patients.

Protective effect of basic fibroblast growth factor on auditory hair cells after noise exposure.

The purpose of this study was to observe the protective effects of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) on the cells of the inner ear using in vivo experiments. The studies were carried out using guinea pigs in which bFGF or artificial perilymph was perfused into the cochlea. The compound action potential (CAP) was measured before and after exposure to a sound simulating an explosion. The difference in CAP was significant between the bFGF-perfused group and the control group (p < 0.01, t = 3.896) and between the bFGF-perfused group and the artificial perilymph-perfused group (p < 0.05, t = 2.520). The cochleae were removed and hair cell loss estimated from surface preparations. Acoustic trauma caused loss of outer hair cells in the first and second turns of the cochlea in the bFGF-perfused group and the artificial perilymph-perfused group and partial loss of inner hair cells in the control group. Treatment with bFGF reduced the loss of inner hair cells compared to that of control animals. Our results demonstrate that treatment with bFGF protects the hair cells from acoustic trauma and may facilitate the recovery of hearing.