Audit of waste collected over one week from ten dental practices. A pilot study.

An audit of the waste practices of ten general dental surgeries identified problems that have occurred due to the lack of specific dental guidelines or codes of practice in this area. Occupational health and safety requirements for types and locations of sharps containers, and lack of consensus on what constitutes a sharp, were identified as areas needing attention. Cross-infection control items, such as gloves, masks, single-use cups, and protective coverings, were found to constitute up to 91 per cent of total waste. When infectious waste was reclassified by the audit team as 'that waste which was visibly blood stained,' a reduction in waste in this category was made, during the audit, at each practice. The practice of disposing of radiographic fixer and developer into the sewerage system occurred in three out of the ten practices, even though the Australian Dental Association Inc. has discouraged this practice.

Short-term effects of acupuncture and stretching on myofascial trigger point pain of the neck: a blinded, placebo-controlled RCT.

OBJECTIVES: This trial aimed to evaluate the short-term effectiveness of acupuncture plus stretching to reduce pain and improve range of motion in patients afflicted by cervical myofascial pain syndrome. DESIGN: Randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled crossover study. INTERVENTION: Nineteen patients (11 females, eight males, 33 ± 14 years) with myofascial neck pain in randomized order received the following treatments with one week washout between: acupuncture, acupuncture plus stretching, and placebo laser acupuncture. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Mechanical pain threshold (MPT, measured with a pressure algometer) represented the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes were motion-related pain (Visual Analogue Scale, VAS) and cervical range of motion (ROM, recorded by means of an ultrasonic 3D movement analysis system). Outcomes were assessed immediately prior as well as 5, 15 and 30 min post treatment. Friedman tests with post hoc Bonferroni-Holm correction were applied to compare differences between treatments. RESULTS: Both acupuncture as well as acupuncture plus stretching increased MPT by five, respectively, 11 percent post treatment. However, only acupuncture in combination with stretching was superior to placebo (p<0.05). There were no significant differences between interventions at 15 and 30 min post treatment. VAS did not differ between treatments at any measurement. Five minutes after application of acupuncture plus stretching, ROM was significantly increased in the frontal and the transversal plane compared to placebo (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The combination of acupuncture and stretching could represent a suitable treatment option to improve cervical movement behavior and reduce trigger point pain in the short-term. However, additional studies further discriminating the placebo effects are still warranted.

[Emergencies in arterial hypertension in children]. / Hitna stanja arterijske hipertenzije kod dece.

From March 1982 to March 1992 at the Nephrology Department of Belgrade University Children's Hospital 25 patients (16 females and 9 males, aged from 1.5 to 14 years) were treated for hypertensive emergency. Twenty patients had chronic severe hypertension of whom in 19 it was of renal origin. Five patients had acute hypertension during acute poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis. In 15 patients hypertensive emergency was manifested by neurologic disorders, while in the other patients signs of cardiac failure prevailed. Deterioration of renal function was observed in 9 patients and 2 had sec. haemolytic-uremic syndrome. Three patients died during hypertensive crisis, and the others were successfully treated. The fact that in 50% of patients chronic hypertension could not be revealed until the occurrence of hypertensive emergency, suggests the need of its early detection during systemic check-up.