Effect of gastric lavage with hemostasis powder® on upper gastrointestinal bleeding (Conversion of emergency endoscopy to elective endoscopy)

Background

From many years ago, gastric lavage has been one of the main pillars of the classic treatment for upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB). The present study investigated the effect of gastric lavage with hemostatic powder on the UGIB complications.

Methods

This clinical trial study was performed on 54 patients who referred to the emergency department during 2017-2018. The subjects were divided into two groups (n=27 per group). Gastric lavage with saline and hemostasis powder^® was performed in the control and experimental groups, respectively. The patients' information was collected and analyzed using SPSS software Version. 18. The significance level was set to p<0.05%.

Results

In this study,59.2% and 18.5% of the patients in the gastric lavage with Hemostasis Powder® and saline required no treatment during the early endoscopy, respectively (p=0.002). The duration of endoscopy was shorter in the experimental group (p=0.001), (4.83±8.04 hours vs.6.73±14.12 hours, respectively) (p=0.001). Moreover, the gastric lavage with Hemostasis Powder^® significantly improved the quality of endoscopy .There was no difference between the two groups in terms of their need for blood transfusion (p=0.4).

Conclusion

Gastric lavage with hemostasis powder^® is a useful measure in the primary treatment of patients with UGIB and can convert emergency therapeutic endoscopy to diagnostic elective endoscopy with higher quality.

Correction to: Assessment of ocular toxoplasmosis patients reported at a tertiary center in the northeast of Iran

Unfortunately, in the original publication of the article, given name and family name of the first and fourth author names were mentioned incorrectly. The exact given name and family name of those author names have been provided in the erratum.

Assessment of ocular toxoplasmosis patients reported at a tertiary center in the northeast of Iran

PURPOSE

Ocular toxoplasmosis, which is caused by the single-cell parasite Toxoplasma gondii, is currently the most significant cause of posterior uveitis in the world. No previous studies have described the prevalence and clinical features of ocular toxoplasmosis in the northeast of Iran. The purpose of the current study was to address this gap.

METHODS

In this retrospective study, the medical records of 488 uveitis patients who presented to the Khatam-al-Anbia Eye Hospital of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, a tertiary ophthalmology center in the northeast of Iran, between January 2013 and December 2015 were evaluated. The clinical features and risk factors of 99 (20%) consecutive patients with ocular toxoplasmosis were extracted.

RESULTS

Ninety-nine including 53 (53.5%) female and 46 (46.5%) male patients with ocular toxoplasmosis were included in the analysis. Reduced vision (77%) and floaters (15.2%) were the most common presenting symptoms. The age category that was most affected by ocular toxoplasmosis was 20-40 years (range: 11-65 years) with a mean age of 27.2. All patients had retinochoroiditis, but just two had anterior uveitis. All of the extracted patients, with the exception of three patients, had unilateral involvement. None of the patients had any other medical disorders with the exception of one woman, who had diabetes. Only four recurring ocular toxoplasmosis patients were referred to the education hospital during the study. Serology data were available for just 32 patients, of which 31 (96.8%) were IgG positive, and 1 (3.2%) was IgM positive.

CONCLUSION

Toxoplasma gondii was responsible for 20% of the patients of uveitis that presented to the largest ophthalmology center in the northeast of Iran. There is a high incidence of patients of ocular toxoplasmosis in the northeast of Iran, and it is a significant cause of uveitis and visual impairment in this area.