An Overview of Ozone Therapy for Treating Foot Ulcers in Patients With Diabetes

Diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) is one of the most common and severe complications of diabetes mellitus, which is becoming increasingly prevalent throughout the world, with high mortality and morbidity. Because of the complex pathophysiological processes involved, DFU is difficult to treat effectively with traditional therapies. Ozone therapy, an emerging method, has been reported as potentially beneficial for closure of DFUs and may gradually move to the forefront of clinical practice. Possible mechanisms of action include antioxidant capacity, pathogen inactivation, vascular and endogenous growth factor modulation, and immune system activation. However, some researchers are skeptical about its safety, and clinical trials are lacking. This article reviews the current research and application of ozone therapy for DFUs.

Administration Safety of Blood Products - Lessons Learned from a National Registry for Transfusion and Hemotherapy Practice

BACKGROUND

Compared to blood component safety, the administration of blood may not be as safe as intended. The German Interdisciplinary Task Force for Clinical Hemotherapy (IAKH) specialized registry for administration errors of blood products was chosen for a detailed analysis of reports.

METHODS

Voluntarily submitted critical incident reports (n = 138) from 2009 to 2013 were analyzed.

RESULTS

Incidents occurred in the operation room (34.1%), in the ICU (25.2%), and in the peripheral ward (18.5%). Procedural steps with errors were administration to the patient (27.2%), indication and blood order (17.1%), patient identification (17.1%), and blood sample withdrawal and tube labeling (18.0%). Bedside testing (BST) of blood groups avoided errors in only 2.6%. Associated factors were routine work conditions (66%), communication error (36%), emergency case (26%), night or weekend team (39%), untrained personnel (19%). Recommendations addressed process and quality (n = 479) as well as structure quality (n = 314). In 189 instances, an IT solution would have helped to avoid the error.

CONCLUSIONS

The administration process is prone to errors at the patient assessment for the need to transfuse and the application of blood products to patients. BST is only detecting a minority of handling errors. According to the expert recommendations for practice improvement, the potential to improve transfusion safety by a technical solution is considerable.