Objective: To discuss the key points of reconstruction from the surgical intensive care unit (SICU) to the negative pressure isolation ward which can treat patients with novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP, COVID-19). Methods: The key points of the reconstruction are as follows: establishment of "three zones and two passages", transformation of the ventilation system, process management of personnel access room, and introduction of the visual management concept. Results: The reconstructed SICU can maintain the original space area. As for space layout, there are separate clean zone, semi-polluted zone and polluted zone as well as a separate passage for patients and medical personnel respectively, without the two groups of people contacting each other. To achieve positive air pressure in the clean zone, negative air pressure in the semi-polluted zone is -5 Pa to -10 Pa, and negative air pressure in the patient zone is -10 Pa to -20 Pa. And we ensure that the pressure difference (negative pressure) in adjacent rooms with the same pollution level is not less than 5 Pa. Under normal circumstances, the pressure can be switched to positive one for admission of general ICU patients. Results: Through the reconstruction, the SICU can meet the requirements of treatment of COVID-19 patients. The main points of reconstruction are space layout and the air conditioning and ventilation system.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is highly infectious and seriously harmful to human health. According to the clinical characteristics of COVID-19, it can be classified into mild, moderate, severe and critical ones. The treatment for critical cases is an important factor of reducing the mortality rate of the disease and is always dependent on the intensive care unit (ICU). The ICU therapy strategies involve not only curing the critical cases, but also avoiding cross infection in the same ward. Therefore, we have formulated detailed response management strategies, including the establishment of core groups, standardization of diagnosis and treatment process, strengthening personnel management, multimodal training assessment, and overall allocation of protection materials. We hope the strategies can provide reference for relevant ICUs.

Objective To observe the effectiveness and safety of Regional Citrate Anticoagulation(RCA)in CRRT combined with artificial liver treatment.Methods Clinical data of 54 sessions of CRRT linked with artificial liver treatment using RCA in 21 patients with acute on chronic liver failure(ACLF)combined with acute kidney injury(AKI)admitted to our center from December 2019 to June 2023 were collected..The improvement of liver and kidney function indicators,anticoagulant effect and adverse reactions of citric acid,and patient outcomes were observed and analyzed before and after treatment.Results The 54 cases of liver and renal function indexes were improved,which showed a statistically significant difference(P<0.05);All 54 cases of CRRT linked artificial liver treatment were successfully completed,and no obvious blood clots were found in the extracorporeal circulation tubing,filters,and adsorbers;There was no statistically significant difference(P>0.05)in the total calcium and ionized calcium levels of all patients at each stage of artificial liver treatment compared to before treatment;However,three cases of CRRT combined with PE and one case of CRRT combined with DPMAS+LPE experienced citrate accumulation after treatment,which returned to normal after 24 hours of timely correction and supplemen-tation;The 30-day survival rate of the 21 patients was 13 survivors,5 deaths,and 3 discharged automatically.Conclusion Under strict monitoring and timely adjustment,the application of RCA in CRRT series artificial liver treatment is safe and feasible,and is worthy of clinical promotion.

Objective:To investigate the risk factors for abdominal infection after liver transplantation (LT).Methods:The retrospective case-control study was conducted. The clinical data of 356 patients who underwent LT in the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi′an Jiaotong University from January 2015 to December 2018 were collected. There were 273 males and 83 females, aged from 21 to 67 years, with the median age of 46 years. Observation indications: (1) abdominal infec-tion after LT and distribution of pathogens; (2) analysis of risk factors for abdominal infection after LT; (3) follow-up and survival. Follow-up was performed using outpatient examination and tele-phone interview to detect postoperative 1-year survival rate and cases of death up to June 2020. Measurement data with normal distribution were represented as Mean±SD. Measurement data with skewed distribution were described as M(range). Count data were expressed as absolute numbers or percentages. Univariate analysis was conducted using the chi-square test, t test, Mann-Whitney U test and Fisher exact probability. Multivariate analysis was done using the Logistic regression model. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate sruvival time and survival rates. Log-Rank test was used for survival analysis. Results:(1) Abdominal infection after LT and distribution of pathogens: 63 of 356 recipients had abdominal infection after LT, with the overall incidence of 17.70%(63/356). Of the 63 recipients, 41 cases had abdominal infection within postoperative 2 weeks, 17 cases had multi-drug resistant organism infection. A total of 116 strains of bacteria were isolated from 63 recipients with abdominal infection, 52 of which were gram-negative bacteria, 48 were gram-positive bacteria, 16 were fungi. (2) Analysis of risk factors for abdominal infection after LT: results of univariate analysis showed that preoperative model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score, preoperative serum albumin, preoperative leukocytes, preoperative prothrombin time, preoperative alanine aminotransferase, preoperative aspartate aminotransferase, operation time, volume of intraoperative blood loss, days of postoperative antibiotic use, postoperative renal failure, postoperative delayed graft function,duration of postoperative intensive care unit stay were related factors for abdominal infection after LT ( Z=-2.456, t=-1.982, Z=-3.193, -2.802, -2.336, -2.276, -2.116, -3.217, χ2=15.807, 10.395, 6.750, Z=-4.468, P<0.05). Liver retransplantaiton and postoperative bile leakage were related factors for abdominal infection after LT ( P<0.05). Results of multivariate analysis showed that preoperative MELD score>20 and liver retransplantation were independent risk factors for abdominal infection after LT ( odds ratio=2.871, 12.875, 95% confidence interval as 1.106-7.448, 1.290-128.521, P<0.05). (3) Follow-up and survival: 356 recipients were followed up for 1-66 months, with a median follow-up time of 32 months. The postoperative 1-year overall survival rate of 63 recipients with abdominal infection and 293 recipients without abdominal infection were 84.60% and 97.03%, respectively, showing a significant difference ( χ2=11.660, P<0.05). During the follow-up, 58 recipients died. Conclusion:Preoperative MELD score>20 and liver retransplantation are independent risk factors for abdominal infection after LT.

Objective:To investigate the effect of homogeneous management combined with staged teaching on physicians receiving standardized training of hepatobiliary surgery.Methods:A total of 46 physicians who received standardized training in Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, from January to March 2020 were selected as control group and were given conventional teaching, and 50 physicians who received standardized training from April to June 2020 were selected as observation group and were given homogeneous management combined with staged teaching. The two groups were compared in terms of professional level, clinical ability, and the degree of satisfaction with teaching before and after teaching. SPSS 24.0 was used to perform the independent samples t-test, the paired t-test, the chi-square test, and the rank sum test. Results:After teaching, both groups had significant increases in the scores of theoretical examination and operation skill examination, and compared with the control group, the observation group had significantly higher scores of theoretical examination (94.57±3.28 vs. 90.32±2.12) and operation skill examination (94.37±4.18 vs. 91.25±3.46). After teaching, both groups had significant increases in the scores of clinical consultation, physical examination, humanistic concern, clinical diagnosis, communication ability, organizational ability, and overall evaluation, and the observation group had significantly higher scores of the above seven aspects than the control group (6.98±0.94/6.45±0.14/6.95±0.88/6.65±0.93/6.53±0.26/6.84±0.92/6.58±0.35 vs. 6.13±0.31/6.21±0.76/6.21±0.42/6.18±0.35/6.32±0.61/6.33±0.24/6.25±0.71). The observation group had a significantly higher overall satisfaction rate than the control group [94.00% (47/50) vs. 78.26% (36/46)].Conclusion:In the standardized training and teaching of hepatobiliary surgery, homogeneous management combined with staged teaching can improve the professional level and clinical ability of physicians and enhance the degree of satisfaction with teaching.

Objective:To explore the value of red blood cell distribution width (RDW) in evaluating the severity of patients infected with novel coronavirus Delta variant.Methods:A total of 28 patients infected with novel coronavirus Delta variant in designated hospital treated by the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University medical team from December 2021 to January 2022 were enrolled (23 cases of common type, 4 severe and 1 critical cases). The detailed clinical data of patients was collected. Then, Pearson's correlation analysis was used to identify the blood examination indexes which affected the arterial partial pressure of oxygen (PaO 2) and arterial partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PaCO 2). According to the median standard deviation of red blood cell distribution width (RDW-SD, 42.5 fL), 28 patients were divided into low RDW-SD group (≤ 42.5 fL, 16 cases) and high RDW-SD group (> 42.5 fL, 12 cases), and the immune related indexes of the two groups were compared. Receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC) was drawn to evaluate the predictive value of RDW-SD on the severity of illness of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Results:Correlation analysis showed that RDW-SD was the only index related to PaO 2 and PaCO 2 on the first day of admission, which was negative correlation with PaO 2 ( r = -0.379, P = 0.047) and positive correlation with PaCO 2 ( r = 0.509, P = 0.006). The results of effects of different clinical characteristics on RDW-SD level showed that there was no statistically significant difference in RDW-SD between groups with different clinical characteristics (including male/female, ≥ 65 years old/< 65 years old, having/without hypertension, having/without diabetes, smoking/not smoking, having/without hyperpyrexia, with/without fever for 3 days, with/without respiratory symptoms, with/without digestive symptoms). It was suggested that RDW-SD be relatively stable and not affected by the patient's baseline level. The percentage of B cells in low RDW-SD group was higher than that in high RDW-SD group (23.01±3.01 vs. 15.34±5.34, P < 0.05), immunoglobulin G (IgG) level in low RDW-SD group was lower than that in high RDW-SD group (g/L: 11.43±3.20 vs. 15.42±1.54, P < 0.05). The area under ROC curve (AUC) of RDW-SD in evaluating severe cases was 0.83 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) was 0.59-1.06], which was close to multilobularinltration, hypo-lymphocytosis, bacterial coinfection, smoking history, hyper-tension and age (MuL BSTA score; AUC = 0.82, 95% CI was 0.51-1.12) and better than British Thoracic Society's modified pneumonia score (CURB-65 score; AUC = 0.70, 95% CI was 0.50-0.91). Conclusion:RDW-SD has significant evaluative effect on the severity of COVID-19 patients with Delta variants.

A motion unit for sucking robot with a stable motion, convenient operation and process simulation is introduced. The key parameters and process data of the sucking operation were obtained from the clinical work, which provided the basis for the design of the sucking robot motion unit. According to the points of sucking action, robotic thumb, forefinger and metacarpophalangeal joints were used to grip the suction tube, and the servo and arm structure were used to simulate the motion of the wrist and elbow to complete the rotation and push of the sputum suction tube. The feasibility is verified through the advanced sputum suction training model. The movement unit is stable in movement, and can smoothly complete the clamping, feeding, back off protection and rotating tube removal of the sputum suction tube, so as to achieve effective sputum suction.
Catheterization ; Intubation, Intratracheal ; Robotics ; Suction