The elderly have complex bio-psycho-social needs which are best met by a multidisciplinary team approach. In a multidisciplinary team, diverse perspectives are gathered to make a unified decision to solve a complex problem. Having a clear vision with common goals and ensuring an organised framework with good collaboration among team members are some of many factors needed to build a strong team. Benefits include the ability to provide comprehensive and personalised care to the patient during care transition, henceforth reducing overall hospitalisation and healthcare costs.

Infections in the elderly are associated with high morbidity and mortality. Diagnosing infections in the elderly is challenging due to their atypical and subtle presentation. A high index of suspicion is often needed. Commonly encountered infections in the elderly include bacterial pneumonia, urinary tract infection, cellulitis and Herpes zoster. In addition, institutionalised elderly and those with multiple hospital admissions are at risk of infection with Multidrug-resistant Organisms (MROs); this can be difficult to manage. The purpose of this article is to look at some common infections in the elderly encountered in the home or nursing home, and review their management.

No abstract available.
Insulin* ; Proteolysis*

The cleft lip nasal deformity includes not only distorted lower lateral cartilage but generally also an abnormal deficient maxillary bony platform as well as distorted anterior nasal spine and deviated nasal septum. The main defect in the nose is in the position and shape of lower lateral cartilage. There were many literatures for modification of alar cartilage for nasal symmetry in the past several decades, that is, relocation, suture fixation and graft augmentation with deformed alar cartilage itself. But the various corrective techniques were unsatisfactory for both surgeons and patients. The purpose of this article is to present new concepts and surgical techniques. Author's basic concept is total replacement of deformed alar cartilage with new sources of contoured alar cartilage. The grafts were taken from conchal cartilage en bloc. The medial crus, dome, and lateral crus were replaced by the lamina tragi, isthmus and cavum conchae, respectively. The unilateral secondary cleft lip and nose deformity patients were reviewed with charts and photographs from 1991 to 1998. The surgical procedures were open rhinoplasty incision technique with reversed U-incision of nostril web and wide undermining of cartilaginous vault. The total en bloc reconstruction technique has been performed for 125 patients, aged from 5 to 40 years, and they were followed up for 6 months to 8 years. There were no surgical complications and donor site morbidities. There were no relapse and growth disturbance over time. The postoperative results showed symmetry of alar unit, alar dome projection, tip-defining points and nostrils. CONCLUSION: A new technique is described for sensational improvement of the nasal esthetics in secondary cleft lip nasal deformity by using an en bloc autogenous conchal cartilage graft. But further observation is needed for evaluating its effect on the long-term growth potentials.
Cartilage* ; Cleft Lip* ; Congenital Abnormalities* ; Esthetics ; Humans ; Nasal Septum ; Nose ; Recurrence ; Rhinoplasty ; Spine ; Sutures ; Tissue Donors ; Transplants

Freibergs disease is avascular necrosis of the second or third metatarsal bone. Since 1914, numerous causes and treatments have been proposed but no definite single cause and treatment method were developed. The simple method, joint debridement could not recover the pathophysiologic condition of Freibergs disease and the destructive method, metatarsal head resection and prosthetic replacement arthroplasty had many postoperative problems. Recently, dorsiflexion osteotomy, which was described by Gauthier and Elbaz for the first time, and joint debridement and reshaping of the metatarsal head, which was described by Mann, were very effective method to manage Freibergs disease. This paper was aimed to evaluate the result of joint debridement and reshaping of the metatarsal head which were relatively simple, less destructive and safe method in treatment of the advanced Freibergs disease. We treated 7 cases of Freibergs disease from August 1993 to March 1997. The results were as follows: 1. All the patients of the last follow-up improved pain. 2. The passive range of motion was increased from 39.1 preoperatively to 57.6 postoperatively. 3. Follow-up X-rays showed no loose body and further metatarsal head destruction. The above results suggested that the joint debridement and reshaping of metatarsal head provided good result in the treatment of advanced Freibergs disease.
Arthroplasty, Replacement ; Debridement* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Head* ; Humans ; Joints* ; Metatarsal Bones* ; Necrosis ; Osteotomy ; Range of Motion, Articular

Given the myriad of choices available on the market, selecting the appropriate wound dressing remains a challenge for most healthcare workers. It is important to exercise discretion and adopt a systematic approach in dressing selection following wound assessment, as this will directly impact on rates of wound healing, which in turns affects the patient’s quality of life and overall healthcare costs. This paper provides an overview of the common types of wound dressings in use currently and gives a brief synopsis of some of the latest advances in wound care technology and their applications in management of complex wounds. The consensus to date is for the use of hydrogels in the debridement stage, foams and low-adherence dressings in the granulation stage and hydrocolloids and low-adherence dressings for the epithelialization stage. Additional studies and research need to be undertaken to further evaluate the application of advanced wound technology in clinical practice.

PURPOSE: Encephalitis is an inflammation affecting brain parenchyma. At the time of presentation, it may be difficult to differentiate between viral encephalitis and altered mental status or seizures during febrile illness. The aim of the present study is to identify the predictive factors and to determine the prognostic factors of viral encephalitis in children presenting as seizure with fever. METHODS: From the retrospective review of the medical records, children with seizures or altered mental status during febrile illness who presented to Samsung Medical Center between January 2008 and May 2013 were included in the study. RESULTS: 81 patients were enrolled in this study (female:male=32:49). The mean age at admission was 4.9±4.3 years (range 0–14 years old). The patients were categorized into two groups according to the clinical diagnosis: (1) Viral encephalitis (VIRAL ENC, n=66), (2) Complex febrile seizures imitating viral encephalitis(C-FS, n=15). The predictive factors of viral encephalitis were focal and/or lateralized abnormalities in electroencephalography (EEG) (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: EEG can be helpful to predict the viral encephalitis, in pediatric patient who shows delayed restoration of consciousness after seizure during febrile illness.
Brain ; Child ; Consciousness ; Diagnosis ; Electroencephalography ; Encephalitis ; Encephalitis, Viral* ; Fever ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Medical Records ; Retrospective Studies ; Seizures ; Seizures, Febrile

Vertebral artery loop formation causing encroachment on cervical neural foramen and canal is a rare cause of cervical radiculopathy. We report a case of 61-year-old woman with vertebral artery loop formation who presented with right shoulder pain radiating to her arm for 2 years. Plain radiograph and computed tomography scan revealed widening of the right intervertebral foramen at the C5-6 level. Magnetic resonance imaging and angiogram confirmed the vertebral artery loop formation compressing the right C6 nerve root. We had considered microdecompressive surgery, but the patient's symptoms resolved after conservative management. Clinician should keep in mind that vertebral artery loop formation is one of important causes of cervical radiculopathy. Vertebral artery should be visualized using magnetic resonance angiography in suspected case.
Arm ; Female ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Angiography ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Middle Aged ; Radiculopathy ; Shoulder Pain ; Vertebral Artery

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the long-term efficacy of ultrasound (US)-guided steroid injections in patients with piriformis syndrome. METHODS: Between January 2010 and October 2012, 63 patients (23 men and 40 women; average age, 63.2 years; range, 24 to 90 years) were diagnosed with piriformis syndrome based on clinical history, electromyography, and flexion-adduction-internal rotation test results. They were divided into two groups. The first group (37 subjects) received a US-guided steroid injection around the piriformis muscle. The second group (26 subjects) received both piriformis muscle and spinal epidural injections. The therapeutic effect was categorized as improvement, partial improvement, or failure depending on the degree of symptom alleviation one month after injection, based on a review of each patient's medical records. RESULTS: In the first group, 15 patients (40.5%) showed improvement, seven (18.9%) showed partial improvement, and 15 (40.5%) failed to respond to the initial treatment. In the second group, eight patients (30.8%) showed improvement, 11 (42.3%) showed partial improvement, and seven (26.9%) failed to respond to the initial treatment. A second piriformis injection was performed in four cases, after which two patients showed improvement within 3 years, but the other two showed no therapeutic effect. CONCLUSION: US-guided steroid injection may be an effective treatment option for patients with piriformis syndrome.
Electromyography ; Female ; Humans ; Injections, Epidural ; Male ; Medical Records ; Piriformis Muscle Syndrome* ; Steroids ; Ultrasonography

Reconstruction of the male urethra is required for a multitude of congenital anomalies, such as hypospadias and epispadias, as well as fort acquired lesions such as stricture disease and trauma. No method is appropriate for all types of repair of the urethra. A successful surgical reconstruction of the urethra is the result of a proper operative selection that depends on the site and length of the disrupted urethra and also depends on, as well as the experience of the surgeon. Reconstruction of the urethra has been performed by the use of homografts, silicone tubes, grafts taken from the bladder mucosa. But serious postoperative problems, such as urinary fistula, urethrostenosis, stricture of the site of urethral anastomosis, and diverticulum formation, are not uncommon. Especially, reconstruction of Proximal urethra is very difficult because of limitations of operation field exposure and flap transfer. However, the hairless median scrotal skin flap with the scrotal septum attached, rich in neurovascular plexus, is ideal material for creating a new urethra without interference to its blood supply and other complications. We experienced a successful reconstruction of the proximal urethral defect in about 8cm length and perineal sore with pedicled scrotal septal flap and gracilis musculocutaneous flap, respectively.
Allografts ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Diverticulum ; Epispadias ; Female ; Humans ; Hypospadias ; Male ; Mucous Membrane ; Myocutaneous Flap ; Silicones ; Skin ; Transplants ; Urethra ; Urinary Bladder ; Urinary Fistula