BACKGROUNDAlthough bronchoscopy has been widely performed in China, little has been known about its current state and development. In order to investigate the clinical application of bronchoscopy and make instructions for future education and development, the Chinese Society of Respiratory Diseases conducted postal surveys in both 2008 and 2010 in China.

METHODQuestionnaires were sent to 40 tertiary grade A hospitals in 2008 and 58 tertiary grade A hospitals in 2010 to investigate bronchoscopies performed in 2007 and 2009 respectively.

RESULTSThirty (75%) hospitals returned the completed questionnaires in 2008 and forty-one (71%) hospitals in 2010. All the respondents possessed flexible bronchoscopes. Fifty percent of the respondents had less than five in 2007, while more than 50% of the respondents had 5-9 bronchoscopes in 2009. All the respondents performed a radiograph or CT scan before bronchoscopy. Percentage of general anesthesia and no pre-medication before bronchoscopy increased, while atropine usage decreased in 2009 compared to 2007. During bronchoscopy, pulse oximetry was the most widely used monitoring method. Most respondents used the nasal route to perform routine bronchoscopy. After the procedure, they used sinks to wash and glutaraldehyde to disinfect the bronchoscopes. The total number of flexible bronchoscopies performed during 2007 was 37 874 and the average was 1262. Whereas in 2009, the total number was 60 178 and the average was 1468. Diagnostic bronchoscopy was more widely used than therapeutic bronchoscopy. The mortality rate was 0.076‰ in 2007 and 0.032‰ in 2009.

CONCLUSIONSThe two surveys, to some extent, reflected the current status and development of bronchoscopy in China. The results are worthy of future education and developing of new guidelines. Regular surveys and monitoring of bronchoscopies across China are needed.

Bronchoscopy ; methods ; utilization ; China ; Hospitals ; statistics & numerical data ; Humans ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Objective To observe the treatment profile and effect of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) on gas gangrene induced by trauma following earthquake. Methods With emergency isolation passages and especial sterilizing measures, 16 cases of gas gangrene were treated with hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) at a pressure of 0. 25 Mpa, for 7 sessions in 3 days, and a total of 20 sessions. Beside, the patients were also given psychological consultation. Results Following treatment, 16 patients all recovered, without detection of Fusiformis and cross infection. Wounds healed completely with a cure rate of 100%. Conclusions HBO therapy with a reasonable, appropriate and effective treatment profile could maximally reduce the size of tissue necrosis, save limbs and decrease the rate of amputation, and as a result, rate of survival could be increased and disabling rate could be reduced substantially.

Objective To observe the treatment profile and effect of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) on gas gangrene induced by trauma following earthquake. Methods With emergency isolation passages and especial sterilizing measures, 16 cases of gas gangrene were treated with hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) at a pressure of 0. 25 Mpa, for 7 sessions in 3 days, and a total of 20 sessions. Beside, the patients were also given psychological consultation. Results Following treatment, 16 patients all recovered, without detection of Fusiformis and cross infection. Wounds healed completely with a cure rate of 100%. Conclusions HBO therapy with a reasonable, appropriate and effective treatment profile could maximally reduce the size of tissue necrosis, save limbs and decrease the rate of amputation, and as a result, rate of survival could be increased and disabling rate could be reduced substantially.

A new device that allows noninvasive measurement of venous pressure has been invented in our laboratory and tested for its feasibility and validity. The device consists of four parts: 1. the air infusion system; 2. the pressure sensor gauge; 3. signal transducer and data processing system 4. the fixing apparatus. The correlation between noninvasive pressure and invasive pressure has been studied in vitro test on a saphenous vein model and in vitro test on dog's portal venous system. In vitro and vivo study, an excellent correlation between noninvasive pressure and invasive pressure was obtained(r = 0.99, P < 0.0005; r = 0.97, P < 0.005). These data suggest that the new device allows a noninvasive measurement of venous pressure especially for the large veins such as vena cava, venae pulmonales and esophageal varices.
Animals ; Blood Pressure Determination ; instrumentation ; Dogs ; Equipment Design ; In Vitro Techniques ; Venous Pressure ; physiology