Patients with CVC managed by healthcare workers trained/retrained to GAVECELT recommendations.

Patients with CVC managed by healthcare workers trained/retrained to GAVECELT recommendations with the aid of port protector devices.

Central Line-associated Bloodstream Infection (CLABSI)

Physicians and nurses of RICU have been trained and retrained to GAVECELT "bundle" recommendations concerning the management of CVC. The bundle includes: hand hygiene and precautions for protection and safety, adequate insertion site, echo-guided placement of central venous line, use of clorexidine 2% for skin disinfection of insertion site chosen and subsequent continuous or discontinuous disinfection of exit site, use of suture-less devices, use of transparent semi-permeable dressing whenever applicable and immediate removal of catheter when no longer needed.
After the first training meeting, the use of Curos® Disinfecting Port Protector for needleless valves port-protector has been introduced.

Training and retraining to GAVECELT "bundle" recommendations plus port protector

Physicians and nurses of RICU have been trained and retrained to GAVECELT "bundle" recommendations concerning the management of CVC. The bundle includes: hand hygiene and precautions for protection and safety, adequate insertion site, echo-guided placement of central venous line, use of clorexidine 2% for skin disinfection of insertion site chosen and subsequent continuous or discontinuous disinfection of exit site, use of suture-less devices, use of transparent semi-permeable dressing whenever applicable and immediate removal of catheter when no longer needed.

Training and retraining to GAVECELT "bundle" recommendations

Port Protectors for Prevention of CLABSIs in Respiratory Semi-intensive Care Unit

Randomized Clinical Trial on the Role of Port Protectors for the Management of Venous Central Line Catheter in Respiratory Semi-intensive Care Unit.

Efficacy of educational interventions alone and combined with port protector as adjuvant tool on rate of CLABSIs.

Efficacy of educational interventions alone and combined with port protector as adjuvant tool on rate of CVC colonizations.

Efficacy of educational interventions alone and combined with port protector as adjuvant tool on rate of contaminated blood cultures.

Riccardo Inchingolo

Principal Investigator

Catholic University of the Sacred Heart

Patients have been randomized into two groups:
patients with CVC managed by healthcare workers trained/retrained to GAVECELT recommendations.
Patients with CVC managed by healthcare workers trained/retrained to GAVECELT recommendations with the aid of port protector devices.

Patients randomised to receive pectoral plane blocks and a sham local anaesthetic infusion wound catheter

Patients randomised to receive a local anaesthetic infusion wound catheter; No sham pectoral plane block performed as patients usually under general anaesthetic at time of block.

Patients randomised to receive pectoral plane blocks and a local anaesthetic infusion wound catheter.

Breast Diseases

Anesthesia

Block

Pectoral Plane Block

Levobupivicaine 0.1% @10ml/hr via a wound infusion catheter

Local Anaesthetic Wound Infusion Catheter

Department of Anaesthesia, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital

Single-shot Pectoral Plane(PECs) Block Versus Continuous Local Anaesthetic Infusion Analgesia or Both PECS Block and Local Anaesthetic Infusion After Breast Surgery: A Prospective Randomised, Double-blind Trial

Single-shot Pectoral Plane (PECs) Blocks Versus Continuous Local Anaesthetic Infusion Analgesia or Both PECs Block and Local Anaesthetic Infusion After Non-ambulatory Breast Cancer Surgery: A Prospective, Randomised, Double-blind Trial

IPD will not be made available to other researchers as this has been pre-determined with patients as part of the process of informed consent.

Sean Keane

Dr. Sean Keane; Anaesthesia SpR

Mater Misericordiae University Hospital

Subjects will receive magnetotherapy (MAT). The magnetic pellets will contain an average of ~200 gauss/pellet magnetic flux densities, with a diameter of 1.76 mm. The experimental object will be applied to the reactive region of each of the six selected acupoints as detected by an acupoint detector. The justifications for selecting these acupoints are described below. To achieve a blinding and placebo effect of the subject, the laser device will be switched to "power off" mode (i.e. deactivated laser) for acupoint "stimulation" prior to the application of MAT. Subjects will be asked to wear a pair of laser protective goggles to "blind" them during therapy administration.

Subjects will receive laser auriculotherapy (LAT). A laser device (pointer pulse) will be used in this study. This device has a wavelength of 650 nm, an average output power of 2.5 mW, energy density of 1 minute with 0.54 J/cm2, and a pulse of 10 Hz, which is a common acceptable dosage for clinical use12, 26. This application belongs to a low-energy laser therapy (LLLT), in which the energy level emitted from the device is approximately comparable to a teaching pointer. A 1-minute treatment using the continuous mode of the device will be directly applied to the reactive region of each of the six selected acupoints on the ear. Laser protective goggles will be provided to the subjects and the researchers for eye protection. Similarly, a plaster without magnetic pellets that mimics MAT treatment will be applied on these six acupoints after LAT.

Subjects will receive a combined approach using MAT and LAT. LAT will be administered prior to the application of MAT on the selected auricular points, which would be implemented similar to the procedures in treatment arm 1 and 2.

Subjects will serve as a placebo control, and will receive LAT at "power off" mode (i.e. deactivated laser) for acupoint "stimulation" before the application of plaster without magnetic pellets that mimic MAT treatment.

Knee Osteoarthritis

The magnetic pellets will contain an average of ~200 gauss/pellet magnetic flux densities, with a diameter of 1.76 mm

magnetotherapy

A laser device (pointer pulse) will be used in this study. This device has a wavelength of 650 nm, an average output power of 2.5 mW, energy density of 1 minute with 0.54 J/cm2, and a pulse of 10 Hz, which is a common acceptable dosage for clinical use. This application belongs to a low-energy laser therapy (LLLT), in which the energy level emitted from the device is approximately comparable to a teaching pointer.

laser auriculotherapy

Placebo

Sai Kung District Community Centre

The Neighbourhood Advice-Action Council

Auriculotherapy for Osteoarthritis Knee

The Experiences for Receiving Auriculotherapy for Osteoarthritis Knee: A Randomised Controlled Feasibility Study.

According to the OMERACT III conference, which was conducted to establish a core set of outcome measures for future OA trials, the perception of pain has the highest preference among the core set of efficacy domains. Therefore, pain perception using NRS is adopted in this study as a primary outcome. The use of NRS is also considered as a good first choice to evaluate pain perception for most older adults because of its established psychometric properties, increased ability to discriminate pain levels, and common use in clinical practice. The NRS could be administered in written or verbal form, and it involves asking the subject to select a number, from 1 to 10 to the nearest 0.5 interval, to represent their maximal OA induced knee pain in the recent 2 to 3 days.

The WOMAC is a disease-specific instrument with 24 items. Physical function is quantified using this scale from 0 (no difficulty) to 96 (extreme difficulty), indicating the level of difficulty associated with overall functional activities caused by knee pain (5 items), stiffness (2 items), and physical function (17 items). Thus, higher scores indicate worse pain, stiffness, and functional limitations. The Chinese WOMAC, which has acceptable psychometric properties (Cronbach's alpha exceeds 0.7 for stiffness and physical function domains; and ICC exceeds 0.7 for all domains), will be adopted in this study.

to measure the active and passive range of movement (ROM) of the knees. With the subject in sitting position, active and passive knee extension and flexion ranges will be recorded twice to calculate an average score. To prevent increasing knee joint ROM caused by repeated knee joint measurements, the subject will be allowed to rest for at least 15 minutes between test sessions.

TUGT is performed to assess the ambulation status of the subject. The subject will be requested to get up from a chair and walk at a comfortable and safe pace to a destination 3 meters away, turn around, return to the chair, and sit down again. Two trials will be conducted, that is, the practice trial, and the result of the second trial is recorded with a stopwatch, to the nearest second, as the final score. This test is reported to have a high interrater and intrarater reliability (ICC = 0.99), and has demonstrated a good correlation to the Berg Balance Scale, gait speed, and Barthel Index

As it is identified in the literature that patient's expectations may influence clinical outcome independently of the treatment itself, therefore a short questionnaire of 8 items is designed to assess patient expectations towards the therapies that they are receiving. Questions include how much they believe that the MAT or LAT have helped them manage their problem, and how much faith they had in complementary therapies, using 10 point scales in most items, with higher the scores indicating higher agreement or satisfaction with each item. These items are adapted from existing literature24,35 and modified for use in this study. A panel of five experts (two registered TCM practitioners, one gerontologist, one nurse specialist, one academic) will be invited to assess the content validity of this questionnaire, and test-retest reliability at a 2-week interval will be determined.

Lorna Suen

Associate Professor

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Acetic Acid (5%) Dosage form: Liquid Dosage: 5 ml topical Frequency: every 2 minutes Duration: 30 minutes

Sodium Bicarbonate Slurry (50%) Dosage form: Liquid slurry Dosage: 5 ml topical Frequency: every 2 minutes Duration: 30 minutes

Papain Slurry (70%) Dosage form: Liquid slurry Dosage: 5 ml topical Frequency: every 2 minutes Duration: 30 minutes

Ammonia (10%) Dosage form: Liquid Dosage: 5 ml topical Frequency: every 2 minutes Duration: 30 minutes

Lidocaine (4%) Dosage form: Liquid Dosage: 5 ml topical Frequency: every 2 minutes Duration: 30 minutes

Isopropyl Alcohol (70%) Dosage form: Liquid Dosage: 5 ml topical Frequency: every 2 minutes Duration: 30 minutes

Hot Tap Water (40 degrees Celsius) Dosage form: Liquid Dosage: 5 ml topical Frequency: every 2 minutes Duration: 30 minutes

Acetic Acid (5%) Dosage form: Liquid Dosage: 5 ml topical Frequency: every 2 minutes Duration: 30 minutes
Acetic Acid (5%)
No treatment
11 males, 5 females treated

Acetic Acid 5%

Sodium Bicarbonate Slurry (50%) Dosage form: Liquid slurry Dosage: 5 ml topical Frequency: every 2 minutes Duration: 30 minutes
Sodium Bicarbonate Slurry (50%)
No treatment
8 males, 8 females treated

Sodium Bicarbonate Slurry (50%)

Papain Slurry (70%) Dosage form: Liquid slurry Dosage: 5 ml topical Frequency: every 2 minutes Duration: 30 minutes
Papain Slurry (70%)
No treatment
9 males, 7 females treated

Papain Slurry (70%)

Ammonia (10%) Dosage form: Liquid Dosage: 5 ml topical Frequency: every 2 minutes Duration: 30 minutes
Ammonia (10%)
No treatment
1 female treated; adverse local skin reaction; study arm therefore withdrawn

Household Ammonia (10%)

Lidocaine (4%) Dosage form: Liquid Dosage: 5 ml topical Frequency: every 2 minutes Duration: 30 minutes
Lidocaine (4%)
No treatment
10 males, 6 females treated

Lidocaine (4%)

Isopropyl Alcohol (70%) Dosage form: Liquid Dosage: 5 ml topical Frequency: every 2 minutes Duration: 30 minutes
Isopropyl Alcohol (70%)
No treatment
8 makes, 8 females treated

Isopropyl Alcohol (70%)

Hot Tap Water (40 degrees Celsius) Dosage form: Liquid Dosage: 5 ml topical Frequency: every 2 minutes Duration: 30 minutes
Heated Tap Water (40 degrees Celsius)
No treatment
8 males, 8 females treated

Heated Water (40 Degrees Celsius)

Total

Sex: Female, Male

Region of Enrollment

Pain is measured on a scale of 1-10 with 0 being no pain and 10 being worse pain ever felt. Baseline pain will be measured immediately after being stung for 2 minutes without any treatment. Subsequent pain felt at every 2 minutes for 30 minutes, at 1 hour post sting, and at 24 hours post sting will be based on changes from the original baseline pain. Mean change is defined as the mean change in pain from all time points measured from each participant and then averaged for each group. The control arm (placebo) was collected and analyzed in parallel to the treatment arm. The "mean change" for the treatment arm was then compared with the "mean change" for the control arm as a baseline. Hence, the data presented are the estimated effect for each treatment group compared to the control arms for each group.

Acetic Acid (5%) Dosage form: Liquid Dosage: 5 ml topical Frequency: every 2 minutes Duration: 30 minutes
Acetic Acid (5%)
No treatment

Sodium Bicarbonate Slurry (50%) Dosage form: Liquid slurry Dosage: 5 ml topical Frequency: every 2 minutes Duration: 30 minutes
Sodium Bicarbonate Slurry (50%)
No treatment

Papain Slurry (70%) Dosage form: Liquid slurry Dosage: 5 ml topical Frequency: every 2 minutes Duration: 30 minutes
Papain Slurry (70%)
No treatment

Lidocaine (4%) Dosage form: Liquid Dosage: 5 ml topical Frequency: every 2 minutes Duration: 30 minutes
Lidocaine (4%)
No treatment

Isopropyl Alcohol (70%) Dosage form: Liquid Dosage: 5 ml topical Frequency: every 2 minutes Duration: 30 minutes
Isopropyl Alcohol (70%)
No treatment

Hot Tap Water (40 degrees Celsius) Dosage form: Liquid Dosage: 5 ml topical Frequency: every 2 minutes Duration: 30 minutes
Hot Tap Water (40 degrees Celsius)
No treatment

Hot Water (40 Degrees Celsius)

Mean Change in Pain in the Treated Human Arm (Not Placebo) From Baseline Determined by Measures (17) Taken Over 24 Hours

Visual inspection of sting sites will be done at 30 minutes post sting (after treatment completed), 1 hour post sting, and 24 hours post sting. Erythema Index (EI) imeasures increase in cutaneous vasodilation. A computer-measured (Image-J software) EI was used to remove subjectivity. A numeric score was created for the level of erythema, with "0" representing baseline erythema on the control arm. Any positive number indicates more and negative number less erythema on treatment arm compared to placebo. EI values were measured on a "scale" from -20 to +20 with "0" being the midpoint where there would be equal amounts of erythema on both the treatment and control arm. The erythema they experienced on the "treatment arm" was then measured as more erythema (a positive value up to 20) or less erythema (a negative value up to -20).

Mean Change in Erythema (Redness) in the Treated Human Arm (Not Placebo) From Baseline Determined by Measures (3) Taken Over 24 Hours

Acetic Acid (5%) Dosage form: Liquid Dosage: 5 ml topical Frequency: every 2 minutes Duration: 30 minutes
Acetic Acid (5%)
No treatment
The left arm was always the active treatment arm; the right arm was the "control" arm (i.e., no treatment).

Sodium Bicarbonate Slurry (50%) Dosage form: Liquid slurry Dosage: 5 ml topical Frequency: every 2 minutes Duration: 30 minutes
Sodium Bicarbonate Slurry (50%)
No treatment
The left arm was always the active treatment arm; the right arm was the "control" arm (i.e., no treatment).

Papain Slurry (70%) Dosage form: Liquid slurry Dosage: 5 ml topical Frequency: every 2 minutes Duration: 30 minutes
Papain Slurry (70%)
No treatment
The left arm was always the active treatment arm; the right arm was the "control" arm (i.e., no treatment).

Ammonia (10%) Dosage form: Liquid Dosage: 5 ml topical Frequency: every 2 minutes Duration: 30 minutes
Ammonia (10%)
No treatment
The left arm was always the active treatment arm; the right arm was the "control" arm (i.e., no treatment).

Lidocaine (4%) Dosage form: Liquid Dosage: 5 ml topical Frequency: every 2 minutes Duration: 30 minutes
Lidocaine (4%)
No treatment
The left arm was always the active treatment arm; the right arm was the "control" arm (i.e., no treatment).

Isopropyl Alcohol (70%) Dosage form: Liquid Dosage: 5 ml topical Frequency: every 2 minutes Duration: 30 minutes
Isopropyl Alcohol (70%)
The left arm was always the active treatment arm; the right arm was the "control" arm (i.e., no treatment).
No treatment

Hot Tap Water (40 degrees Celsius) Dosage form: Liquid Dosage: 5 ml topical Frequency: every 2 minutes Duration: 30 minutes
Hot Tap Water (40 degrees Celsius)
No treatment
The left arm was always the active treatment arm; the right arm was the "control" arm (i.e., no treatment).

Overall Study

Paul Auerbach, MD

Ammonia (10%) Dosage form: Liquid Dosage: 5 ml topical Frequency: every 2 minutes Duration: 30 minutes
Ammonia (10%)
No treatment
The first patient treated had an adverse local skin reaction, so this study arm was discontinued

isopropyl alcohol/infiammazione

Port Protectors for Prevention of CLABSIs in Respiratory Semi-intensive Care Unit

Single-shot Pectoral Plane(PECs) Block Versus Continuous Local Anaesthetic Infusion Analgesia or Both PECS Block and Local Anaesthetic Infusion After Breast Surgery: A Prospective Randomised, Double-blind Trial

Auriculotherapy for Osteoarthritis Knee

Effective Treatments for Jellyfish Stings

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