Pilot Study of Sham Feeding in Postoperative Neonates

Author(s):  
Alyssa Tucker ◽  
Eunice Y. Huang ◽  
Julia Peredo ◽  
Mark F. Weems

Objective Sham feeding may enhance development of oral skills in neonates after bowel surgery and decrease stress levels in mothers. In this pilot study, we test the feasibility of sham feeding, identify safety hazards, and assess maternal satisfaction. Study Design A convenience sample of 15 postoperative neonates was enrolled. Sham feeding with unfortified human milk was offered following a strict advancement protocol beginning with 5 mL once daily and increasing up to 30 mL, three times daily. Continuous gastric suction was used during sham feeding. Each mother completed a satisfaction survey. Sham-fed gastroschisis patients were compared with a historic cohort. Results All 15 patients were able to sham feed. A total of 312 sham feeds were offered with a median of 23 sham events per patient. Four minor complications occurred during sham feeding. No differences were noted between 11 sham-fed gastroschisis patients and 81 historic controls. The mothers reported a decrease in stress after sham feeding using a 5-point score (3.8 ± 1.4 vs. 1.5 ± 0.7, p < 0.005) and 100% satisfaction with sham feeding. Conclusion Sham feeding is feasible for neonates after bowel surgery and is highly rated by mothers. Key Points

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Hübner ◽  
Styliani Mantziari ◽  
Nicolas Demartines ◽  
François Pralong ◽  
Pauline Coti-Bertrand ◽  
...  

Background. Surgical stress during major surgery may be related to adverse clinical outcomes and early quantification of stress response would be useful to allow prompt interventions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the acute phase protein albumin in the context of the postoperative stress response.Methods. This prospective pilot study included 70 patients undergoing frequent abdominal procedures of different magnitude. Albumin (Alb) and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were measured once daily starting the day before surgery until postoperative day (POD) 5. Maximal Alb decrease (Alb Δ min) was correlated with clinical parameters of surgical stress, postoperative complications, and length of stay.Results. Albumin values dropped immediately after surgery by about 10 g/L (42.2±4.5 g/L preoperativelyversus33.8±5.3 g/L at day 1,P<0.001). Alb Δ min was correlated with operation length (Pearsonρ=0.470,P<0.001), estimated blood loss (ρ=0.605,P<0.001), and maximal CRP values (ρ=0.391,P=0.002). Alb Δ min levels were significantly higher in patients having complications (10.0±5.4versus6.1±5.2,P=0.005) and a longer hospital stay (ρ=0.285,P<0.020).Conclusion. Early postoperative albumin drop appeared to reflect the magnitude of surgical trauma and was correlated with adverse clinical outcomes. Its promising role as early marker for stress response deserves further prospective evaluation.


2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (9) ◽  
pp. 1153-1158
Author(s):  
Scott H Waltman

The Improving Access to Psychological Therapies initiative has a reported 50 percent recovery rate. Recently, Scott published a scathing report asserting that 9.2 percent is the correct rate. This alarming assertion requires a closer look and further scrutiny of the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies. Scott’s study is fundamentally flawed in many ways; chiefly, the small ( n = 87), forensically involved, convenience sample is not representative of the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies population. Scott’s study is more a limited-scope non-representative-sampled audit (or pilot study audit) of the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies. Given the large amount of public funds involved in the project, further research and a high degree of transparency is warranted.


Crisis ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacinta Hawgood ◽  
Tamara Ownsworth ◽  
Helen Mason ◽  
Susan H. Spence ◽  
Ella Arensman ◽  
...  

Abstract. Background: The Systematic Tailored Assessment for Responding to Suicidality (STARS) is a client-centered, psychosocial needs-based assessment protocol. This semistructured interview obtains client prioritized indicators that contribute to suicidality and informs commensurate care responses for preventing suicide. Aim: To pilot the feasibility, client-centeredness, and usability of the STARS protocol, including clinicians' perceptions of ease of use; content validity; and administration within the community setting. Method: A convenience sample of clinicians who undertook assessment and/or intervention with suicidal persons and had used STARS between mid-2016 and early 2017 completed an online survey assessing feasibility, client-centeredness, and usability of STARS. Results: Of the 51 clinicians who entered the survey, 42 (82.3%; aged 25–74; 69% female) completed it. Overall, perceptions of feasibility and usability of STARS were positive, particularly regarding client-centeredness of the protocol and confidence in information obtained for screening suicidality and informing needs-based priority responses. Limitations: The pilot findings are limited by the use of a small convenience sample and the low completion rate of clinicians with STARS training. Conclusion: STARS was perceived as a feasible and useful psychosocial needs-based assessment protocol. Suggestions for improving STARS, training requirements, and application to diverse populations are outlined.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen Cunningham

There is limited literature available that addresses heart failure patient attendance at cardiac rehabilitation centers. This quantitative descriptive pilot study used a convenience sample (n=30) to determine differences in socio-demographic and clinical characteristics and complications among individuals with heart failure who intended or did not intend to attend cardiac rehabilitation six weeks post-discharge. Findings suggest those intending to attend were significantly (p<0.05) older, unemployed/retired, received an income >$50,000, were able to drive, had lower functional classification scores, and experienced fewer complications over six weeks post-discharge. This descriptive pilot study provides an understanding of factors associated with intention to attend cardiac rehabilitation as well as the feasibility of the study design and procedures. Implications focus on strategies to increase potential attendance at cardiac rehabilitation in the heart failure population at the health care provider, organizational and policy levels as well as areas for future research.


Blood ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 132 (6) ◽  
pp. 598-607 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge E. Cortes ◽  
Martin S. Tallman ◽  
Gary J. Schiller ◽  
Denise Trone ◽  
Guy Gammon ◽  
...  

Key Points Quizartinib at 60 mg/day (vs 30 mg/day) was associated with higher overall response, survival, and bridge to transplant. The benefit-risk profile of quizartinib in relapsed or refractory FLT3-ITD–mutated AML warrants further evaluation of 60-mg once-daily dose.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 65
Author(s):  
Kinga P. Olson ◽  
Ruth Rosenblum

Objective: Peanut allergies are common in the pediatric population. Peanut oral immunotherapy (OIT) can cause anxiety for children and families. A pilot study was conducted to determine what elements parents consider most useful in reducing anxiety within a newly implemented OIT program.Methods: A convenience sample of parents (n = 15) was surveyed to measure perceptions of specific anxiety-reducing elements at a private allergy practice.Results: The 10-question parent survey utilized a Likert Scale measuring how various elements of the OIT program reduced their anxiety. All elements that were provided directly by the clinic received favorable ratings.Discussion and conclusions: Commercially prepared peanut OIT will soon receive FDA approval, and allergy clinics will consider implementing this new therapy for peanut allergic patients. Food allergies invariably cause anxiety for parents and children, therefore careful consideration of how to decrease anxiety during OIT therapy was examined in this pilot study.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 238212052092738
Author(s):  
Karl Martin Sattelmayer ◽  
Kavi C. Jagadamma ◽  
Roger Hilfiker ◽  
Gillian Baer

Introduction: Procedural skills are a central element in the education of physiotherapists. Procedural skills relate to the execution of a practical task. An educational intervention, which can be used to support skill acquisition of procedural skills, is mental practice (MP). Several studies have investigated the use of MP or imaging in medical education. This pilot study evaluated the application of MP on the acquisition of procedural skills in physiotherapy education. Methods: This pilot randomised controlled study recruited a convenience sample of 37 BSc physiotherapy student participants. Two different complex task procedures (transfer and vestibular rehabilitation) were trained during this study. Participants in both the transfer (task procedure 1) and the vestibular rehabilitation (task procedure 2) arm of the study were randomly assigned to either MP or no MP. Results: For the transfer task, median performance at post-acquisition testing showed a moderate effect size in favour of the group using MP ( r: −0.3), but the findings were not statistically significant ( P: 0.2). Similar results were found for the vestibular rehabilitation task ( r: 0.29; P: 0.21). In addition, the self-reported confidence was higher in the MP group. Conclusion: Moderate effect sizes were identified in favour of MP at post-acquisition testing. In addition, the between-group difference was higher than the minimally important difference. The feasibility of the study was high based on quantitative feasibility measures such as the recruitment rate. Both these findings suggest larger well-powered studies should be considered to confirm the findings of this pilot study.


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