Objective To analyze the characteristics of patients transferred by ambulances to emergency department before and after coronavirus disease 2019 epidemic, in order to improve the efficiency of emergency triage, optimize the utilization of emergency resources, and provide a reference for standardized tiered medical services in different situation. Methods The patients’ information collected through Wenjuanxing questionnaire was extracted, who were transferred by ambulances to the Emergency Department of West China Hospital of Sichuan University between December 27th, 2018 and April 28th, 2019 (before epidemic), or between December 27th, 2019 and April 28th, 2020 (during epidemic), or between December 27th, 2020 and April 28th, 2021 [in regular epidemic prevention and control period (REPCP)]. The general information, sources, reasons for referral, disease spectrum and triage levels of patients in the three periods were compared. Results There were 3993, 2252 and 1851 cases before epidemic, during epidemic, and in REPCP, respectively. The differences in gender and age among the three periods were not statistically significant (P>0.05). The percentage of referrals from tertiary hospitals in each period was 74.00%, 72.65%, and 76.12%, respectively, which was higher in REPCP than that during epidemic (P<0.05). The percentage of direct referrals from emergency department in each period was 41.00%, 42.14%, and 44.46%, respectively, which was higher in REPCP than that before epidemic (P<0.05). The percentage of two-way referrals in each period was 37.79%, 36.63%, and 34.36%, respectively, which was lower in REPCP than that before epidemic (P<0.05). During epidemic and in REPCP, the proportions of referrals due to “need for surgery” (24.72%, 27.84%, and 28.74%, respectively) and “request by family members” (49.64%, 53.33%, and 56.24%, respectively) increased compared with those before epidemic (P<0.05), while the proportion of referrals due to “critical illness” decreased compared with that before epidemic (40.20%, 35.21%, and 33.17%, respectively; P<0.05); the proportion of referrals due to “diagnosis unknown” decreased in REPCP compared with that before epidemic (15.50%, 13.90%, and 11.89%, respectively; P<0.05). The proportion of acute aortic syndromes in REPCP increased compared with that during epidemic (3.46%, 2.98%, and 4.65%, respectively; P<0.05), the proportion of trauma in REPCP increased compared with that before epidemic (13.72%, 15.76%, and 17.77%, respectively; P<0.05), and the proportion of pneumonia/acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease during epidemic and in REPCP decreased compared with that before epidemic (8.44%, 3.73%, and 3.84%, respectively; P<0.05). The proportion of critically ill patients referred in each period was 72.88%, 75.58%, and 79.15%, respectively, which was the highest in REPCP (P<0.05). Conclusions The epidemic has a significant impact on emergency ambulance referrals, and emergency triage needs to be continuously optimised and improved in staff, facilities, processes and management. It is necessary to further improve the implementation of hierarchical diagnosis and treatment, strengthen information communication between referral and emergency departments of receiving hospitals, and improve referral efficiency.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is highly contagious, and the route of transmission is dominated by respiratory droplets and contact transmission. At present, the disease prevention and control are difficult. In order to prevent and control COVID-19 and prevent its spread in the hospital, West China Hospital of Sichuan University has set up isolation wards in the center of infectious diseases. The work norms for isolation ward were formulated. This may help to strengthen the prevention and treatment of COVID-19, effectively control the epidemic situation, as well as protect the health and safety of the public and medical staff. This article introduces the specific settings, diagnosis and treatment specifications, and hospital infection prevention and control strategies of the isolation ward of West China Hospital of Sichuan University, shares the work experience of isolation wards, aims to provide a reference for other hospitals to effectively prevent the spread of COVID-19 in hospitals and curb the spread of COVID-19.
Coronavirus disease 2019 has been widespread in Hubei province since the beginning of 2020. Many medical teams went to aid Hubei from the whole country. The medical team of West China Hospital of Sichuan University arrived in Jianghan district of Wuhan on January 25, 2020. As one of the earliest teams arriving Hubei, we explored the measures for infection prevention and control of resident, in order to reduce the risk for infection of medical team. The infection prevention and control experiences on the establishment of infection control team, process management, behavior management, clean disinfection, infection monitoring and emergency response and emergency response to exposure of the medical team of West China Hospital were summarized in this article.
Maintenance hemodialysis patients face great risk and challenges in the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic, and adequate and reasonable nutrition is an important weapon in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. Therefore, the Chinese Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition proposed Dietary Expert Advice on Prevention and Treatment of COVID-19 in Hemodialysis Patients for hemodialysis patients. In this paper, the nine pieces of advice on hemodialysis patients’ staple food, intake of high-quality protein, vegetables and fruits, food types and combinations, prevention of virus transmission, fluid intake, nutritional supplements, regular rest and adequate sleep, as well as supplement of anti-inflammatory and antioxidant preparations are interpreted in detail.
ObjectiveTo observe the clinical and multimodal imaging features of eyes with acute macular neuroretinopathy (AMN) associated with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). MethodsA retrospective study. From December 20, 2022 to January 17, 2023, a total of 29 patients (58 eyes) with COVID-19-associated AMN admitted to Department of Ophthalmology of Eye and ENT Hospital, Shanghai Medical College were included in the study. All the affected eyes underwent the best corrected visual acuity, color fundus photography, infrared fundus photography (IR), short-wavelength autofluorescence (SW-AF), near-infrared autofluorescence (NIL-AF), optical coherence tomography (OCT), and OCT angiography (OCTA). All patients were administered microcirculation-improving oral medication with 12 cases receiving adjunctive low-dose corticosteroid therapy. Follow-ups were conducted 1 to 3 months after the initial diagnosis, with a total of 19 cases (38 eyes) completing the one-month follow-up. ResultsOut of the 29 cases, there were 9 males (18 eyes) and 20 females (40 eyes), all of whom experienced bilateral eye involvement. The age of the patients ranged from 12 to 47 years, with an average age of (29.9±9.5) years. The time from the onset of fever to the appearance of ocular symptoms was (2.52±2.01) days. Among the 58 affected eyes, there were 5 cases with retinal cotton wool spots, 2 cases with optic disc edema, and 1 case with parafoveal branch retinal vein occlusion. All affected eyes exhibited deep reddish-brown macular dark spots. IR revealed wedge-shaped, wedge-like, or "petaloid-like" dark areas involving the fovea and parafovea. SW-AF examination showed no obvious abnormality in 39 eyes. Weak autofluorescence dark area were consistent with IR in 19 eyes. NIR-AF examination showed spot-like or flaky self-fluorescent dark areas. OCT examination showed strong reflex lesions spreading vertically upward from the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) layer in the macular area in the acute stage, showing typical "bean seedling" sign. OCTA revealed reduced blood flow density in the deep capillary plexus (DCP) of 50 eyes. En-face OCT displayed lesion areas that corresponded to the dark areas seen in IR. One month after the initial diagnosis, the condition improved in 18 eyes (47.4%, 18/38). Among the 5 eyes with cotton wool spots, regression of these spots was accompanied by loss of nerve fiber layer in 4 eyes. In cases with optic disc edema, the edema subsided. The "bean sprout" sign disappeared in all affected eyes, and the lesions became localized. The ellipsoid zone and/or interdigitation zone in the lesion areas were discontinuous. ConclusionsCOVID-19-related AMN is characterized by distinctive features. IR fundus reveals wedge-shaped, wedge-like, or petaloid dark areas involving the fovea and parafovea. OCT displays strongly reflective lesions with vertical spread above the RPE. OCTA shows reduced blood flow density in the DCP of the retina.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an acute infectious respiratory disease. Ultrashort wave diathermy (USWD) for COVID-19 is recommended by some consensuses on COVID-19 rehabilitation diagnosis and treatment, while it is not mentioned in some other experts consensuses. Because the virus that causes COVID-19 is new and there are few related studies, this paper summarizes the research evidence and possible mechanisms of USWD in the treatment of viral pneumonia, and discusses the factors that need to be considered in the treatment of COVID-19. In this paper, it is suggested that before high-quality research evidence being obtained and under the condition of limited understanding of the pathogenesis and disease development of COVID-19, the application of USWD in COVID-19 should be cautious. To provide scientific and practical research evidence for the treatment of COVID-19 by USWD may be an urgent problem to be solved at present.
ObjectiveTo analyze dynamic characteristics of peripheral blood cells in patients with different types of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), so as to investigate the predictive value of peripheral blood cells and their dynamic changes for clinical outcome of patients with COVID-19.MethodsForty-eight patients with COVID-19 were collected and analyzed from East Hospital of Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University from February 2 to March 15, 2020. These patients were divided into general group (group A, 17 cases), severe survival group (group B, 21 cases), and severe death group (group C, 10 cases). Blood routine examination was done and analyzed before and after admission and among the three groups. The changes of neutrophils and lymphocytes were compared. The predictive power of neutrophils, lymphocytes, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) for clinical outcomes was analyzed through the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.ResultsIn group B, the lymphocyte count at discharge was significantly higher than at admission (P=0.002), and the neutrophil count, NLR and PLR were significantly lower than at admission (P values were 0.012, 0.001 and 0.007, respectively). The lymphocyte counts in the A, B, and C groups were ranked from high to low upon admission, and the differences among the three groups were statistically significant (P values were 0.020, <0.001 and 0.006 for the contrasts between groups A and B, groups A and C, groups B and C, respectively), the NLR were ranked from low to high, and the differences among the three groups were statistically significant (P values were 0.001, <0.001 and 0.026 for the contrasts between groups A and B, groups A and C, groups B and C, respectively). Before discharge or death, there was no significant difference in lymphocyte counts and NLR between A and B groups (P>0.05), and there were statistically significant differences between group C and groups A and B (all P values were<0.001). The proportions of “Neutrophils Lymphocytes Convergence” in groups A and B were 64.7% and 76.2%, respectively, which were significantly higher than that in group C (10.0%). The proportions of “Neutrophils Lymphocytes Separation” in group C was 70.0%, which was significantly higher than those in groups A (0) and B (4.8%). The area under the curve of NLR predicting patients with severe disease (excluding death) was 0.843, with the sensitivity and specificity of ≥3.55 be 0.810 and 0.882; The area under the curve of lymphocyte count predicting death in severe patients was 0.845, with the sensitivity and specificity be 0.700 and 0.905, respectively.ConclusionsDynamic changes in the composition of peripheral blood cells are one of the clinical features of COVID-19, “Neutrophils Lymphocytes Convergence” and “Neutrophils Lymphocytes Separation” predict better and worse clinical outcomes, respectively. NLR and lymphocyte counts are effective indicators for predicting the severity and death of COVID-19.
ObjectiveTo explore the application effect of the new in-hospital blood glucose management model for patients with stroke and diabetes mellitus during the epidemic of coronavirus disease 2019.MethodsA total of 120 patients with stroke and diabetes mellitus who were admitted to Mianyang Central Hospital and were consulted by the Department of Endocrinology between October 1st 2019 and April 12th 2020 were recruited. Patients who used the traditional consultation model for blood glucose management between October 1st 2019 and January 19th 2020 were classified as the control group (60 cases). Patients who were managed by the virtual ward of remote blood glucose management combined with the video consultation mode between January 20th 2020 and April 12th 2020 were classified as the observation group (60 cases). The basic conditions, the time to reach target blood glucose, the completion time of the consultation, the accuracy of blood glucose related data, the satisfaction rate of the consultation, the rate of reaching target blood glucose, the incidence of hypoglycemia, the blood glucose fluctuation (standard deviation of blood glucose level, maximum blood glucose fluctuation range), the incidence of nosocomial infections, diabetes mellitus diagnosis and treatment related expenses, and average hospitalization expenses of the two groups were compared.ResultsThere was no significant difference in the basic conditions between the two groups of patients (P>0.05). The time to reach target blood glucose [(5.38±2.16) vs. (8.18±2.63) d], completion time ofthe consultation [(4.33±1.51) vs. (17.97±3.23) h], incidence of hypoglycemia (6.67% vs. 21.67%), standard deviation of blood glucose level [(2.16±0.34) vs. (2.52±0.34) mmol/L] and maximum blood glucose fluctuation range [(5.72±1.36) vs. (6.34±1.51) mmol/L] of the observation group were lower than those of the control group, the accuracy rate of blood glucose related data (100.00% vs. 83.33%), satisfaction rate of the consultation (93.33% vs. 73.33%) and rate of reaching target blood glucose (88.33% vs. 70.00%) of the observation group were higher than those of the control group, and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of nosocomial infections, diabetes mellitus diagnosis and treatment related expenses, or average hospitalization expenses between the two groups of patients (P>0.05).ConclusionDuring the epidemic of coronavirus disease 2019, the combined video consultation model of remote blood glucose virtual ward for patients with stroke and diabetes mellitus has a good application effect, which has certain feasibility and clinical promotion value.
Objective To investigate the status of frailty in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and to analyze the influence of COVID-19 disease on the prevalence of frailty. Methods This study was conducted using a cross-sectional survey method. COVID-19 patients admitted to a centralized isolation point in Guangzhou were selected for an questionnaire survey by “questionnaire star”, between November and December 2022. The questionnaire included the general information questionnaire, Tilburg Frailty Indicator (TFI), the COVID-19 symptom scale and Mental Resilience Scale (RS-11). Multi-model logistic regression analysis was used to explore the influence of COVID-19 on the occurrence of debilitation. Results A total of 667 questionnaires were distributed, of which 594 were valid, with an effective rate of 89.1%. There were 150 patients (25.3%) were frail, 444 patients (74.7%) were non-frail, and 51 patients (8.6%) were newly frail after infected COVID-19. The median TFI score before COVID-19 was 3 (2, 4) points, 16.7% (99/594) were in a weak state. The median TFI score after COVID-19 was 3 (2, 5) points, 25.3% (150/594) were in a weak state. There were statistically significant differences in TFI scores (Z=?6.596, P＜0.001) and the incidence of debilitation (χ2=351.648, P＜0.001) before and after COVID-19. The results of multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that after controlling disease factors, demographic factors and psychosocial factors, the score of the COVID-19 symptom score was always the influencing factor of COVID-19 patients. The overall change trend of COVID-19 symptom score was statistically significant (P<0.001). Conclusions The COVID-19 symptom score is an important risk factor or predictor of frailty in patients with COVID-19. As the level of COVID-19 symptom score increases, the risk of frailty in COVID-19 patients increases.
Objective To explore the shortcomings of the traditional clinical probation teaching mode, propose and implement the interactive teaching mode, so as to stimulate the students’ interest in knowledge and achieve better teaching effects. Methods The students of Grade 2017 who had clinical probation in the Orthopaedic Trauma Center of West China Hospital of Sichuan University from September 2020 to December 2021 were selected. Students were randomly divided into traditional clinical probation teaching mode group and interactive teaching mode group according to random number table method. Wechat mini program anonymous questionnaire survey was used to evaluate students’ satisfaction with the interactive teaching model of orthopaedic trauma and the teaching effect. Results A total of 110 students were enrolled, 55 in the traditional clinical probation teaching mode group and 55 in the interactive teaching mode group. There was no significant difference in gender or age between the two groups (P>0.05). The students in the interactive teaching mode group were better than those in the traditional clinical probation teaching mode group in orthopedic theory test (90.13±3.65 vs. 88.39±3.74; t=2.469, P=0.015) in the orthopedic theory test, teacher evaluation (89.15±2.94 vs. 87.56±3.12; t=2.751, P=0.007) and student self-evaluation (89.07±3.18 vs. 87.41±2.89; t=2.865, P=0.005). The teaching satisfaction of the interactive teaching group was higher than that of the traditional teaching group (96.36% vs. 87.27%; Z=?2.159, P=0.031). Conclusion Interactive teaching mode can effectively stimulate students’ interest in knowledge seeking, improve the enthusiasm and interaction of clinical probation, and effectively improve the satisfaction of undergraduate orthopaedic trauma clinical probation teaching.