Risk factor for deadly newborn infections identified
In pregnancy, the time between when a woman’s water breaks—what doctor’s call rupture of the membranes—and delivery is directly associated with the risk of serious infections in newborns, independent of how long labor lasts, a new study shows.
Deadly infections (also called neonatal sepsis) affect as many as 1 percent of newborns and carry a death rate approaching 50 percent. An extended time between rupture of the membranes and delivery is a recognized risk factor for infection in mom and newborn, but whether the duration of labor influences the risk is unclear.
Less pain, bleeding with newer tonsil surgery
People who have their tonsils removed using an “intracapsular” technique—which removes at least 90 percent of tonsil tissue, but spares the tonsil capsule—seem to experience less bleeding and pain after surgery compared with those who have their tonsils out using the traditional tonsil removal surgery, new research suggests.
The findings stem from a look back at the medical charts of 2,944 patients who underwent tonsillectomy with or without removal of the adenoids (tissue at the back of the throat) at one center from January 2002 through May 2005. The patients included 1,731 who had the newer intracapsular tonsillectomy procedure and 1,212 who had traditional tonsillectomy.
Tonsillectomies Are Increasingly Being Performed to Treat Airway Obstructions
A new Mayo Clinic study indicates tonsillectomies are increasingly being performed to treat airway obstructions evidenced by snoring and sleep disorders as opposed to tonsil infections. The study, led by a Mayo Clinic Medical School student, will be presented Sept. 18 at the American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery in Washington, D.C.
“This research shows that obstructive airway problems causing sleep-disordered breathing are now the primary reason children and young adults are having their tonsils and adenoids removed,” says Britt Erickson, the Mayo Clinic medical student leading the team of researchers on this study.
