Vein diameter for peripherally inserted cathether insertion: a scoping review

Background: The risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) may be reduced if a vein of appropriate diameter is used forperipherally inserted central catheter (PICC) insertion. However, clinicians may have predilections to cannulate certainvein types and use particular insertion sites (eg, right or left arm) and therefore do not necessarily assess all veinsavailable to determine the most optimal vessel to introduce a catheter. It is important that clinicians have anunderstanding of the diameter of veins used for PICC insertion and the effect of patient factors such as hand dominanceon vein size to determine whether their clinical practice is appropriate.

Methods: A scoping review of published literature was performed to determine existing knowledge regarding thediameters of veins used for PICC insertion and the influence of patient factors such as hand dominance and laterality(left or right arm) on vein size.

Results: There was limited published research about the diameters of the basilic, brachial, and cephalic veins at themidupper arm, with only 6 studies identified. Three of the 6 selected articles focused on vein diameter measurement toinform arteriovenous fistula development. Only 1 study included participants undergoing PICC insertion. Scant researchexamined the effect of laterality on vein diameter and 1 study was identified that reported the influence of handdominance or vein type on the diameter of veins used for PICC insertion.

Conclusions: This review found that there is a paucity of studies that have examined the veins used for PICC insertion.Nevertheless, it appears that the basilic vein has the largest diameter (with smaller brachial and cephalic veins),although this is not always the case. Laterality and hand dominance does not seem to influence vein diameter. Furtherresearch about the vasculature used for PICC insertion is needed to inform clinical practice.

Feature-based tracking of urethral motion in low-resolution trans-perineal ultrasound

This paper describes a novel algorithm for tracking the motion of the urethra from trans-perineal ultrasound. Our work is based on the structure-from-motion paradigm and therefore handles well structures with ill-defined and partially missing boundaries. The proposed approach is particularly well-suited for video sequences of low resolution and variable levels of blurriness introduced by anatomical motion of variable speed. Our tracking method identifies feature points on a frame by frame basis using the SURF detector/descriptor. Inter-frame correspondence is achieved using nearest-neighbor matching in the feature space. The motion is estimated using a non-linear bi-quadratic model, which adequately describes the deformable motion of the urethra. Experimental results are promising and show that our algorithm performs well when compared to manual tracking.

Uso de estimulación eléctrica medular en el manejo de síndrome doloroso regional complejo: revisión sistemática

La estimulación eléctrica medular (EEM), es una técnica mínimamente invasiva, segura, con pocos efectos secundarios y resultados favorables en patologías crónicas asociadas a dolor severo de difícil manejo, tal como es el caso del Síndrome Doloroso Regional Complejo (SDRC). La evidencia actual señala beneficios en esta patología particular, motivo por el cuál es de interés hacer una revisión actualizada sobre la EEM en SDRC.

Hallazgos ecográficos en la estenosis uretral y su correlación con endoscopia y uretrografía

"Con la implementación estandarizada de la ecografía uretral se pretende tener un efecto directo en el diagnóstico oportuno, no invasivo y sin complicaciones inherentes a la instrumentación del tracto urinario bajo en los pacientes que padecen de estenosis uretral; que finalmente redundará en disminución de costos a corto y largo plazo gracias a la eliminación de estudios innecesarios y procedimientos terapéuticos infructuosos, beneficiando al paciente y al sistema de salud vigente en nuestro medio. Los sujetos con estenosis uretrales complejas podrían ser diagnosticados de manera rápida, sencilla y minimamente invasiva sin importar la localización de la anomalía y su complejidad". (Extracto de la introducción)