There are about 300 clinical studies being (or have been) conducted in Nepal. The country of the clinical trial is determined by the location of where the clinical research is being studied. Most studies are often held in multiple locations & countries.
Femur fracture is very common in older people. It makes the people bedridden for long time at hospital. The fracture of femur is generally managed by the surgical procedure. Prolonged fasting for surgery makes the patients harassed physically as well as mentally. The long fasting state emphasizes the body more in catabolic state which increases the insulin resistivity. Pre-operative carbohydrate loading before two hours the surgery has been launched in practice to overcome these problems in the world context, however it is not in existence in Nepal. The aim of the study is to evaluate the effect of pre-operative carbohydrate loading in the case of femur fracture surgery. This study utilize a hospital based randomized control trial study design to assess the effect of carbohydrate loading before two hours the surgery over the completely fasting state. A representative sample size of 66 patients (control group =33 and study group =33) aged 50 years and above having femur fracture planned for surgery will be selected for research. The pre-operative nutritional status will be identified and the post-operative outcomes will be measured by Visual Analogue Score (VAS) and Cumulative Ambulatory Score (CAS). Statistical analysis will be performed using chi square test, independent sample t-test or Mann-Whitney U test to compare between the outcome of study groups and control groups. The outcome of the study may provide a platform to the anaesthesiologists and surgeons towards the emerging concept of pre-operative carbohydrate loading practice in Orthopedics surgery in Nepal.
Follow-up of pediatric patients is important for their regular ocular morbidity monitoring, especially for amblyopia management. An observatory data of 1st week (1st to 7th) of January 2019 revealed that the follow-up compliance was very low (22%) among children aged 0-16 years in the pediatric department of Bharatpur Eye Hospital. A problem tree analysis showed a lack of awareness in children and their parents regarding the importance of follow-up and patients forgetting regarding the follow-up visit, usually when there is the long duration of follow up are the major contributing factors for poor adherence to follow-up. So, an intervention study was aimed at finding the effectiveness of counseling and reminders through SMS and phone calls to improve the follow-ups. All pediatric patients 0-16 years of age with ocular conditions requiring at least 3 follow-ups in the study period (January 2021 to April 2021) will be included. Two hundred and sixty-four participants will be equally distributed to three groups: routine standard care, counseling, and reminders with SMS and phone calls. In the routine care group, children will undergo routine care as per existing practice in the hospital and there will be no additional intervention. In counseling group, in addition to routine care parents/guardians along with the child will receive counseling from a trained counselor as per the set counseling protocol in every follow-up visits and will also be provided with the disease-specific information leaflets as additional information material before the child is discharged from the department. In the SMS and phone call reminder group, in addition to routine care, parents/guardians of children will receive reminders through short messaging text (SMS) 3 days and phone calls one day prior to the scheduled visit. Compliance to follow up Participants completing all the three follow-up visits as per the schedule within the window period of +/-2 days will be considered as a complaint to follow up. However, the follow-ups of all the participants will be recorded although that is beyond the window period. The primary outcome will be measured by the proportion of children completing all three scheduled follow-ups. The ethical approval has been obtained from the Institutional Review Committee of NHRC (ERB protocol registration number 761/2020 P). Informed consent will be taken from parent and child. Conclusion: If interventions improve the follow-up rate and are cost-effective, this can be applied in all the departments of the hospital.
Percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) is the preferred treatment for renal stones >2 cm or resistant to ESWL. Postoperative pain following this invasive surgery adds to the morbidity of patient which requires additional analgesia and can affect the quality of care. To lower the morbidity of PCNL, proper and adequate management of postoperative pain remains an integral component of PCNL. There are many ways to reduce the postoperative pain following PCNL including mini PCNL, tubeless PCNL, use of regional analgesia etc. However the modality of analgesic technique is still a matter of debate. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of intercostal nerve block compared with peritract infiltration in patient undergoing PCNL. Specifically, the study will look on to the demography of patients undergoing PCNL and their indications. The study will also compare the intensity of pain in two groups using visual analogue scale (VAS). The study will be a prospective double blinded randomized clinical trial done at Department of Urology and Kidney Transplant Surgery, Tribhuvan University Teaching hospital (TUTH). The time frame of this study will be of 1 year or when sample size is fulfilled including all the patients who visit the hospital for PCNL and fulfils the inclusion criteria. At the end of our study we expect to conclude that the use of intercostal nerve block is superior or inferior than or equal to peritract infiltration in alleviating the postoperative pain following PCNL.
An effective referral system helps to ensure a close relationship between all levels of the health system and ensures clients receive optimum care at the appropriate level and at affordable cost, and hospital facilities are used optimally and cost-effectively. A referral system requires consideration of all its important components that can be then adjusted to the local situation. Being a system, the important components of a referral system are Health system issues (Service providers, Referral protocols, Communication & transportation provide), Referring facility& Referral practicalities (Client & their condition, Protocols of care, Care provider & documents, Referral decision, Outward referral form, Communicate with referral facility, Client information, Referral register), Referral facility& Referral practicalities (Client with referral form, Treat the client with the document, Rehabilitation plan, Back referral form, Feedback to referring facility, Referral register) and Supervision and capacity building (Referral monitoring, Ensure back referral, Feedback and training to facility staff and Feedback to central level) ((USAID), 2012). There are mainly two limitations on referring Diabetic Retinopathy patients. Patient-related reasons: lack of awareness, belief, cost, distance from screening/ treatment centers, discomfort from dilating drops, efforts to attend yet another center, fear of laser treatment, fear of its impact on quality of life and jobs, lack of family support and guilt surrounding the failure to control blood sugar. Provider-related reasons are poor counseling and advisory services about ocular complications for patients with diabetes, inefficient call and recall system, long waiting times for screening or treatment, and complicated referral mechanism. Lumbini eye institute is a comprehensive tertiary eye care center in western Nepal. In spite of 19 peripheral referral centers under it, there is a poor inflow of Diabetic retinopathy patients as against the estimated disease burden in the catchment area. The objective of our study is to improve timely referral flow from referring centers and compliance with referral cases after the intervention. In order to meet our objective, the investigators tend to implement patient counseling at referral centers, a referral tracking system, and a fast-track mechanism for patients at base hospitals.
Reiyukai Eiko Masunaga Eye Hospital (REMEH) is a non-profitable organization. Retina services were resumed from October 2019. Until this retinal service started, it has been mostly cataract-focused. People are unaware of this new retinal service in the hospital. The investigators would like to fill this gap and our objective is to increase the attendance of patients with Diabetes Mellitus, for retinal screening at REMEH by providing health education intervention to selected physicians and establish a referral pathway. Study Design: pre- post-intervention Methods: The investigators are going to conduct intervention by providing health education on diabetes Retinopathy to the health personnel of Scheer Memorial Hospital. It has been referring eye patients to REMEH as there is no eye department there. Data Management: The demographic information of health personnel of Sheer memorial and demographic information and other variables of the patient who are referred from Scheer Hospital will be collected and entered in an excel sheet. The study period of approximately 16 months (March 2020 to Sep 2021): Initial 10 months for proposal writing, preparation, and getting ethical approval. Feb2021 - April 2021 three months for pretest intervention May- July further data collection and last two months Aug- Sep Analysis and writing result. Results: The proposed outcome is to increase the proportional change in the number of patients availing retinal services and to find out a proportional increase in the number of diabetes screenings from the baseline. Also, a positive outcome is a clear indication for health education, and setting communication between general physicians and specialties will set the path for improvement in a timely health care delivery system.
Anxiety is a common phenomenon among patients who are undergoing surgery. It is a condition characterized by stress, nervousness, fear, unpleasant feeling, and higher activity of Autonomic Nervous System. The current studies demonstrated that listening to music, reduces anxiety levels.
Summary: Keloids and hypertrophic scars are benign fibrous growth, differing mainly by overgrowth beyond the initial defect in keloid whereas hypertrophic scar is confined to initial lesion and tends to regress over the years. Keloids and hypertrophic scars mainly lead to cosmetic disfigurement and functional deformity depending on site of involvement, in addition to symptoms like pain and pruritus, encountered occasionally. These sometimes might lead to psychological impact too. Different treatment options for keloids and hypertrophic scar are silicone gel/ sheets, corticosteroids, cryotherapy, lasers, antineoplastic agents (5-FU, mitomycin-C), surgical excision and immunomodulators (imiquimod) used either as monotherapy or combination therapy. Different studies involving combination of TAC and 5-FU have been done so far which shows better treatment outcome in terms of efficacy and safety. In a recent meta-analysis published in 2017 concluded that combination therapy of 5-FU + TAC offers better outcome than TAC alone, however recommended additional randomized, controlled, large-sample, high quality trial are needed for a more objective analysis of the treatment efficacy and to assess the adverse reaction associated. We are conducting this study the objective to compare the efficacy and safety profile of intralesional triamcinolone acetonide alone and its combination with 5-FU of the treatment of keloids and hypertrophic scars. This study may help in finding out the optimum treatment option in keloid and hypertrophic scar with minimal side effects in our clinical practice.
ORTHOPUS develops assistive technologies to address the lack of availability of medical devices in low and middle income countries. With the help of HI (Handicap International) Nepal, the need for upper limb prostheses was identified. Indeed, according to the literature - especially Efficiency of voluntary opening hand and hook prosthetic devices: 24 years of development? (JRRD, Volume 49, Number 4, 2012) -, today available solutions do not fully address patients' needs. In Nepal, only 2 upper limb prostheses options are generally proposed to patients because of supply and cost constraints. ORTHOPUS' objective is to extend patients' autonomy with a new set of prosthetic solutions. By offering low cost but high quality devices (according to CE marking requirements), another of the ORTHOPUS' missions is also to address supply and cost constraints. To improve patients' capabilities, ORTHOPUS aims at extending grasping capabilities compared to the usual passive aesthetic hand or voluntary opening one by proposing the following set of solutions: - an aesthetic articulated hand - a mechanical wrist - a work hook In order to assess the different stated hypotheses, a clinical trial is set jointly with HI Nepal. 14 patients will be enrolled in 2 cohorts (n1 = 7, n2 = 7), the first one is constituted with patients usually using an aesthetic passive hand whereas the second one comprise patients normally equipped with voluntary opening hand. After selecting and getting the informed consent of the patients, a month to make the sockets and adapt it to patients is planned. An evaluation of their quality of life will be done with the WHO QOL - BREF quality of life assessment before and after the test period of the trial. ORTHOPUS' set of prosthetic solutions will be tested by them over one month. They will have to fill on a daily basis a survey (OPUS) assessing their use of the prostheses. At the end of the test period, different questionnaires and surveys will be filled during a last interview to collect data. Data will be analysed in order to extract evidence for or against the trial hypotheses. With these results, a report will be written and submitted to the GATE (Global Cooperation on Assistive Health Technology) community managed by WHO. This report will also feed the ORTHOPUS R&D with patients' feedbacks and, research findings will be shared publicly on different social media in respect with patient privacy.
Brachial plexus block is a regional anaesthesia technique employed as a safe and valuable alternative to general anaesthesia for upper limb surgery. In recent practices of day care surgeries, brachial plexus block seems to be a better alternative to general anesthesia with minimal hospital stay and better analgesic effect. Among several techniques of brachial plexus block, supraclavicular approach is considered as easiest, effective and can be performed much more quickly than other approaches. Various local anaesthetic agents and adjuvants are used for this purpose. Among them, bupivacaine has been the most widely used long-acting local anaesthetic agent. Combining local anesthetics with different adjuncts can prolong the duration of analgesia associated with brachial plexus block. Among various adjuncts, dexamethasone and dexmedetomidine have been identified as clinically effective adjuncts. Several metaanalyses have convincingly demonstrated their efficacy in prolonging the analgesic duration of brachial plexus block. However, there has been limited research conducted to compare the effects of dexamethasone and dexmedetomidine added as adjuvants to the local anesthetics for BPB. Studies have demonstrated benefits of one agent over other without any definitive conclusion as which is the best agent for this purpose. Therefore, there is a need of study to compare the onset and duration of bupivacaine when dexmedetomidine or dexamethasone is used as an adjuvant to bupivacaine for ultrasound-guided supraclavicular BPB
Hypotension after spinal anaesthesia for cesarean deliveries is frequently encountered. Phenylephrine an α-agonist is commonly used for the prevention and treatment of spinal-induced hypotension. Phenylephrine causes baroreceptor-mediated bradycardia leading to subsequent reduction in cardiac output. Preservation of heart rate and cardiac output is important in high-risk conditions such as placental insufficiency, fetal distress and maternal cardiac disease. Recently, norepinephrine has been found as effective as phenylephrine in treatment of spinal induced hypotension. When norepinephrine is used as a bolus, it is effective at maintaining blood pressure while also conferring a greater heart rate and cardiac output compared to phenylephrine.