Magister Scientiae Dentium - MSc(Dent) / AIM:The aim of this study was to review the data available from the Department of Health(DOH), on pre-school paediatric patients treated under Dental General Anaesthesia(DGA), at public health facilities in the Western Cape (WC) in order to ascertain the type and nature of treatment provided.METHODOLOGY:This retrospective descriptive study reviewed the records on the Department of Health(DoH) Database of 16 732 pre-school patients treated under dental general anaesthesia in the period 1 January 2005 until 31 December 2007. A questionnaire was also completed telephonically with 22 dentists from the district dental health clinics.Summary descriptive statistics were calculated from data collected and comparisons were drawn between services available at the health districts and academic hospitals.RESULTS:Of the 58 255 procedures recorded for pre-school patients in the district health clinics in the Western Cape, 99.94% were for extractions provided and 0.5% for restorations.The average number of teeth extracted was 10.4 (SD ±3.9).The average rate of DGA per 1000 of the population was 1.06. Only 9% (2) of dentists at district clinics reported that pre-DGA prevention was provided and 5% (1) reported including post-DGA prevention. The Academic Hospital at Tygerberg Oral Health Centre was the only facility in the Western Cape that provided comprehensive dental treatment for pre-school patients which included restorations, extractions, pre and post DGA prevention. Red Cross Children’s Hospital provided treatment for pre-school patients under DGA that included extractions, pre- and post DGA, but no restorative treatment. CONCLUSION:The demand for DGA in pre-school patients in the WC was high. The lack of prevention associated with DGA in the public health service is the most likely reason the retreatment rate under DGA was reported by dentists as being 77%. There was an absence of protocol regarding DGA for pre-school patients in the public health service.RECOMMENDATIONS:Guidelines formulated were recommended for use in the public service for pre-school patients being treated under DGA and includes the provision of preventive interventions such as regular topical fluoride applications, oral hygiene instruction and dietary advice.

Bakgrund: Patienter som ventilatorvårdas på intensivvårdsavdelning behöver ofta någon form av lätt sömn (sedering) för att tolerera endotrachealtuben och ventilatorbehandling. De traditionella intravenösa läkemedel som ges har lång halveringstid och det är stor risk för kvardröjande effekter. Syfte: Denna pilotstudie syftar till att studera sederingsdjupet enligt MAAS hos de patienter som blivit sederade med inhalationsgas, kontrollera vakenhetsgraden enligt GCS hos dessa patienter efter avslutad sedering, samt beskriva vilka patientgrupperna är som fått inhalationssedering. Metod: Journalgranskning där resultatet har analyserats och kategoriserats, därefter har en sambandsanalys gjorts. Resultat: I resultatet identifierades 3 patientkategorier som fått isofluransedering: patienter med hotad luftväg som förväntats behöva kort sederingstid och snabb väckning, patienter som var svåra att sedera optimalt med intravenös metod samt patienter med organsvikt där risk för ackumulation och/ eller förlängd elimination av läkemedel förelåg. Något samband mellan MAAS 12 timmar före extubation och GCS- värde efter väckning hos de 14 patienter som ingick i studien har inte kunna styrkas. Konklusion: Inhalationssedering med isofluran förefaller vara en effektiv sederingsmetod när en lättstyrd sederingssituation med möjlighet till snabb väckning prioriteras, samt när man strävar efter att patienten ska uppnå 14-15 i GCS- värde så snart som möjligt efter väckning och extubation. / Background: Patients which are nursed by ventilator at the intensive care unit often need some form of sedative in order to tolerate an endotracheal tube and the ventilator treatment. The traditional intravenous drugs have a long half- life and potential risk for lingering effects. Aim: This pilot study aim to study the depth of sedation according to MAAS with the patients having been sedated with inhalation gas, check alertness according to GCS with these patients after completion of sedation, and describe which group of patients that have received inhalation treatment. Method: Journal Review where the result have been analysed and categorized then a link analysis has been made. Result: In the result three patient categories were identified which had received isoflurane sedation: patients with threatened airway and expected short time of sedation and fast wake- up, patients which were difficult to sedate optimally with intravenous method, and patients with organ failure where risk for accumulation and/ or  extended elimination of drugs were expected. Any relationship between MAAS 12 hour prior to extubation and GCS- score after awakening with the 14 patients included in the study have not been established. Conclusion: Sedation by isoflurane inhalation seems to be an effective sedation method when an easily controlled sedation situation with the possibility of a fast awakening are prioritized as well as when the strive is to achieve a GCS- score of 14-15 as soon as possible after awakening and extubation.

The purpose of this essay is to examine how the novel My Year of Rest and Relaxation (2018 / 2019) by Ottessa Moshfegh, through the lens of dissociative feminism, can be interpreted as a critique regarding commodification of the body. To explore this claim, I discuss the protagonist’s dissociative feminist behaviour in contrast to her friend Reva’s femcel-behaviour. How the protagonist and Reva react to societal pressure in the form of beauty standards becomes the evidence of a critique that I believe Moshfegh is trying to tell throughout the novel. By examining how the two women are either showing approval or rejection of beauty standards either physically or psychologically, the theory of the docile body and culture industry is brought into the discussion. This leads to a discussion of why docile bodies are subjugated to beauty standards and if self-care routines are either done for the self or the observers’ gaze. I show evidence of how the novel criticizes a society that forces oppressive ideals upon women by discussing the thought process of the protagonist. This essay is therefore written from the perspective of the protagonist being the force against beauty standards and how through continuous dissociation, the protagonist is set free from societal norms, while Reva acts as a symbol for all the women that are mouldable. This essay analyses four passages that show how Moshfegh delivers an implicit critique through four distinct ways: dissociation, power, docility, and sedation. Finally, the essay shows evidence of how the novel on its last page creates a generalization of women, signalling that women must dare to break the patterns of oppressive ideals to become free individuals.

Dental caries is a preventable multifactorial infectious disease which results from the overall impact of biological, behavioural and psychosocial factors. The environment of every individual plays a role in its aetiology, too. The content and form of the diet, regularly performed oral hygiene, fluoride intake and continuous dental care act as an unquestionable part in the prevention of dental caries. "Quality of life" or "well-being" is nowadays an emphasized aspect in most of the studies. There is one factor linked to the well-being of a child discussed on a field of paediatric dentistry - the dental fear. The four following studies presented in this dissertation describe the above mentioned topic. The first surveys the dentist's relationship with the child patients and looks for the reasoning why the children were referred to the faculties and specialists. The second pursues the environmental factors which influence the perception of dental environments in pre-schoolers and the fear of even the most common dental procedures. The third performs an evaluation of the dental fear level in a sample of preschool children in the Czech Republic, with correlation to their dental status and geographic location. This study also deals with a possible use of colours as another tool for dental fear evaluation...

Purpose. The purpose of this dissertation is to understand the state of recommended practice for sedation interruptions (SI) and to discover factors that hinder or facilitate critical care nurses’ use in practice. To garner insight about why this evidence-informed intervention is not being used as recommended to improve mechanically ventilated patient outcomes. Methods. A series of studies using a multi-methods design and guided by the Knowledge to Action Framework: study 1) a systematic review and critical appraisal examined the quality and reporting of all available guidelines and care bundles with recommendations related to SI for mechanically ventilated adults in critical care; study 2) a needs assessment included an environmental scan of the study site and gap-analysis using a retrospective chart audit to measure the nature and magnitude of the evidence-practice gap; study 3) a descriptive qualitative study used semi-structured theory-based interviews to deepen our understanding of the determinants that influence SI use in preparation for a future implementation study. Findings. Study 1 included 11 guidelines and care bundles with 15 recommendations about SI. Deficiencies in the methodological quality of the current guidelines and care bundles may impact overall credibility and applicability of the recommendations, though SI is currently recommended best-practice. Study 2 confirmed the existence of an evidence-practice gap related to SI and affirmed the need to discover barriers and drivers to best practice implementation (study 3). We identified nine facilitators and 20 barriers to SI use by nurses. Facilitators were associated with the innovation (e.g., the importance of protocols) and the potential adopters (e.g., SI are specific to the nurse's role). The barriers were associated with the potential adopters (e.g., nurses’ knowledge gaps and variable goals of SI) and the practice environment (e.g., lack of availability of extra staff and multidisciplinary rounds). Conclusion. Before adequately implementing SI and evaluating uptake by nurses, we need to address modifications to existing guidelines and recommendations, even though SI is considered best practice. A theory-informed implementation study can further activate the use of SI for mechanically ventilated adults in critical care.

Bakgrund: Palliativ vård innebär rätten till god och meningsfull vård intill livets slut, och innefattar lindrande behandling för att nå största möjliga livskvalitet. Sjuksköterskan har med sitt patientnära arbete och omvårdnadsansvar en central position inom palliativ vård, särskilt i kommunikation mellan patient, närstående och läkare. Knappa resurser, bristande kunskapsläge och kommunikativa svårigheter inom ett område där tiden är knapp och där de existentiella aspekterna är ständigt närvarande, kan resultera i etiskt problematiska situationer. Syfte: Att belysa sjuksköterskors upplevelser av de etiska problem som uppkommer i samband med palliativ vård. Metod: En kvalitativ litteraturstudie med ansats till metasyntes. Översikten bygger på 17 kvalitativa primärstudier med totalt 341 legitimerade sjuksköterskor med erfarenheter av palliativ vård. Resultat: Översikten fann tre huvudteman och 9 subteman vilka illustrerade sjuksköterskors upplevelser av etisk problematik i palliativ vård. Huvudteman var kommunikation, organisation och utbildning samt smärtlindring och sedering. Dessa teman illustrerar de sammanhang där upplevelsen av etisk problematik var som störst. Slutsats: Palliativ vård medför särskilda etiska utmaningar för sjuksköterskan. Brister relaterade till sjuksköterskans utbildning, arbetsplats och/eller tvärprofessionell kommunikation kan resultera i uppkomsten av etiska problem och moralisk stress. Mer specialistutbildning för sjuksköterskor och förbättrad tvärprofessionell kommunikation kunde vara en början till förändring. Palliativ sedering och smärtlindring utgör en särskilt känslig situation för sjuksköterska, patient och familj där möjligheten till en bättre omvårdnad till en del ligger i hur den etiska problematik som uppstår kan hanteras på ett sätt som resulterar i mindre moralisk stress för sjuksköterskan och gör det till en tvärprofessionell angelägenhet. Ökad farmakologisk kompetens kunde också ge sjuksköterskan en förstärkt trygghet i palliativ läkemedelsadministrering. / Background: Palliative care entails the right to good and meaningful healthcare until the end of life. The nurse, working closely with the patient, the next of kin and the doctor, holds a uniquely central position in palliative care. Lack of resources, inadequate specialist knowledge and communication problems can lead to ethically complicated situations in this area of healthcare, in which time is already pressured and existential complexities abound. Aim: To shed light on nurses’ experiences of the ethically complicated situations that arise in palliative care. Method: A qualitative literature review with attempted metasynthesis perspective. The review is based on 17 primary studies with a total of 341 partaking registered nurses with experiences from palliative care. Results: The review found three main themes and 9 sub themes, illustrating nurses’ experiences with ethical problems in palliative care. Main themes were communication, organization and education plus pain medication and sedation. These themes point towards the areas in which nurses’ experiences with ethical problems were the most prevalent. Conclusions: Palliative care, from the nurse’s perspective, comes with its own set of ethical challenges. Lack of nurses’ specialist competence, poor organisation and inadequate cross-professional communication has an immediate secondary effect in the rise of ethical problems and experience of moral distress in the nursing community. Higher specialist education levels among nurses, and better cross professional communication, would begin to help these issues. With the complex area of palliative sedation and pain management, the betterment potential is less of a structural improvement and more of learning how to handle the existential quandaries in a way which might alleviate the moral stress put on the shoulders of nurses and make it a cross professional issue. Increased pharmacological competence among nurses would, however, be likely to ease nurses’ anxiety around palliative pain management and sedation.

Introduction: The effect of a targeted pain management protocol consisting of sedation and local anesthesia on the stress response to treatment of dermatitis interdigitalis contagiosa (DINCO) was assessed in sheep placed in dorsal recumbency. Methods: Blood cortisol concentrations were measured once a day (Day -3 to 2) and additionally on day 0, six times during the claw treatment (stress model). Twelve healthy sheep (control group; HEALTHY) and 36 sheep with DINCO, randomly allocated to one of three treatment groups, underwent the stress model with or without pain control: the XYLA-IVRA sheep were sedated with 2% xylazine hydrochloride (XYLA) and received retrograde intravenous regional anesthesia (IVRA); the IVRA sheep underwent IVRA and received a placebo instead of sedation; the PLACEBO sheep received placebos for sedation and IVRA. The HEALTHY sheep underwent sham claw treatment and received placebos. Results and discussion: The cortisol concentrations were higher in sheep restrained in dorsal recumbency compared with the cortisol concentrations measured four hours later in standing sheep (HEALTHY 37.2 ± 3.3 ng/ml vs. 18.5 ± 3.3 ng/ml; DISEASED 34.0 ± 1.9 ng/ml vs. 17.6 ± 1.9 ng/ml; p < 0.001). The stress response of XYLA-IVRA (area under the curve; AUC = 34.9 ± 2.6 ng/ml) was reduced compared with the stress response of PLACEBO (AUC = 48.0 ± 2.6 ng/ml, p < 0.01) and HEALTHY sheep (AUC = 46.6 ± 2.5 ng/ml; p = 0.01). While cortisol concentration of XYLA-IVRA and HEALTHY sheep did not increase one day after the stress model (Day 1) compared with the day of the stress model (Day 0), both PLACEBO (47.4 ± 3.3 vs. 35.6 ± 3.1 ng/ml, p = 0.02) and IVRA sheep (39.1 ± 2.8 vs. 28.6 ± 3.1 ng/ml, p = 0.01) had higher cortisol concentrations. The results confirm that fixation in dorsal recumbency in a tilt squeeze chute was a major stressor in sheep. The differences in the cortisol concentration of the PLACEBO sheep versus the XYLA-IVRA sheep during and after the stress model illustrate the effect and necessity of pain management protocols in practice.

Unplanned extubation is premature removal of endotracheal tube, is an adverse event; which can either, be accidental during a nursing procedure or self deliberate by the patient. The AACN Synergy Model for Patient Care was used as conceptual model for this study. A retrospective descriptive design revealed that over a period of two years, 327 patients admitted to the intensive care unit require intubation of which 40.4% were self-deliberate extubation and 59.4% accidental extubation. Of the accidental extubated patients, 29.8% had physical restrains, 57.6% received sedation, 43.9% had analgesic infusion and 38.9% were on neuromuscular blockade. A means Glasco Coma Scale was 9.4 and 56% of the patients were reported as being. Most patients (89.9%) required re-intubation. The findings also revealed that 49.1% of the nurses who cared for the patients when the extubation occured had one patient at the time. Also, 84.2% of nurses had 0-6 years of nursing experience and 74% of nurses had less than five years of ICU experience. / Health Studies / M.A. (Health Studies)

Les patients admis aux soins intensifs (SI) souffrent de comorbidités qui affectent leur pronostic. Deux problèmes sont potentiellement associés aux sédatifs et compliquent le séjour de 35 à 50% des malades : le délirium, un état confusionnel aigu; et le coma ‘iatrogénique’, une altération de la conscience induite pharmacologiquement. L’importance de l’association entre clinique et médicaments a un intérêt pour prévenir ces syndromes cliniques morbides. Nous voulions étudier le délirium et le coma iatrogénique, les doses administrées de midazolam et de fentanyl, leurs niveaux plasmatiques, les variantes génétiques de métabolisme et de transport et les facteurs inflammatoires et ce, chez 100 patients admis aux soins intensifs. Nos données soulignent l’importance des interactions médicamenteuses dans l’incidence du coma iatrogénique, et réfutent l’association entre les benzodiazépines et le délirium. Ces résultats clarifient la pathophysiologie du délirium, corroborent le manque d’association délirium-benzodiazépines avec un marqueur biologique, c.-à-d. les niveaux sériques, et ouvrent le débat quant aux agents les plus utiles pour traiter l’anxiété et le délirium. Finalement, plusieurs caractéristiques pharmacocinétiques des benzodiazépines administrées aux soins intensifs publiées récemment complètent les données de notre étude quant à la sédation en soins critiques. Un chapitre sur l’importance de la pharmacogénomique en soins intensifs et un débat publié quant au pro et con de l'utilisation des benzodiazépines aux SI, sont soumis en complément de l’étude clinique décrite ci-haut effectuée dans le cadre de cette maîtrise. / Critically ill patients suffer from co-morbid conditions that impact on their prognosis. Two problems complicate Intensive Care Unit (ICU) stay in 35-50% of patients and are potentially associated with sedatives: delirium, an acute confusional state, and 'iatrogenic' coma, when consciousness is altered pharmacologically. Establishing the association between these clinical syndromes and administering sedatives is key in planning effective prevention of these morbid complications. We studied iatrogenic delirium and coma in 100 ICU patients given midazolam and/or fentanyl, and tallied drug doses, measured plasma levels, genetic variations in metabolism and transport and inflammatory factors. Our data highlight the role drug-drug interactions play in iatrogenic coma, and refute the association between benzodiazepines and delirium. These results clarify the pathophysiology of delirium, corroborate the lack of delirium-benzodiazepine association with a benzodiazepine biological marker, i.e. serum levels, and open the debate as to which agents are useful for treating anxiety and delirium. Recent publications addressing benzodiazepine pharmacokinetics in critical care complement our data in the field of critical care sedation. A chapter on the importance of pharmacogenomics in intensive care, and a published pro-con debate as to benzodiazepine use in critical care are submitted in addition to the clinical study mentioned above as part of this master’s thesis.

Au cours du siècle dernier, des améliorations au niveau des conditions de vie ainsi que des avancées importantes dans les sciences biomédicales ont permis de repousser les frontières de la vie. Jusqu’au début du XXe Siècle, la mort était un processus relativement bref, survenant à la suite de maladies infectieuses et avait lieu à la maison. À présent, elle survient plutôt après une longue bataille contre des maladies incurables et des afflictions diverses liées à la vieillesse et a le plus souvent lieu à l’hôpital. Pour comprendre la souffrance du malade d’aujourd’hui et l’aborder, il faut comprendre ce qu’engendre comme ressenti ce nouveau contexte de fin de vie autant pour le patient que pour le clinicien qui en prend soin. Cette thèse se veut ainsi une étude exploratoire et critique des enjeux psychologiques relatifs à cette mort contemporaine avec un intérêt premier pour l’optimisation du soulagement de la souffrance existentielle du patient dans ce contexte. D’abord, je m’intéresserai à la souffrance du patient. À travers un examen critique des écrits, une définition précise et opérationnelle, comportant des critères distinctifs, de ce qu’est la souffrance existentielle en fin de vie sera proposée. Je poserai ainsi l’hypothèse que la souffrance peut être définie comme une forme de construction de l’esprit s’articulant autour de trois concepts : intégrité, altérité et temporalité. D’abord, intégrité au sens où initialement l’individu malade se sent menacé dans sa personne (relation à soi). Ensuite, altérité au sens où la perception de ses conditions extérieures a un impact sur la détresse ressentie (relation à l’Autre). Et finalement, temporalité au sens où l’individu souffrant de façon existentielle semble bien souvent piégé dans un espace-temps particulier (relation au temps). Ensuite, je m’intéresserai à la souffrance du soignant. Dans le contexte d’une condition terminale, il arrive que des interventions lourdes (p. ex. : sédation palliative profonde, interventions invasives) soient discutées et même proposées par un soignant. Je ferai ressortir diverses sources de souffrance propres au soignant et générées par son contact avec le patient (exemples de sources de souffrance : idéal malmené, valeurs personnelles, sentiment d’impuissance, réactions de transfert et de contre-transfert, identification au patient, angoisse de mort). Ensuite, je mettrai en lumière comment ces dites sources de souffrance peuvent constituer des barrières à l’approche de la souffrance du patient, notamment par l’influence possible sur l’approche thérapeutique choisie. On constatera ainsi que la souffrance d’un soignant contribue par moment à mettre en place des mesures visant davantage à l’apaiser lui-même au détriment de son patient. En dernier lieu, j'élaborerai sur la façon dont la rencontre entre un soignant et un patient peut devenir un espace privilégié afin d'aborder la souffrance. J'émettrai certaines suggestions afin d'améliorer les soins de fin de vie par un accompagnement parvenant à mettre la technologie médicale au service de la compassion tout en maintenant la singularité de l'expérience du patient. Pour le soignant, ceci nécessitera une amélioration de sa formation, une prise de conscience de ses propres souffrances et une compréhension de ses limites à soulager l'Autre. / Until the beginning of the 20th century, death was a relatively brief process occurring in the home, most often resulting from diverse infectious diseases. Nowadays, death predominantly occurs inside institutions, after a long battle with an incurable disease or due to the multiple debilities of aging. To understand and address patients' suffering at their end-of-life today, we must better grasp what this new type of death engenders in terms of emotional experience as much for the patient as for the clinician taking care of him. This thesis is an exploratory and analytical study of the psychological issues related to contemporary death with a prime interest for the optimization of existential suffering relief in this context. First, I will focus on the patient's suffering. Through an analytic review of the literature, I will propose a precise and operational definition of existential suffering in the end-of-life context, with some distinctive features. I will propose the hypothesis that suffering can be defined as a construction of the mind. This hypothesis will be articulated around the idea that existential suffering stems from three sources: integrity, otherness, and temporality. First, integrity in the sense that the patient initially feels threatened in his own person (relation to the self). Then, otherness in the sense that the perception of his external conditions has an impact on his distress (relation to the Other). And finally, temporality in the sense that the patient suffering existentially often seems trapped in a specific time frame (relation to time). After, I will focus on the clinician's suffering. In the end-of-life context, high-stake interventions such as palliative sedation or invasive treatments are sometimes brought up or even proposed by a clinician. I will describe many sources of suffering affecting the clinician and generated by his contact with the patient (examples of clinician's sources of suffering: damaged ideals, personal values, sense of failure, transference and countertransference reactions, identification processes, death anguish). Then, I will illustrate how these sources of suffering can constitute barriers to addressing the patient's suffering by influencing the choice of therapeutic approaches. Through this exercise we will discover that the clinician's suffering sometimes causes him to initiate interventions aimed at relieving his own distress at the expense of his patient. Finally, I will elaborate on how the encounter between a patient and a clinician can become a privileged context to address suffering. I will suggest ways of improving end-of-life care by providing a context of care that manages to put biotechnology in the service of compassion and by maintaining the singularity of the patient's experience. For the clinician, this will require an improvement of his training, an acknowledgement of his own sources of suffering and an understanding of his limits to help others.