• 10th annual research conference celebrating health researchers from the North West: Conference booklet Research & Education Foundation Sligo General Hospital

      Research & Education Foundation Sligo General Hospital (Research & Education Foundation Sligo General Hospital, 2009-11-28)
    • 11th annual research conference: Conference booklet Research & Education Centre Sligo General Hospital

      Research & Education Centre Sligo General Hospital (Research & Education Centre Sligo General Hospital, 2010-11-26)
    • Academic Background of Irish Orthopaedic Trainees

      Irish Medical Journal, 2018-11
      Academic achievement may be used to distinguish between trainees in competition for training or consultant posts. This study aimed to quantify the academic achievement among orthopaedic trainees in Ireland.
    • Accessibility and screening uptake rates for gestational diabetes mellitus in Ireland.

      Cullinan, John; Gillespie, Paddy; Owens, Lisa; Dunne, Fidelma; School of Business and Economics, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland. john.cullinan@nuigalway.ie (2012-03)
      Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is defined as any degree of glucose intolerance with onset or first recognition during pregnancy and is associated with a range of maternal and neonatal complications and conditions. Given increasing levels of prevalence worldwide, there are growing calls for the implementation of screening practices to identify and treat positive GDM cases. This paper uses a unique dataset to investigate the role of healthcare centre accessibility on the decision to attend for screening, employing geographic information systems, econometric and simulation techniques. We focus on the extent to which 'travel distance to screening hospital site' impacts upon the individual's screen uptake decision, whether significant geographic inequalities exist in relation to accessibility to screening, and the likely impact on uptake rates of providing screening services at a local level via primary care. Our findings have important implications for the provision of GDM screening services.
    • ACP Journal Club. An intensive lifestyle intervention increased remission from type 2 diabetes in overweight adults.

      Kyithar, Ma P; Dinneen, Sean F; Galway Roscommon University Hospitals Group, Galway, Ireland. (2013-05-21)
    • Acute calcific tendinitis of the finger--a case report.

      Ali, S N; Kelly, J L; The Department of Plastic Surgery, Stoke Mandeville Hospital Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire HP21 8AL, England. (2004-07)
      Acute calcific tendinitis of the hand is rare and often misdiagnosed as infection, fracture or periarthritis. It frequently occurs in peri-menopausal women and is caused by deposits of hydroxyapatite crystals. We describe acute calcific tendinitis of the flexor digitorum superficialis insertion in an elderly man taking oral anticoagulants. The differential diagnoses and recommended treatment are discussed.
    • Acute childhood asthma in Galway city from 1985-2005: relationship to air pollution and climate

      Loftus, A; Loftus, BG; Muircheartaigh, I; Newell, J; Scarrott, C; Jennings, S (Irish Medical Journal, 2014-07)
      We examine the relationship of air pollution and climatic variables to asthma admission rates of children in Galway city over a 21 year period. Paediatric asthma admissions were recorded from 1985-2005, and admission rates per thousand calculated for pre-school (1-4 years), school aged (5-14 years) and all children (1-14 years) on a monthly and annual basis. These data were compared to average monthly and annual climatic variables (rainfall, humidity, sunshine, wind speed and temperature) and black smoke levels for the city. Simple correlation and Poisson Generalized Additive Models (GAM) were used. Admission rates each month are significantly correlated with smoke levels (p=0.007). Poisson GAM also shows a relationship between admissions and pollution (p=0.07). Annual smoke levels impact more on admission rates of preschoolers (p=0.04) than school age children (p=0.10). These data suggest that air pollution is an important factor in the epidemiology of acute childhood asthma.
    • Acute leukaemia: making sense of a complex blood cancer.

      Meenaghan, Teresa; Dowling, Maura; Kelly, Mary; Haematology Department, Galway University Hospital, and School of Nursing and Midwifery, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland. (2012)
      Acute leukaemia represents a diverse group of blood cancers that affect both children and adults. Treatment schedules for these haematology cancers are often prolonged, with many associated side effects and complications. Nurses caring for patients with acute leukaemia require an anticipatory approach, where care is aimed at minimizing the side effects of treatment and being constantly vigilant for any impending adverse effects. Moreover, patients require support for the psychosocial issues that can arise for patients during their illness. This article provides an overview of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and acute myeloid leukaemia. Nursing considerations in the care of patients being treated for acute leukaemia are also explored.
    • Adherence and persistence to urate-lowering therapies in the Irish setting

      McGowan, Bernie; Bennett, Kath; Silke, Carmel; Whelan, Bryan (2014-11)
      To identify adherence and persistence levels with urate-lowering therapies using the national administrative pharmacy claim database. This was a retrospective, pharmacy claims-based analysis of dispensed anti-gout medications on the Irish national HSE-PCRS scheme database between January 2008 and December 2012. Adherence is defined by the medication possession ratio (MPR), and patients were considered to be adherent if the MPR ≥80 % (good adherers) in any given time period. Persistence was defined as continued use of therapy with no periods exceeding a refill gap of >63 days (9 weeks). Logistic regression analysis was used to predict odd ratios (OR) and 95 % confidence interval (CI) for persistence and adherence in relation to age, gender and level of comorbidity. There was a 53 % increase in the number of patients prescribed anti-gout medications between 2008 and 2012 with an increase of 27 % in the associated ingredient cost of these medications. Allopurinol accounted for 87 % of the prescribing and febuxostat accounted for a further 9 %. In patients who started on 100 mg allopurinol, only 14.6 % were titrated to the 300 mg dose. For all those initiating urate-lowering therapies, 45.8 % of patients were persistent with treatment at 6 months decreasing to 22.6 % at 12 months. In multivariate analysis, females had poorer adherence (OR = 0.83 (0.77-0.90)), and increasing age was associated with increased adherence (OR = 4.19 (2.53-6.15)) Increasing comorbidity score was associated with increased adherence and persistence at 6 months (OR = 0.68 (0.59-0.79)). Adherence with anti-gout medications in this study cohort was relatively low. Sustained treatment for gouty arthritis is essential in the prevention of serious adverse outcomes.Significance and Innovations-Poor adherence to medications prescribed to patients for the management of chronic diseases such as gout is an ongoing problem which urgently needs to be addressed.-Some of the reasons identified for poor adherence to anti-gout medications include the risk of flare of acute gout with the initiation of urate-lowering therapy (ULT), poor response to ULT and persistence of attacks of acute gout, suboptimal dosing of allopurinol therapy and intolerance of allopurinol.-The results of this study identified adherence and persistence rates of approximately 50 % at 6 months which is in line if not lower than many of the other published studies to date which have measured adherence and persistence using pharmacy claims databases.-The results of poor adherence and persistence affect both the health of the patients with financial implications for the healthcare service.
    • Adult-trained perioperative nurses' practice of family-centered care.

      Hamilton, Grainne; Corlett, Jo; Dowling, Maura; Senior Staff Nurse, Trauma and Orthopaedic Theatres, Sligo Regional Hospital, Ireland. (British Journal of Nursing, 2014)
      The aim of this study was to explore adult-trained perioperative nurses' practice of family-centered care (FCC).
    • Aggressive Recurrence of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma in a patient with Fanconi’s Anaemia (FA)

      Nolan, M.; Courtney, R.; Sexton, P.; Barry, T.; McCann, P.J. (Irish Medical Journal, 2017-03)
      Fanconi’s Anaemia is a rare autosomal recessive disease for which the incidence of head and neck cancer can be increased 700-fold1. We report a case of a 31-year old Caucasian male with FA who initially presented in July 2007 with oral squamous cell carcinoma for which he received radical surgery and radiotherapy. He was disease-free until August 2015 when he presented with an extremely aggressive recurrence.
    • The Airtraq as a rescue airway device following failed direct laryngoscopy: a case series.

      Maharaj, C H; Costello, J F; McDonnell, J G; Harte, B H; Laffey, J G; Department of Anaesthesia, Clinical Sciences Institute, National Centre for Biomedical Engineering Sciences, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland. (2007-06)
      We report the successful use of the Airtraq as a rescue device following failed direct laryngoscopy, in patients deemed at increased risk for difficult tracheal intubation. In a series of seven patients, repeated attempts at direct laryngoscopy with the Macintosh blade, and the use of manoeuvres to aid intubation, such as the gum elastic bougie placement, were unsuccessful. In contrast, with the Airtraq device, each patient's trachea was successfully intubated on the first attempt. This report underlines the utility of the Airtraq device in these patients.
    • Alcohol-attributable mortality in Ireland.

      Martin, Jennifer; Barry, Joe; Goggin, Deirdre; Morgan, Karen; Ward, Mark; O'Suilleabhain, Tadhg; Department of Public Health, Merlin Park, Galway, Ireland. Jennifer.martin@hse.ie (2010)
      The study aim was to calculate Irish alcohol-attributable fractions (AAFs) and to apply these measurements to existing data in order to quantify the impact of alcohol on mortality.
    • Alcohol-related presentations to emergency departments in Ireland: a descriptive prevalence study

      McNicholl, Brian; Goggin, Deirdre; O’Donovan, Diarmuid (BMJ Open, 2018-05-24)
      To determine the prevalence of alcohol-related presentations in all 29 emergency departments (EDs) in Ireland and compare with non-alcohol-related presentations in order to identify opportunities for improvements in the quality of patient care and related data collection.
    • Amine functionalization of cholecyst-derived extracellular matrix with generation 1 PAMAM dendrimer.

      Chan, Jeffrey C Y; Burugapalli, Krishna; Naik, Hemantkumar; Kelly, John L; Pandit, Abhay; National Centre for Biomedical Engineering Science, National University of Ireland, Galway, Republic of Ireland. (2008-02)
      A method to functionalize cholecyst-derived extracellular matrix (CEM) with free amine groups was established in an attempt to improve its potential for tethering of bioactive molecules. CEM was incorporated with Generation-1 polyamidoamine (G1 PAMAM) dendrimer by using N-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-N'-ethylcarbodiimide and N-hydroxysuccinimide cross-linking system. The nature of incorporation of PAMAM dendrimer was evaluated using shrink temperature measurements, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) assessment, ninhydrin assay, and swellability. The effects of PAMAM incorporation on mechanical and degradation properties of CEM were evaluated using a uniaxial mechanical test and collagenase degradation assay, respectively. Ninhydrin assay and FTIR assessment confirmed the presence of increasing free amine groups with increasing quantity of PAMAM in dendrimer-incorporated CEM (DENCEM) scaffolds. The amount of dendrimer used was found to be critical in controlling scaffold degradation, shrink temperature, and free amine content. Cell culture studies showed that fibroblasts seeded on DENCEM maintained their metabolic activity and ability to proliferate in vitro. In addition, fluorescence cell staining and scanning electron microscopy analysis of cell-seeded DENCEM showed preservation of normal fibroblast morphology and phenotype.
    • The analgesic efficacy of transversus abdominis plane block after abdominal surgery: a prospective randomized controlled trial.

      McDonnell, John G; O'Donnell, Brian; Curley, Gerard; Heffernan, Anne; Power, Camillus; Laffey, John G; Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, University College Hospital, Galway, Ireland. (2007-01)
      The transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block is a novel approach for blocking the abdominal wall neural afferents via the bilateral lumbar triangles of Petit. We evaluated its analgesic efficacy in patients during the first 24 postoperative hours after abdominal surgery, in a randomized, controlled, double-blind clinical trial.
    • The analgesic efficacy of transversus abdominis plane block after cesarean delivery: a randomized controlled trial.

      McDonnell, John G; Curley, Gerard; Carney, John; Benton, Aoife; Costello, Joseph; Maharaj, Chrisen H; Laffey, John G; Department of Anaesthesia, Clinical Sciences Institute, Centre for Pain Research, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland. (2008-01)
      The transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block is an effective method of providing postoperative analgesia in patients undergoing midline abdominal wall incisions. We evaluated its analgesic efficacy over the first 48 postoperative hours after cesarean delivery performed through a Pfannensteil incision, in a randomized controlled, double-blind, clinical trial.
    • Analysing socio-economic status of pregnant women not attending for screening for Diabetes in Pregnancy

      Owens, L; Carmody, L; Avalos, G (Irish Journal of Medical Science, 2010)