Saudi Medical Journal

OBJECTIVES: To study the mechanisms of injury, clinical manifestations, radiological findings, management, and outcomes of traumatic retropharyngeal hematoma (RH). METHODS: We used the Preferred Reporting Items of Systematic Reviews guidelines to carry out a systematic literature review to identify all published cases of traumatic RH by searching the PubMed database. Articles published between 1988 and 2022 that reported traumatic RH were included. However, articles that reported non-traumatic RHs and non-English articles were excluded from this study...

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of glecaprevir/pibrentasvir (GLE/PIB) in chronic hepatitis C (HCV) patients, and to assess the prescribers' adherence to Food and Drug Administration recommendations on treatment duration. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was carried out on chronic HCV patients of ≥18 years, with or without cirrhosis, naive or experienced, and with normal kidney function or chronic kidney disease (including dialysis patients) at Prince Sultan Military Medical City in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, between February 2020 and March 2021...

OBJECTIVES: To examine the contraceptive preferences of women based on their age and to track changes in these preferences over time. METHODS: This was an observational, retrospective cross-sectional study. Data from 2742 patients were evaluated for this study. The patient group of the first 4 years was classified as Group I (n=1371) and the last 4 years was classified as Group II (n=1371). The preferred contraception methods between the groups and their changes across the years were examined...

OBJECTIVES: To assess the validity of the new International Diabetes Federation-Diabetes and Ramadan International Alliance (IDF-DAR) risk stratification tool for Ramadan fasting in predicting diabetic patients' ability to fast safely. METHODS: A prospective observational study was carried out during Ramadan 2022 at the Diabetes Center, King Fahad Hospital, Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah, Saudi Arabia. The IDF-DAR risk stratification tool was used to calculate fasting risk for diabetic patients pre-Ramadan...

OBJECTIVES: To assess the prevalence of carotid atherosclerosis in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. METHODS: Data on patients who underwent carotid ultrasound examinations between 2017-2021 were collected retrospectively from the archive of King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Patient characteristics, blood lipid profiles, and plaque features were extracted from the medical records and ultrasound images. Descriptive data were presented as percentages. RESULTS: In total, 1334 patients were reviewed...

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effects and safety of lidocaine viscous gargle on postoperative sore throat (POST) in patients receiving a laryngeal mask airway (LMA) in general anesthesia. METHODS: In this randomized controlled trial, 90 patients undergoing urological surgery were allocated into 2 treatment arms (n=45): lidocaine viscous gargle before LMA insertion (Group G) and topical application of lidocaine viscous on the LMA (Group T). Outcome data were collected before placement of LMA (T0), after insertion of LMA (T1), immediately (T2), one hour (T3), and 24 hours after removal of LMA (T4)...

OBJECTIVES: To analyze the evolution of tuberculosis (TB) epidemiology in Saudi Arabia in the 5 years following the implementation of the end-TB Strategy. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of surveillance data, reported by the national tuberculosis control program from 2015-2019, was carried out. The annual incidence and the percentage of yearly changes were calculated and compared to the World Health Organization (WHO) milestones, which anticipate a 4-5% annual decline...

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No abstract text is available yet for this article.

OBJECTIVES: To develop and validate a questionnaire to assess the food safety knowledge, perceptions, and practices (KPPs) of hospital food service staff (FSS) amidst the challenges of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. METHODS: The questionnaire was subjected to a rigorous evaluation process, which included a literature review and focus groups comprising the general public, FSS, and key experts in food service. The pilot testing highlighted its utility and determined its content validity ratio (CVR)...

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OBJECTIVES: To analyze the influence of pulmonary infection after radical esophagectomy on serum inflammatory markers, pulmonary function, and prognosis. METHODS: We enrolled 278 esophageal cancer patients who underwent radical esophagectomy. Patients were split into the infected (n=51) and uninfected groups (n=227). The inflammatory parameters, complications, and prognosis were compared. RESULTS: In the infected group, interleukin (IL)-6 was 16...

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OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effect of the presence of a physician in the triage area on the number of patients who leave without being seen (LWBS) and some of the factors affecting emergency department (ED) crowding. METHODS: This was a pre-post study carried out at King Fahad Specialist Hospital, Dammam, Saudi Arabia. The 3-month study, consisting of 7826 patients, was split into pre-physician and post-physician periods. Variables compared across these periods were the number of LWBS patients, length of hospital stay, time to physician, and time to disposition decision...

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OBJECTIVES: To compare the complications associated with cannulated hip screws (CHS) and dynamic hip screws (DHS) techniques. METHODS: In this multicenter retrospective chart study, we reviewed the records and data of all patients operated upon by DHS or CHS for treatment of Garden type I and type II intracapsular non-displaced femoral neck fracture from January 2017 to December 2022. Patients with incomplete files or follow-ups of less than one year were excluded from the study...

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the relationship of the erythrocyte distribution width (RDW)/albumin ratio on hospital length of stay (LOS) and prognosis in patients hospitalized with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbation. METHODS: Patients hospitalized in our clinic for COPD exacerbation were retrospectively analyzed. Demographic characteristics, comorbidities, pulmonary function tests, arterial blood gas, history of hospitalization due to exacerbation in the last year, LOS, C-reactive protein, RDW, albumin, platelet counts, and 30-day mortality status were recorded...

OBJECTIVES: To describe the development of a webpage based on the Intervention Mapping (IM) protocol and usability testing of the Diabetic Retinopathy Health Education Profram (DRHEP). METHODS: The mixed methods pilot feasibility study was carried out between April and September 2021, involving 16 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and 5 experts. The usability score was rated according to the System Usability Scale (SUS). RESULTS: The average SUS score by the experts was 88...

OBJECTIVES: To examine the possible association of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and depression on sleep quality in people living with human immunodeficiency virus (PWLHIV). METHODS: Adult PWLHIV were included in this prospective, cross-sectional, case-control study. Our study was completed with 99 patients and 80 control subjects. To investigate sleep quality, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Scale and Stanford Sleepiness Scale were used; to determine the risk of OSA, the Berlin and STOP-BANG questionnaires were used; and to evaluate the existence and degree of depression, the Beck Depression Inventory was applied...

OBJECTIVES: To assess the effectiveness of generic sofosbuvir (SOF) and branded daclatasvir (DCV) for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV)infected patients. METHODS: This retrospective study, performed in a single center in Saudi Arabia between August 2017 and July 2022, we enrolled 140 consecutive patients with HCV who received generic SOF and branded DCV. The primary outcome was sustained virologic response at week 12 (SVR12). RESULTS: The majority of the patients were female (62...