Journal of Advances in Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Background: Hysterosalpingography is an investigative modality used in the evaluation of the uterine cavity, fallopian tubes, and adjacent peritoneal cavity following the injection of contrast material through the cervical canal.

Objective: To determine the relationship between abnormal cervical findings and abnormal results at hysterosalpingography in infertile women.

Materials and Methods: This descriptive, cross-sectional study conducted at the Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and Radiology Departments of four health institutions in Bayelsa State, Nigeria, between June and December, 2022. Hysterosalpingography was done for 332 infertile women, after obtaining written informed consent. Data were entered into a pre-designed proforma, and analysed using Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS) version 25.0. Results were presented in frequencies and percentages for categorical variables, and mean and standard deviation for continuous variables.

Results: Cervical finding was normal in only 49.7% (n=165) of the participants undergoing HSG. The abnormal cervical findings include deformed (27.7%), hyperaemic (5.7%), dull (5.7%), hard (5.7%) and short (5.4%) cervix. There was a statistically significant relationship between abnormal cervical findings during HSG and tubal blockade (ꭓ² = 196.7; p – 0.001), presence of salpingitis (ꭓ² = 41.1; p – 0.001), peritubal adhesion (ꭓ² = 19.9; p – 0.001) and intrauterine adhesion (ꭓ² = 35.62; p – 0.001).

Conclusion: Intrauterine adhesion, salpingitis, tubal blockade and peritubal adhesion on HSG are associated with some abnormal cervical findings in about half of infertile women in this study. The same pathological processes responsible for injury to the upper genital tract and tubal infertility may have caused injury to the cervix in the group of women.

Background: Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder characterized by abnormally high blood sugar which poses a serious challenge to public health globally. The measurement of blood sugar levels, serum lipid profiles, and electrolytes are essential in determining one's vulnerability to developing diabetic-related complications such as cardiovascular diseases.

Aim: This was a comparative cross-sectional study designed to assess the dyslipidemia and electrolyte imbalance status of diabetic individuals attending routine healthcare checkups in Everight Diagnostic and Laboratory Services Limited, Owerri branch, using plasma lipid profile (total cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoproteins and low-density lipoproteins) and electrolytes (sodium, potassium, chloride and bicarbonate) as markers.

Methodology: A total of 120 participants consisting of 60 diabetics and 60 non-diabetic individuals were pooled for this study. From both groups, plasma samples upon centrifugation were used for the analyses of glucose, Total Cholesterol (TC), Triglycerides (TG), High-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), Low-density Lipoprotein Cholesterol using Erba XL-200 auto biochemistry analyzer, and plasma Sodium (Na⁺), Potassium (K⁺), Chloride (Cl^-), and Bicarbonate (HCO3^-) using Audicom (AC9900) ion selective electrode (ISE) analyzer. Statistical analysis was carried out using version 20.0 and p- values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant.

Results: The demographic characteristics of the study population show 53% women, 47% men, and average age of 51.28. The fasting plasma glucose level of diabetic subjects (175.96 ± 91.62 mg/dL) was significantly higher (p<0.05) than the non-diabetic group (99.54 ± 11.50 mg/dL). More so, there were significant differences (p<0.05) between levels of TC (212.9 ± 56.65 mg/dL), TG (165.61 ± 89.05 mg/dL), and LDL-C (130. 59 ± 47.18 mg/dL) amongst diabetic individuals when compared with the levels of TC (169.87 ± 33. 57 mg/dL), TG (98.14 ± 39.14 mg/dL), and LDL (100.57 ± 27.78 mg/dL) of non-diabetic participants. Conversely, there was no significant difference when the plasma levels of HDL-C (52.78 ± 19.10 mg/dL), Na⁺ (136.93 ± 3.14 mmol/L), K⁺ (4.11 ± 0.54 mmol/L), HCO3^- (22.03 ± 4.66 mEq/L) and Cl^- (101.09 ± 4.33 mmol/L) of test subjects were compared with that of control individuals HDL-C (53.46 ± 15.04 mg/dL), Na⁺ (137.11 ± 3.37 mmol/L), K⁺ (4.17 ± 0.45 mmol/L), HCO3^- (22.27 ± 3.55 mEq/L) and Cl^- (94.52 ± 10.78) (p>0.05).

Conclusion: The results of our study shows significant alteration of fasting lipid parameters amongst diabetics. This suggests that diabetic individuals are associated with dyslipidaemia, which predisposes them to cardiovascular risks.

Aims: This study was done to identify personal characteristics of men that may be associated with partner abuse in order to provide a basis for offering counseling services, to prevent, as well as appropriately manage cases of existing abuse.

Study Design: Cross sectional survey.

Place and Duration of Study: The study was done at the General Outpatients Clinic of University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria; between August and November 2007.

Methodology: The examiner administered pre-tested questionnaire on adult females attending the clinic within the duration of the study. Every second patient seen by the investigator on the waiting line of a regular medical consultation visit that consented to the study was recruited until the desired sample size was got. Socio-demographic as well as drug use information of adult subjects’ partners aged between 18 to 59 years was obtained.

Results: Of the 384 females investigated, age 21 – 67 years with a mean age of 31.31±8.61 years: physical abuse 41.9%, verbal/emotional abuse 49.0%, and a combined (physical/verbal) abuse 29.9%. Partners’ education had statistically significant relationship with physical abuse, P=0.018; partners’ tobacco uses with verbal abuse (P=0.000), and between combined abuse and use of tobacco or cannabis, P=0.003 and 0.048 respectively.

Linear multiple regression model of physical abuse parameters: throw something at, being pushed, slapped, kicked, hit at, beaten-up, threatened or weapon used, and forced sex; P-value was 0.000, with sum of squares 60.263 and degree of freedom 9. Whereas for verbal abuse: cajoled, derogatory statements made at, name calling, and shout at, as abuse parameters; P-value was 0.000, sum of squares 72.763 and degree of freedom, 4. Both of these were statistically significant.

Conclusion: This study demonstrates a higher perpetration of verbal/emotional violence than that of physical violence (or both) by males on their partners with lack of formal education, with tobacco and/or cannabis use, as aggravating factors.

Aims: This study aimed to provide evidence on the clinical correlates of type 2 diabetic patients with erectile dysfunction leading to improved quality of life. 

Study Design: Cross-sectional study.

Place and Duration of Study: Family Medicine Clinic of Braithwaite Memorial Specialist Hospital (BMSH) [now Rivers University Teaching Hospital] Port Harcourt. The data was collected from January 2012 to April 2012.

Methodology: This hospital-based study was conducted on 324 male type 2 diabetic patients using systematic random sampling. The data were collected with a structured questionnaire; and the level of erectile dysfunction was measured using the international index of erectile function. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 16. Logistic regression was employed to test associations between independent and outcome variables.

Results: Three hundred and twenty-four patients enrolled for the study. Only 31 participants (9.5%) had normal erectile function while 273 (90.5%) had varying degree of erectile dysfunction. Majority of the participants 205(63.2%) had diabetes above 20 years, more than half (64.9%) had poor glucose control, 169(52.1%) were overweight, while 284(87.6%) had normal cholesterol level and 186(57.4%) with elevated diastolic blood pressure. Duration of diabetes and diastolic hypertension were the only factors associated with erectile dysfunction p<0.0001 and p<0.004 respectively.

Conclusion: This study confirmed a high prevalence of ED in type 2 diabetic male patients especially among those with elevated blood pressure and those living with diabetes mellitus for many years.

Background: Trauma is an important health problem because it causes high morbidity and mortality. Thoracic trauma is generally categorized as blunt and penetrating trauma. Thoracic traumas are life-threatening and require rapid intervention. Successful treatment is achieved with multidisciplinary management and rapid diagnosis.

Aims: It was aimed to investigate clinical outcomes of emergency thoracic trauma in the study.

Study Design: Trauma patients older than 18 years old hospitalized to the thoracic surgery clinic from the emergency department were included and, patients were excluded without thoracic trauma, not hospitalized, and younger than 18 years of ages in the study.

Place and Duration of Study: Ersin Arslan Training and Research Hospital wards of thoracic surgery from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021.

Methodology: A total of 114 patients were analyzed. The data of the patients were analyzed ages, gender, comorbidities, smoking, use of alcohol and other substances, types of trauma, localization and variety of injuries, pathological findings on thoracic and extrathoracic organs, methods of medical and surgical treatments, lenght of stays in Intensive-care Unit and hospital, recovery and mortality. Statistical analysis of the study was done using the Chi-square test.

Results: Patients were 87.7% males and 12.3% females. The mean age was 40.3+/-10.8. Comorbidities were 20.2. The rates of use of substances were cigarettes 75.4%, alcohol 14.8% and other substances 15.7%. The rates of types of traumas were 14% Motor Vehicle Collisions, 6.1% Vehicles Striking Pedestrians, 3.5% Acts of Violence, 29.8% stabbing, 13.2% gunshot wounds, 33.4% falls. . Findings of thoracic injuries were 75.4% hemothorax, 72.8% pneumothorax, 61.4% contusion of the lungs, 49.1% fractures of the ribs, 18.4% subcutaneous emphysema, 9.6% cardiac injury, 5.2% diaphragmatic, 1.7% tracheobronchial and 0.8% esophageal injury. Surgically, which were 32.4% tube thoracostomy, 15.7% primary repair, and 10.5% thoracotomy among all traumas. The maximum length of stay in the Intensive-care Unit were for acts of violence and gunshot wounds and the maximum length of stay in the hospital were in acts of violence and falls from height.

Conclusions: Thoracic traumas were more often in males. Penetrating injuries were more common in adults younger than 40 years and blunt traumas in adults older than 40 years. The majority of patients were without comorbidity. Surgically, these were done 100% parenchyma of the lung repair, 75% intercostal ligation, 41.6% thoracic wall reconstruction, 33.3% mediastinal surgery and 25% diaphragm repair in patients with thoracotomy. Rates of mortality were 13.3% in gunshot wounds and 2.9% in stabbing. Mortality rate was 2.6% in all thoracic traumas in the study.

Background: The practice of Pharmacovigilance (PV) and Adverse Drug Reaction (ADR) reporting is very necessary to ensure adequate safety of all drugs in use and is an integral component of post marketing surveillance. Pharmacist, including interns are at a central position in carrying out this important function.

Objectives: This study sought to assess the practice of  pharmacovigilance and adverse drug reaction reporting and the perceived barriers towards its implementation among pharmacist interns in Nigeria.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study among pharmacist interns in Nigeria. The 18-item semi-structured questionnaires were administered online using simple random sampling with the snowballing technique to recruit the participants and the results were analyzed with IBM SPSS version 25. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the data. The chi-square test was used to evaluate associations.

Results: A total of 450 pharmacist interns participated in this study. The practice of PV and ADR reporting is poor among the respondents, less than 40% of the participants have ever reported ADR before, while only 29.1% have reported ADR since starting their internship program. Only 35.8% said “yes” to documenting ADR. Verbal information (61.1%) is the most widely used method of reporting ADR. Lack of cohesion among healthcare professionals, unavailability of feedback from relevant authorities, and fear of being wrong are the most reported barriers towards PV and ADR reporting among the participants. This is a correlation between the number of months spent in internship program and the practice of PV by the participants.  ‘Fear of being wrong’ is an essential barrier to PV and ADR reporting among participants in tertiary hospitals (86.0%).

Conclusion: The practice of pharmacovigilance is poor among the participants. Many barriers also affect ADR reporting among the interns. Measures should be taken to encourage ADR reporting and the reported barriers should be reviewed to improve pharmacovigilance activities.

Background:  Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) is a common pathogenic inflammatory, distressing, and occasionally life-threatening condition that affects people of all ages and gender, mostly propelled by the emergence of multidrug-resistant bacteria. Cloves are used as spices in food and flavouring agent in drinks it is also used traditionally as a treatment for urinary infections.

Aim: This study was carried out to evaluate the antimicrobial potentials of Clove extracts on multidrug-resistant (MDR) Uropathogenic bacteria.

Design: This is a Clinical and laboratory-based study of patient with cases of UTI

Place and Duration of study: This study was conducted in the Microbiology laboratory of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital (ATBUTH), Bauchi, Nigeria, from January to December, 2021.

Methodology: Two hundred and fourty five (245) clean catch midstream urine samples were collected from patients with suspected cases of urinary tract infection attending GOPD ATBU TH. Bacteria were isolated using standard techniques and antibiotic resistant pattern was tested by Kirby Bauer Disk Diffusion method. Bioactive components of clove was extracted using diethyl ether, ethanolic and water as solvents. Phytochemical analysis of the extracts was also carried out.

Results: Out of the samples analysed, 168 (68.6%) showed significant bacteriuria. UTI was more prevalent in women within the active age group 21-30. The isolates resistant to seven and above commonly used antibiotics are selected from each specie to test for efficacy. The extracts revealed the presence of alkaloids, glycosides, saponins, tannins, flavonoids, sterols and Triterpenes. In vitro antimicrobial activity of diethyl ether, ethanolic and aqueous extract of cloves at different concentration of: 200mg/ml, 100mg/ml, 50mg/ml, 25mg/ml, 12.5mg/ml and 6.25mg/ml were tested against multidrug resistant isolates. S. aureus and Klebsiella spp are the most sensitive to all clove extracts while E. coli and P. aeruginosa are less sensitive. All Three extracts showed a broad spectrum of activities at higher concentrations (200mg/ml) while no or less activity at the lower concentration of the extracts. Diethyl ether extract exerts higher activity than ethanolic and aqueous extract as revealed by the mean diameter of zone of inhibitions, MIC and, MBC values. The MIC values of the extracts were lower than their MBC values suggesting that the extracts inhibited the growth of MDR isolates while being bactericidal at higher concentrations.

Conclusion: Staphylococcus aureus and E. coli are among the commonest uropathogens clinically encountered in this area and most of the species are resistant to commonly administered antibiotics. Clove extracts had great antimicrobial potential against these bacteria, therefore it can be used in the treatment of UTIs.  However, it is necessary to determine its toxicity, pharmacokinetic properties and side effects.