Background: Bowel preparation prior to
colonic surgery usually includes antibiotic
therapy together with mechanical bowel
preparation which may cause discomfort to the
patients, prolonged hospitalization and water
& electrolyte imbalance.
Objective: to assess whether elective colon
and rectal surgery may be safely performed
without preoperative mechanical bowel
preparation.
Method: the study includes all patients who
had elective large bowel resection at Medical
City – Baghdad Teaching Hospital between
Feb, 2007 to Jan, 2010. Emergency operations
were not included. The patients were randomly
assigned to the 2 study groups (with or without
mechanical bowel preparation.
Results: A total of 165 patients participated
in the study, 82 with mechanical bowel
preparation and 83 without. The 2 groups
were similar in age, sex and type of surgical
procedure. 134 patients (81.2 %) underwent
surgery owing to colorectal cancer & 31
patients (18.8 %) owing to benign disease.
The hospitalization period was longer in the
bowel-prepared group (mean ± SD, 8.2 ± 5.1
days) as compared with the non prepared
group (mean ± SD, 8.0 ± 2.7 days). However,
this difference was not statistically significant.
The time until the 1st bowel movement was
similar between the 2 groups : a mean ± SD of
4.2 ± 1.3 days in the non prepared group as
compared with a men ± SD 4.3 ± 1.1 days in
the prepared group ( P = NS ).
Conclusion: Our results suggest that no
advantage is gained by preoperative
mechanical bowel preparation in elective
colorectal surgery.
As an alternative to Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), the alkali-activated binders have been developed with better technical characteristics and more extended durability. The Alkali-Activated Iraqi Natural Pozzolans (AANP) could produce geopolymer cementation building materials and make them ecologically acceptable. The primary advantage of geopolymer cement is that it has a lower environmental effect that contributes to it. The engineering characteristics of geopolymer concrete produced using activated Iraqi natural Pozzolan are summarized in this research. The mechanical properties, modulus of elasticity, and ultrasonic pulse velocity of various concrete mixes were determined via exp
Despite widespread agreement on the beneficial nature of hydrated lime (HL) addition to asphalt concrete mixes, understanding of the effect of HL particle size is still limited. Previous investigations have focused mainly on two different size comparisons, and so certain guidance for a practical application cannot yet be produced. This study investigates three distinct sizes of HL, in the range of regular, nano, and sub-nano scales, for their effects on the properties of modified asphalt concretes. Five different percentages of HL as a partial replacement of ordinary limestone filler in asphalt concrete mixes were studied for wearing course application purposes. Experimental tests were conducted to evaluate the mechanical properties
... Show MoreAs an alternative to Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), the alkali-activated binders have been developed with better technical characteristics and more extended durability. The Alkali-Activated Iraqi Natural Pozzolans (AANP) could produce geopolymer cementation building materials and make them ecologically acceptable. The primary advantage of geopolymer cement is that it has a lower environmental effect that contributes to it. The engineering characteristics of geopolymer concrete produced using activated Iraqi natural Pozzolan are summarized in this research. The mechanical properties, modulus of elasticity, and ultrasonic pulse velocity of various concrete mixes were determined via experimental study. The impact of essential variables like w
... Show MorePVC/Kaolinite composites were prepared by the melt intercalation method. Mechanical properties, thermal properties, flammability and water absorption percentage of prepared samples were tested. Mechanical characteristic such as tensile strength, elongation at break; hardness and impact strength (charpy type) were measured for all samples. It was found that the tensile strength and elongation at break of PVC composites decreased with increasing kaolinite loading. Also, the hardness of the composites increases with increase in filler content .The impact strength of the composites at the beginning increases at lower kaolinite loadings is due to the lack of kaolin adhesion to the matrix. However, at higher kaolin loadings. This severe agglom
... Show MoreThe creation and characterisation of biodegradable blend films based on chitosan and polyvinyl alcohol for application in a range of packaging is described. The compatibility between the chitosan and PVA polymers was good. Composite films had a compact and homogeneous structure, according to the morphology analysis. The mechanical test result of PVA/CH at concentrations 5% showed, that The higher values of TS recorded in sample (p1, with 40 MPa) while the lower values appeared in sample (p9, with 22.09 MPa), the TS decreased gradually as the amount of PVA increased in blend film. While the blend film of pure Chitosan exhibits a poor mechanical strength which makes it a poor candidate for packaging but Blending CH with PVA together improved
... Show MoreThe influence of pre- shot peening and welding parameters on mechanical and metallurgical properties of dissimilar and similar aluminum alloys AA2024-T3 and AA6061-T6 joints using friction stir welding have been studied. In this work, numbers of plates were equipped from sheet alloys in dimensions (150*50*6) mm then some of them were exposed to shot peening process before friction stir welding using steel ball having diameter 1.25 mm for period of 15 minutes. FSW joints were manufactured from plates at three welding speeds (28, 40, 56 mm/min) and welding speed 40mm/min was chosen at a rotating speed of 1400 rpm for welding the dissimilar pre- shot plates. Tow joints were made at rotational speed of 1000 rpm and welding speed of 40m/min f
... Show MoreBackground: Dental stone casts come into contact with impression materials and becomes susceptible to cross contamination from saliva and blood. This study was done to evaluate the physical and mechanical properties of dental stone type IV after treatments with various disinfecting agents and regimes (methods). Materials and Methods: Type IV dental stone and different types of disinfecting agents were used and divided into seven groups: G1: dental stone without disinfection (control group), G2: dental stone mixed with silver nitrate powder 0.5% , G3: dental stone mixed with silver nitrate powder 1%, G4: dental stone mixed with copper sulfate powder 0.5%, G5: dental stone mixed with copper sulfate powder 1% ,G6: dental stone immersed in prop
... Show MoreFiber reinforced polymer composite is an important material for structural application. The diversified application of FRP composite has taken center of attraction for interdisciplinary research. However, improvements on mechanical properties of this class of materials are still under research for different applications. In this paper we have modified the epoxy matrix by Al2O3, SiO2 and TiO2 nano particles in glass fiber/epoxy composite to improve the mechanical and physical properties. The composites are fabricated by hand lay-up method. It is observed that mechanical properties like flexural strength, hardness are more in case of SiO2 modified epoxy composite compare to other nano
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