Search

Abstract Neck pain due to cervical facet joint pain has a prevalence of 36–60% in chronic neck pain. Pulsed radiofrequency for such pain has been verified. After proper patient selection, pulsed radiofrequency of the cervical facet joints provide long-term pain relief in a routine clinical setting. In the patient selection, clinical and sagittal alignment parameters are rarely discussed for the outcome. In the present study, we analyzed the factors from the clinical data and sagittal alignment parameters and investigated the associated predictors of pulsed radiofrequency for cervical facet joint pain. There were 204 patients with cervical facet joint pain who received a medial branch block and pulsed radiofrequency between 2015 and 2020 after excluding patients with neurological symptoms and other confounding factors. The patients were classified into good and poor outcome groups based on the improvement of the pain score(visual analog scale). Clinical and radiological data were analyzed. Multivariable logistic model showed that the predictors were cervical lordosis including two methods (odds ratio [OR] 0.92, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.89–0.96 for C2–C7 Cobb angle; OR 0.91, 95% CI: 0.88–0.95 for the angle measured by the Jackson method), ossification of the nuchal ligament, number of diseased facet joints, anterior cervical discectomy with fusion, and adjacent facet joint after anterior cervical discectomy with fusion. With the results, we demonstrated that the outcome were related to cervical lordosis including two methods, formation of ossification of nuchal ligament, the number of diseased facet joints, post anterior cervical discectomy with fusion, and adjacent facet joint post anterior cervical discectomy with fusion. The corresponding optimal cutoff for discriminating a poor outcome was 7° for the C2–C7 Cobb angle and − 2° for the angle measured using the Jackson method.

Purpose Endotracheal intubation and central venous catheterization are essential procedures in clinical practice. Simulation-based technology such as smart glasses has been used to facilitate medical students’ training on these procedures. We investigated medical students’ self-assessed efficacy and satisfaction regarding the practice and training of these procedures with smart glasses in Taiwan. Methods This observational study enrolled 145 medical students in the 5th and 6th years participating in clerkships at Taipei Veterans General Hospital between October 2020 and December 2021. Students were divided into the smart glasses or the control group and received training at a workshop. The primary outcomes included students’ pre- and post-intervention scores for self-assessed efficacy and satisfaction with the training tool, instructor’s teaching, and the workshop. Results The pre-intervention scores for self-assessed efficacy of 5th- and 6th-year medical students in endotracheal intubation and central venous catheterization procedures showed no significant difference. The post-intervention score of self-assessed efficacy in the smart glasses group was better than that of the control group. Moreover, 6th-year medical students in the smart glasses group showed higher satisfaction with the training tool, instructor’s teaching, and workshop than those in the control group. Conclusion Smart glasses served as a suitable simulation tool for endotracheal intubation and central venous catheterization procedures training in medical students. Medical students practicing with smart glasses showed improved self-assessed efficacy and higher satisfaction with training, especially for procedural steps in a space-limited field. Simulation training on procedural skills with smart glasses in 5th-year medical students may be adjusted to improve their satisfaction.

This prospective longitudinal study assessed the effects of the course management system, EDU3, on the effectiveness of the dissemination of holistic health care and evidence-based medicine (EBM) courses. Between January 2014 and December 2021, delinked data (n = 354,229) from EDU3 were analyzed. In addition to analyzing the main educational team or seed teachers responsible for opening the courses, yearly changing trends in the number and teaching styles of courses, main participants, and the diversity of teaching activities were evaluated. EDU3 precisely announced the courses opened by non-doctor major departments, including departments of medical education, nursing, and medical research, for non-doctor medical personnel. Meanwhile, the system smoothly announced doctor major departments which opened courses for doctors. A 2 times/4.5 times parallel increase in holistic health care/EBM courses from institution to department and the yearly increasing trends in the number of these courses indicated the success of this system. This study revealed that centralized training of seed teachers motivated them to open diverse department-oriented teaching activities for holistic health care and EBM. The parallel increasing trends of the number of courses opened by the institution and departments indicated the effective dissemination of holistic health care and EBM from institution to department.