Isha Katyal

Background: Oropharyngeal colonization by pathogenic organisms especially in the initial crucial days of ICU admission, is the main cause of predisposition to nosocomial infections. Hence, identifying bacterial flora, in respect to hospitalization will help in further management to prevent morbidity and mortality of these patients. Objective: Determining changes in bacterial flora in oropharynx of patients with nasogastric tube, admitted in ICU. Methods: One year prospective observational study including 40 patients between 18 and 70 years, Group A 20 cases- with nasogastric tube in situ, Group B 20 controls including those without tube. Oropharyngeal swab taken on Day 0 and 7 of ICU admission respectively. Results: There was nearly equal distribution of gender, with 19 females and 21 males, majority in the age group of 35-74 years. Most of patients had no growth on day 0 (35% cases) but as the day of ICU admission progressed, there was increased growth of Gram negative bacteria like Pseudomonas aeruginosa (20%), Klebsiella pneumonia (25%) especially in cases group. Conclusion: The progressive increase of pathogenic organism and the variation to gram negative bacteria further confirmed predispositions to pathogen carriage at these sites and the subsequent risk of infection within the crucial 48 hours. Hence, need for consistent oral cleansing procedures, maintaining good oral hygiene in these prolonged tube-fed patients will help prevention of nosocomial infections.

Introduction: Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation score is a simple method to assess the severity of the symptoms of Allergic Rhinitis. This study is done to know the effect of Nasal corticosteroid spray in Allergic Rhinitis in relation to N.O.S.E score & Absolute Eosinophil Count. Material & Method: This prospective observational study was conducted in patients of Allergic Rhinitis visiting ENT & HNS Department, KLES Dr. Prabhakar Kore Hospital & Medical Research Centre, Belgaum for 1 year. A total of 50 patients were included in study after obtaining the informed consent. All the patients were assessed by severity of symptoms with N.O.S.E score with AEC before & after treatment with intranasal corticosteroid spray & was followed up after 3 months. Result: The mean age of patients is 32.48±12.77, with 40% female participants and 60% were male participants. The male to female ratio in 1.5:1, with male preponderance. The NOSE score was found to be significantly higher before treatment (47.1±1.56) compared to after treatment (16.40±0.85), with p<0.05. There is a weak strength of positive correlation between the NOSE score with the AEC (r=0.201, p<0.05). Conclusion: Nasal corticosteroid spray is effective in Allergic Rhinitis in relation to NOSE score. NOSE score is better indicator of control of Allergic Rhinitis compared to AEC. The examination of NOSE score is simple, inexpensive, and non-invasive. As a result, it can be utilised as a replacement for AEC value in clinical settings.