SUMMARY OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to determine the effect of cranberry extract used in patients with single urinary tract infections. METHODS: Patients with simple-type urinary tract infections were divided into two groups. Treatment with fosfomycin or cranberry tablet was started. On days 1, 3, and 7 of the treatment, whether there was a decrease in the complaints was evaluated with a Likert-type scale. The recovery status of urinary tract infections and the well-being of patients were compared via antibiotic and cranberry groups. RESULTS: After the treatment, the leukocyte levels of the cranberry users were at the same level as those of the other group, and the rate of well-being and the portion of patients that reported to be “very well” on days 3 and 7 in the cranberry group was significantly higher compared with the fosfomycin group (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Considering the results of this study, it was determined that the patient's complaints decreased from day 3 and their well-being increased with the use of cranberry only. Specifically, on day 7, the well-being of the cranberry group was higher than that of the fosfomycin group. For this reason, cranberry is a favorable alternative to antibiotics in uncomplicated and simple urinary tract infections.

SUMMARY OBJECTIVE: While abdominal pain is one of the most prevalent reasons for seeking medical attention, diagnosing elderly adults with acute appendicitis (AA) may be difficult. In this study, Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Saleha Appendicitis (RIPASA) and Alvarado ratings were evaluated for diagnostic accuracy in patients who reported to the emergency department complaining of abdominal pain and received surgery for AA. METHODS: The data of patients over the age of 65 years who reported to the ER and had appendectomy after being diagnosed with AA were evaluated in this retrospective cohort study. For each patient, the diagnostic accuracy of the Alvarado and RIPASA scores was determined individually. RESULTS: A total of 86 patients were included in the research. The average patient was 71.2 years old, with a male preponderance of 46.5%. Alvarado’s score was found to have an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.799, the Youden’s index of 0.549, and a p-value of 0.001 after a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) study of the Alvarado score in identifying the diagnosis of AA. The AUC was 0.886 (95%CI 0.799–0.944), the Youden’s index was 0.642, and a p-value of 0.001 was found in the ROC analysis of the RIPASA score in identifying the diagnosis of AA. CONCLUSIONS: When comparing the two scores used to diagnose AA, we found no statistically significant difference between the RIPASA and Alvarado scores (p=0.09), although the Youden’s index for the RIPASA score was higher.

SUMMARY OBJECTIVE: Several mortality prediction scores are available for patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding who visited the emergency department; however, most of the available scores include endoscopic data. Endoscopy is difficult or impossible to access for many emergencies departments worldwide. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the performance of the albumin, INR, alteration in mental status, systolic blood pressure and age 65 score and the Glasgow-Blatchford score in predicting mortality in patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding who visited the emergency department and for which endoscopic data were not required. METHODS: The data of patients with acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding who visited the emergency department during the study period were retrospectively analyzed. The data were obtained from the hospital automation system using the international classification of disease codes via computer registration. The prediction accuracy of AIMS65 and Glasgow-Blatchford score was compared using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve method. RESULTS: There were 422 patients in total; the mean age of these patients was 68.5 while 62.6% were males. The mortality rate was 30 (7.1%). The AIMS65 score performed better with an AUC 0.706 [95%CI 0.660-0.749; p<0.001] compared with the Glasgow-Blatchford score (AUC 0.542; 95%CI 0.4693-0.576; p=0.11). CONCLUSION: In this study, it was revealed that AIMS65, which is a score that can be easily calculated only with the data in the emergency department, outperformed Glasgow-Blatchford score in predicting mortality in patients with acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding who visited the emergency department.