Here are eight articles on medical research study findings from the week of July 6.
1. Infection-related readmissions made up 28 percent of all-cause readmissions, a study in Clinical Infectious Diseases found. Read more.
2. Burn patients and patients undergoing treatment for other types of trauma could benefit from including probiotics as a component of treatment, according to research out of Loyola University's Chicago Health Sciences Division. Read more.
3. In July 2011, work hour restrictions for resident physicians were revised to protect patients against fatigue-related errors. That strategy had little effect, according to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. Read more.
4. Researchers have found a way to package antimicrobial compounds from peppermint oil and cinnamon in a way that can promote healing of chronic wounds, research in the journal ACS Nano showed. Read more.
5. Readmissions associated with sepsis occur often — at nearly the same rates as readmissions for heart-related complications — and can be costly, researchers at UCLA found. Read more.
6. Many clinicians admit to coming to work while they are sick, even though they acknowledge it could put patients at risk for a healthcare-associated infection, according to a survey in JAMA Pediatrics. The survey also revealed common reasons clinicians come to work while ill. Read more.
7. "Inadequate patient assessment" was cited as a factor in 75 percent of sepsis malpractice cases, according to a report from the Canadian Medical Practice Protective Association. Read more.
8. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality use two different measurement systems to track the U.S. healthcare system's rates of catheter-associated urinary tract infections which produce two different sets of results, according to a study in the American Journal of Infection Control. Read more.