Introduction Videolaryngoscope is regarded as the standard of care for airway management in well-resourced setups however the technology is largely inaccessible and costly in middle and low-income countries. An improvised and cost-effective form of customized videolaryngoscope was proposed and studied for patient care in underprivileged areas however there were no distinct conclusions on its performances. Method The study follows PRISMA guidelines for systematic review and the protocol in International Prospective Register for Systematic Reviews. The primary aim was to assess the first attempt success of customized videolaryngoscope for endotracheal intubation. The secondary objective was to evaluate the number of attempts, laryngoscopic view in terms of Cormack Lehane score and Percentage of glottic opening, use of external laryngeal maneuver and stylet and, the airway injuries after the endotracheal intubation. Result Five studies were analyzed for risk of bias using the National Institute of Health Quality Assessment Tool for cross-sectional studies. Most of the studies had a poor to a fair level of evidence with only one study with a good level of evidence. Certainty of evidence was “very low” for all eligible studies when graded using the Grading of Recommendation, Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach for systematic review. Conclusions The certainty of the evidence regarding performance of custom-made videolaryngoscope compared to conventional laryngoscope was very low and the study was performed in small numbers with fair to the poor risk of bias. It was difficult to establish and do further analysis regarding whether the customized form of videolaryngoscope will improve the first attempt success rate for tracheal intubation, reduce the number of attempts, improve the laryngoscopic view, require fewer external aids and reduce the incidences of airway injury with the given low-grade evidence. Some properly conducted randomised clinical trials will be required to further analyze the outcome and make the strong recommendations.

Background: The characteristics of research proposals submitted to the Nepal Health Research Council reflect the trend of health-related researches being conducted in Nepal. The objective of the study was to analyze research proposals submitted for the ethical review in Nepal Health Research Council from 2017 to 2019.Methods: A retrospective record review of research proposals received over three years from 2017 to 2019 were analyzed. A total of 2,305 research proposals was included in the study. The number of research studies per year, types of study design, priority area of research, and rejected proposal were the intended variables for the study. Results: 91.45% (503), 92.19% (748), and 755 (80.1%) of received proposals were approved from Ethical Review Board in 2017, 2018 and 2019. The number of research proposals increased every year (550 in 2017, 812 in 2018, and 943 in 2019). Among the approved proposals non-communicable disease (n=150;15.90%) in 2019} was the topmost prioritized area in all three years followed by reproductive health [93 (9.86%) in 2019] and communicable disease [67 (7.10%) in 2019] respectively. Quantitative research was more than two-third in all the years. Among the approved proposals, more than half were for an academic purpose [ 610 (64.69%)]. The reason for the rejection of the proposal was the conduction of research before ethical approval [2 (0.36%) in 2017, 2 (0.25%) in 2018, and none in 2019].Conclusions: There was a rising trend of research proposals for ethical clearance being submitted to the Nepal Health Research Council. Research related to non-communicable disease followed by reproductive health was the commonest one. Keywords: Ethical approval; ethical review board; research proposals; record review

Background: The study assesses the perspective of doctors working in government hospitals of Nepal regarding hospital preparedness for infection prevention measures, isolation services provisions, critical care service readiness, and training of staff for COVID-19 pandemic management. Methods: This cross-sectional study was done in central, provincial, and local level health centers of the Government of Nepal to assess the perspective of medical doctors regarding COVID-19 pandemic readiness in their facility. Nonprobability sampling was used to collect 56 responses from doctors working in different hospitals of Nepal. An online survey was performed using a questionnaire tool, which was adapted from the guidelines of the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Results: Most of the participants were medical officers with an MBBS degree (32) followed by anesthesiologists (10). Thirteen participants worked in central hospitals (23.2%), 24 in provincial hospitals (42.8%) and 19 in local health centers (33.92%). The availability of adequate facemask was 84% in central hospitals, which was higher than provincial hospitals (66.7%), and local level health centers (77.8%). There were only 53.8% trained critical care providers in central hospitals and 29.2% in provincial hospitals. Nearly 38.5% (5) of central hospitals had measures for airborne isolation in place, whereas this was only found in 8.3% (2) of provincial hospitals surveyed for critical care facilities. Overall, only 2 hospitals had the provision of a negative pressure room with air exchanges. Only 8 participants working in central hospitals (61.5%) and 14 working in provincial hospitals (58.3%) had performed hands-on training for donning and doffing personal protective equipment. Conclusions: The majority of medical doctors working in government hospitals of Nepal perceive that provision of facemask distribution, airborne isolation rooms, critical care preparedness, and hands-on training to staff were not adequate.Keywords: COVID-19; Government of Nepal; pandemic; readiness.

Background: General anesthesia for cesarean section is being less popular for cesarean section in present days but sometime general anesthesia is inevitable. The aim of the study is to assess the trends of general anesthesia, indications, clinical outcome in mother and fetus in high altitude setting of tertiary care center of Nepal. Methods: We conducted descriptive cross-sectional study all cases of cesarean section in Karnali Academy of health Sciences (KAHS) located at high altitude over three years period   in our institute. Data were retrieved from the hospital records during three fiscal year (Jan 1st 2017 to Jan Dec 31st 2019). The record of all the patients who underwent cesarean section under general anesthesia was reviewed for demographic details, indication of general anesthesia, trends for general and spinal anesthesia and maternal and neonatal outcome. Results: Out of total deliveries 2175, 309 (14.2%) cases account for cesarean section. Among them, 52 (17%) required general anesthesia . Eclampsia 19(36%) remain the major indication for General Anesthesia in cesarean section followed by failure of spinal anesthesia number 14 (26%) , cord prolapse six (12%), antepartam haemorrhage five (10%), spinal site infection four (8%), Khiphoscoliosis two(4%), Patients request  two (4%). Use for general anesthesia technique was consistent for three years with slow rise in use of spinal anesthesia . There was no any anesthesia related maternal mortality and nine intraoperative neonatal   Conclusions:  General anesthesia practices are consistently required in rural high-altitude setup. Eclampsia is the commonest indication followed by failure of spinal anesthesia and cord prolapse. Neonatal outcome is still not good.

Estimation of serum aminotransferase levels play important role in the diagnosis and monitoring of hepatic diseases. Studies suggest that in patients with chronic kidney disease, especially in those under hemodialysis, the reference ranges of the serum aminotransferases might not be reflective of hepatic function. Due to this, diagnosis and management of liver diseases in such patients becomes quite challenging. This study aims to estimate and compare serum aminotransferases levels of hemodialysis patients and healthy controls. Seventy-five patients undergoing hemodialysis in Nepal Medical College Teaching Hospital for at least three months were included in the study as cases and apparently healthy individuals with no active illness and regular medication use for the past three months and were recruited as controls. Predialysis blood samples were drawn and were analyzed for serum aminotransferases and other blood parameters. The median serum AST and ALT values for hemodialysis patients were 15 U/L and 21 U/L, while for the healthy controls, it was 30 U/L and 36 U/L and the differences were statistically significant (p < 0.001). Among the hemodialysis patients, serum AST was positively correlated with eGFR (ρ = 0.247, p = 0.033) and negatively correlated with serum creatinine levels (ρ = -0.307, p = 0.007). Hence, serum aminotransferases levels were found to be low in patients with impaired kidney function compared to those with normal kidney function.