Effect of nanocurcumin supplementation on the severity of symptoms and length of hospital stay in patients with COVID-19: A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial

It has been more than a year since the outbreak of COVID-19, and it is still the most critical issue of the healthcare system. Discovering effective strategies to treat infected patients is necessary to decrease the mortality rate. This study aimed to determine the effects of nanocurcumin on the severity of symptoms and length of hospital stay (LOS) in COVID-19 patients. Forty-eight COVID-19 patients were randomly assigned into nanocurcumin (n = 24) and placebo (n = 24) groups receiving 160 mg/day nanocurcumin or placebo capsules for 6 days. Mean differences of O₂ saturation were significantly higher in patients who received nanocurcumin supplements (p = 0.02). Also, nanocurcumin treatment significantly reduced the scores of domains 3 and 4 and the total score of Wisconsin Upper Respiratory System Survey (WURSS-24), indicating milder symptoms in the treatment group (p = 0.01, 0.03, and 0.01 respectively). Besides, the LOS in curcumin groups was lower than in the placebo group, although the difference was not statistically significant (6.31 ± 5.26 vs. 8.87 ± 8.12 days; p = 0.416). CBC/differentiate, hs-CRP level and the pulmonary involvement in CT scan were not different between the two groups. As nanocurcumin can be effective in increasing O₂ saturation and reducing the severity of symptoms in COVID-19 patients, it could probably be used as a complementary agent to accelerate the recovery of patients.

Coblation versus traditional tonsillectomy: A double blind randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND

Coblation tonsillectomy is a new surgical technique and demands further research to be proven as a suitable and standard method of tonsillectomy. This study compares coblation and traditional tonsillectomy techniques in view of their advantages and complications.

METHODS

In a prospective double-blind randomized controlled trial information on operation time, intraoperative blood loss, postoperative pain, time needed to regain the normal diet and activity and postoperative hemorrhage were gathered and compared between two groups containing 47 patients in each group.

RESULTS

We found statistically significant differences in operation time (p < 0.05), intraoperative blood loss (p < 0.05), postoperative pain (p < 0.001), time needed to find back the normal diet (p < 0.001) and normal activity (p < 0.001). However, post operation hemorrhage (p > 0.5) was not significantly different between two groups.

CONCLUSIONS

This study revealed a significantly less intraoperative or postoperative complications and morbidity in coblation tonsillectomy in comparison with traditional method. Coblation was associated with less pain and quick return to normal diet and daily activity. These findings addressed coblation tonsillectomy as an advanced method.