Injury
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Missed injuries (MIs) have been noted worldwide in all trauma centres that have studied them, and they are a significant cause of patient morbidity and mortality. ⋯ There is need for improvement in patient assessment and monitoring, in efficiency of the trauma team, and for staff redistribution to address the increase in night arrivals.
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Although several changes were implemented in the 1998 update of the abbreviated injury scale (AIS 98) versus the previous AIS 90, both are still used worldwide for coding of anatomic injury in trauma. This could possibly invalidate comparisons between systems using different AIS versions. Our aim was to evaluate whether the use of different coding dictionaries affected estimation of Injury Severity Score (ISS), New Injury Severity Score (NISS) and probability of survival (Ps) according to TRISS in a hospital-based trauma registry. ⋯ There was excellent agreement for the overall population between ISS, NISS and Ps values obtained using AIS 90 and AIS 98 for injury coding. Injury descriptions for hypothermia were re-introduced in the recently published AIS 2005. We support this change as coding differences due to hypothermia were encountered in 4.3% of patients in the present study.
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Injury is a leading cause of preventable mortality and morbidity in Australia and the world. Despite this there is little research examining the health related quality of life of adults following general trauma. ⋯ Health related quality of life of injured survivors is markedly reduced 3 months after injury. Ongoing treatment and support is necessary to improve these health outcomes.
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Five year analysis of Jockey Club horse-related injuries presenting to a trauma centre in Hong Kong.
Professional horse riding-related injuries have not been studied before in Hong Kong, although horse racing takes place very regularly in the territory. In addition, the equestrian events of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games will come to Hong Kong. This study analysed the pattern of horse-related injury among patients who presented to a trauma centre in a teaching hospital in Hong Kong. ⋯ Most injuries are minor and affect the trunk but occur out of hours. Helmets, face shields and body protectors should be worn when riding or handling horses.