Injury
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Three cases of pneumopericardium following blunt chest injury are presented. All three patients were victims of road traffic accidents and were managed at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria. One of the patients had a tension pneumopericardium, which was relieved by pericardiocentesis. ⋯ The suspected mechanism of the pneumopericardium in the three patients is pleuropericardial rupture in the presence of an intrathoracic air leak. This is the first report of pneumopericardium following blunt injury of the chest in Nigeria. Only 16 previous cases have been reported in the world literature.
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Patients undergoing treatment for fractures of the upper end of the femur in a district general hospital over a 2-year period were analysed to identify preoperative illness, operative factors or postoperative complications associated with increased mortality. Both the mean age and mortality rate were higher than in many other reported series. The elderly diabetic was identified as a particularly high-risk patient. Dislocation following hemiarthroplasty was associated with advanced age and carried a formidable mortality.
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Two hundred and thirty-seven fractures of the ankle treated with non-rigid internal fixation were reviewed with regard to classification, congruency of joint surface, range of motion and the patients' subjective symptoms. The fractures were divided into either severe fractures consisting of two or more skeletal injuries or simple fractures consisting of only one skeletal injury. ⋯ Disability was significantly more frequent after severe fractures and with incongruent joints. This study shows that the operative technique using non-rigid internal fixation is not sufficient for treating severe fractures, as exact anatomical reconstruction of the joint was not obtained.
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Three cases of triplane fractures of the distal end of the tibia are presented. There are usually two or three fragments and it occurs in adolescents in whom there is little growth potential left; hence there is little growth disturbance despite premature closure of the physis. The key to successful treatment is to assess the degree of articular deformity and to restore articular congruity.
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Details are given of the injuries sustained by 402 car drivers, 209 front seat passengers and 147 back seat passengers involved in road accidents during the two 4-month periods before and after the introduction of the compulsory wearing of seat belts on 1 February 1983. Comparisons are made between the injury patterns in those wearing and not wearing seat belts and in back seat passengers.