Der Chirurg; Zeitschrift für alle Gebiete der operativen Medizen
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Plexus brachialis anaesthesia is a common technique for hand and forearm surgery. If the distance between puncture site and plexus brachialis is to long the anaesthesia will be incomplete. If there happens a direct puncture and injection of anaesthetics in the nerves, neurological deficit can occur. ⋯ In these patients we perform the plexus brachialis anaesthesia under sonographical control. For the examination we use a linear 7.5-MHz transducer. The technique is presented.
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Between 1972 and 1990 11 patients--all but one of them with multiple injuries--were treated surgically for blunt cardiac trauma caused by traffic accident in about 90%. Myocardial rupture (n = 3), laceration of the pericardial sac (n = 1), mitral insufficiency (n = 5; one of them in combination with atrial septal defect), ventricular septal defect (n = 1) and myocardial aneurysm (n = 1) occurred. ⋯ Whereas pericardial tamponade caused by rupture of the atrial or ventricular wall and injuries of main coronary vessels require immediate surgical intervention, valve insufficiencies, septal defects or myocardial aneurysms may be mostly treated at a later date. Improvement of logistic measurements and the suspicion of blunt cardiac trauma followed by immediate surgical intervention may reduce the mortality rate in cases of cardiac rupture.
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Coagulation disorders are of utmost importance in emergency surgery as well as for secondary organ failure of polytraumatized patients. In order to get hold of the early onset of these disorders, blood samples were harvested from 20 randomly selected patients (Injury Severity Score mean = 36.7 +/- 10.5) on the scene of emergency (mean = 18 [10-29] min after trauma) and at the time of hospital admission (mean = 78 [58-98] min after trauma). In addition to the activation of intravascular coagulation and the consumption of physiological inhibitors, high amounts (10- to 50-fold above normal) of degradation products (FgDP, FbDP, TDP, D-dimers) are present on the scene, already. The influence of hemodilution due to high-volume resuscitation is discussed.