World journal of surgery
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This chapter emphasizes some aspects of the Brazilian Guidelines for the Assessment of Head Injury Patients, written based on the experience of the Emergency Service, Neurosurgical Division of the University of São Paulo Medical School Hospital, and sponsored by the Brazilian Society of Neurosurgery. These guidelines approach the management of head-injury patients from their initial assessment in the Emergency Room until the final suggested clinical or surgical management. The Brazilian Guidelines represents our efforts to provide the basis for a common unified data collection system, which may allow cooperative studies in the future.
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World journal of surgery · Sep 2001
ReviewAdvances in management of neurosurgical trauma in different continents.
Neurotrauma is a major public health problem. The incidence varies from 67 to 317 per 100,000 and mortality rates are in the range of near 1% for minor injury, 18% for mild injury, and 48% for severe head injury. It is the main cause of death and disability in people under 40 years old. ⋯ The goals of such a program are to take into account realities in both developed and developing countries, to develop worldwide acceptable programs and guidelines, and to test those guidelines and programs and diminish mortality and morbidity, improving quality of life. We describe the concept of Centers of Excellence and an educational program, Advanced Brain Life Support. Such a program is a moral obligation because mortality and morbidity tend to decrease in Centers of Excellence.
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The management of neurotrauma in Australia has been one of the significant public health triumphs during the last 30 years of the 20th century. State and national government agencies act in a coordinated fashion to collect data and to promote research or how to manage neurotrauma patients. Between 1970 and 1995, fatalities from road accidents decreased by 47%. ⋯ A uniform code of road safety laws has been adopted, backed by legislation and legal penalties and increasing police enforcement. Clinical care of patients has improved as a result of faster communications, tele-medicine, trauma systems, the CT scanner, intensive care units, and improved monitoring. Patient rehabilitation and counseling are now carried out at units accredited by the Australian Council on Health Care Standards.
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World journal of surgery · Sep 2001
ReviewAdvances in management of neurosurgical trauma: USA and Canada.
Traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries continue to pose serious challenges for physicians around the world. In North America, the annual number of serious head and spinal injuries has decreased over the last two decades, and of those patients who reach a hospital, the mortality and long-term morbidity have also declined. The two major reasons for this reduction in death and disability after craniospinal trauma in the United States and Canada appear to be (1) widespread implementation of prevention measures, safety legislation, and public education initiatives; and (2) further improvements in and wider availability of emergency medical systems and regional trauma centers. ⋯ Unfortunately, numerous clinical trials of putative neuroprotective agents conducted in North America and elsewhere during the 1990s have failed to demonstrate efficacy in head-injured patients. However, methylprednisolone does appear to confer some benefit to a select population of spinal cord injury patients. These advances in the areas of prevention, regional trauma systems, treatment guidelines, and neurocritical care that have influenced survival rates and recovery of function are discussed.
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World journal of surgery · Sep 2001
Clinical TrialIncidence of gastrointestinal complications in cardiopulmonary bypass patients.
Gastrointestinal complications after cardiac surgery are associated with a high mortality rate. Because of the absence of early specific clinical signs, diagnosis is often delayed. The present study seeks to determine predictive risk factors for subsequent gastrointestinal complications after cardiosurgical procedures. ⋯ Furthermore, cardiopulmonary bypass and aortic clamping times were significantly prolonged in patients who developed gastrointestinal complications. A number of predictive factors contribute to the development of gastrointestinal complications after cardiopulmonary bypass surgery. Knowledge of these factors may lead to earlier identification of patients at increased risk and may allow more efficient and earlier interventions to reduce mortality.