Der Unfallchirurg
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Fractures of the bony chest wall are common injuries. They affect almost every second severely injured person and are gaining more and more importance even after low-energy accidents, especially among older people. Complications mainly occur due to respiratory insufficiency, secondary pulmonary complications and remaining deformities with a functional disorder of the chest wall. In addition to the important conservative therapeutic measures, such as a differentiated pain therapy and pneumonia prophylaxis, operative stabilization of fractures can be an option; however, this is still controversially discussed. ⋯ Multimodal therapy concepts and closely controlled follow-up examinations of fractures avoid complications or can detect them early. Bony chest wall injuries should still be evaluated for complications and typical fracture patterns identified and classified. Modern osteosynthesis procedures with high patient safety and soft tissue-preserving tissue preparation for the surgical access route to the ribs and sternum provide an excellent opportunity for successful restoration of the anatomical and physiological integrity of the bony thorax.
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Review Case Reports
[Does a physician have to inform the patient about the rare risk of priapism before administering an anticoagulant?]
There are no pharmaceuticals without side effects. Primary care physicians and especially hospital staff have to ask themselves every time they are administering medication whether they should inform the patient about possible risks and alternative treatment options. The "bizarre" side effects which can occur even from taking routine medication are illustrated by a legal case decided by the District Court of Hannover: After surgery a patient developed an anticoagulant-induced priapism. ⋯ The District Court now had to decide whether the hospital is duty bound provide patients with such detailed information in order to obtain informed consent. The Hannover Court, and also later the Court of Appeal in Celle, answered this question in the negative; however, the decision shows that it is not sufficient for the treating physician to refer the patient to the patient information leaflet. Instead the physician is legally bound to personally and orally inform the patient about the risks and possible side effects, even when they are rare but typically associated with the prescribed medication.
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Combinations of sternal and spinal fractures often occur due to high velocity accidents and are associated with a high incidence of concomitant injuries. The anterior thoracic wall is described as the fourth column of torso stability, which is why sternovertebral injuries (SVI) present a high risk of sagittal deformation of the trunk, in particular injuries of the thoracic spine. To date, no studies have been published on the frequency distribution of the involved vertebral bodies in large patient groups. ⋯ Of all patients with a SF 30.96% also suffered from a vertebral fracture. Of these 3.11% were SF as the main diagnosis and 60.89% the secondary diagnosis. While vertebral fractures generally occurred most frequently in the region of the thoracolumbar transition and the second cervical vertebral body, the SVI showed a further frequency peak in the range from the lower cervical spine to the middle thoracic spine. The present study was able to show a frequency distribution of accompanying vertebral body injuries in a large and representative collective in the case of SF for the first time.
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Fractures of fingers and metacarpals are among the most frequent injuries. Many fractures can be successfully treated conservatively. ⋯ Prerequisites for corrective osteotomy are a precise analysis of the deformity, precise osteotomy, exercise stable osteosynthesis and intensive follow-up treatment of the hand. Complications, such as implant failure, postoperative tendon and joint adhesions, joint contracture and nonunion are however possible.
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Review Case Reports
[Compartment syndrome of the forearm after intra-arterial self-injection : With a mixture of methadone, flunitrazepam, saliva and water].
A drug-addicted patient injected himself intra-arterially with a mixture of methadone, flunitrazepam, saliva and water. The resulting compartment syndrome could be treated by fasciotomy and multiple debridement, with which a major amputation could be prevented. The course of the treatment and the resulting functional results are described, as well as a brief overview of the literature and a treatment proposal for similar cases.