Otolaryngology--head and neck surgery : official journal of American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery
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Gunshot wounds to the head and neck in the pediatric population have become alarmingly common. They often result in death of the victim, devastate families, and inflict a considerable financial burden to hospitals and society. We present a retrospective study of cases treated at a level I trauma center in Houston, Texas, from July 1990 to July 1993. ⋯ The most common type of weapon was the .22 caliber pistol, which caused four of the deaths. Two of our cases involved BB air rifles, one of which mandated a craniotomy for the evacuation of an epidural hematoma. Our findings indicate that gunshot wounds to head and neck in children are in most instances preventable and result in high fatality rates because of common intracranial involvement, even when low-energy missiles are used.
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Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg · Jun 1996
Historical ArticleHistoric development of bronchoesophagology.
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Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg · Jun 1996
Videolaryngoscopic evaluation of laryngeal intubation injury: incidence and predictive factors.
Bedside videolaryngoscopy of 73 cardiovascular surgical patients was performed before and after intubation to identify risk factors, incidence, and site of injury to the larynx. Nineteen of 44 patients with abnormal preintubation examination findings had granulation tissue present on a vocal process, compared With 3 of 20 patients who had normal findings on preintubation examination (p < 0.05). ⋯ Videolaryngoscopy provides a high-quality permanent record of the laryngeal examination and is easily obtained in the critical care setting. Preintubation videolaryngeal evaluation may identify those at risk for more significant intubation injury.