American journal of surgery
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During a 16-year period, 547 patients who were older than 64 years of age with a mean total body surface area (TBSA) (third-degree burns) of 25% were treated. Etiologies were flame/flash in 81% of patients, scald in 11%, solids in 7%, and electrical/chemical in 1%. Seventeen percent of patients had significant causal factors. ⋯ There were no survivors with over 47% TBSA burns. The leading cause of death was pulmonary sepsis. Most surviving patients returned to a satisfactory lifestyle after discharge.
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Biography Historical Article
Samuel Preston Moore: Surgeon-General of the Confederacy.
Samuel Preston Moore was trained as a military surgeon in the US Army but resigned his commission and was appointed Surgeon-General of the Confederate States Army Medical Department at the beginning of the American Civil War. He reformed the mediocre medical corps by raising recruiting standards and improving treatment protocols and by placing the most capable surgeons in positions of authority. He improved the ambulance corps and directed the construction of many new hospitals for Confederate casualties. ⋯ He founded the Association of Army and Navy Surgeons of the Confederate States of America. With skill and dedication, Dr. Moore transformed the medical corps into one of the most effective departments of the Confederate military and was responsible for saving thousands of lives on the battlefield.
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Infections that involve the attention of the surgeon include those that require operations for cure as well as those that complicate emergency and elective surgical procedures. Mechanical correction is of paramount importance in the eradication of such infections with antibiotics serving an adjuvant role, primarily to clear lymphatics and prevent bacteremia and seeding of distant sites. Review of the current hospital antibiotic susceptibility profile is important to determine likely sensitivity to expected pathogens. ⋯ Staphylococcus aureus is still the most commonly cultured organism from our Surgical Intensive Care Unit and Burn Unit and S. aureus is often responsible for central line and burn wound infection. For patients in septic shock, we favor administration of a broad-spectrum penicillin or cephalosporin combined with an aminoglycoside, with subsequent narrowing of the antibiotic spectrum based on culture results. Antibiotic efficacy, toxicity, efficiency, and cost all must be weighed in the decision-making process.
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The efficacy of resuscitative thoracotomy in the trauma patient has been questioned. Survival rates are variable, but a review of resuscitative thoracotomy in the emergency department of our institution documented an overall survival rate of only 1.8%. Higher survival rates may be anticipated in patients initially presenting with signs of life who can be transported directly to the operating room prior to the need for resuscitative thoracotomy. ⋯ These data underscore the futility of resuscitative thoracotomy in patients with blunt trauma who have deteriorated to the point of being in extremis. The relatively high salvage rates in patients with penetrating injuries support continued use of resuscitative thoracotomy when vital signs are lost, particularly if the injury is to the thorax. Variability in reported survival rates may be primarily due to the mix of patients with blunt trauma and penetrating injuries and disagreement as to what constitutes a resuscitative thoracotomy.
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Hypertension is a major health risk factor in patients who are morbidly obese. Two hundred eighty-nine morbidly obese patients undergoing gastric restrictive surgery were evaluated for the presence of hypertension (blood pressure greater than or equal to 160/90 mm Hg or currently undergoing antihypertensive therapy) pre- and postoperatively. Of 74 (26%) preoperatively hypertensive patients, 67 (91%) were available for follow-up. ⋯ For patients with resolved hypertension, follow-up weights for the morbidly obese and superobese were 162.0 +/- 10.8 lbs (133% +/- 4% ideal body weight +ADIBW+BD) and 220.4 +/- 9.5 lbs (170% +/- 7% IBW). Gastric restrictive surgery is effective therapy for hypertension in morbidly obese patients. Patients need not achieve weights approaching IBW to enjoy the benefits of gastric restrictive surgery on hypertension.