The American surgeon
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The American surgeon · Nov 2010
Role of early thoracoscopy for management of penetrating wounds of the chest.
Most nonlife-threatening penetrating wounds of the chest (PWC) are treated with a chest tube alone. This may be inadequate because missed injuries, retained hemothorax, or foreign material may be difficult to address later. Early thoracoscopy should improve outcome. ⋯ The outcome was compared with the National Trauma Data Bank and controlled for Injury Severity Score. Early VATS reduced length of stay (4.3 vs 9.4 days), days in the intensive care unit (1.3 vs 3.2), and open thoracotomy (0 vs 7). A chest tube undertreats a nonlife-threatening PWC correctable by timely VATs.
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The American surgeon · Nov 2010
Case ReportsThe use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in severe necrotizing soft tissue infections complicated by septic shock.
Necrotizing soft tissue infections remain a challenging clinical problem. Delays in diagnosis, incomplete débridement of necrotic tissues, and the hemodynamic instability and end-organ failure associated with overwhelming sepsis all contribute to significant mortality. Extracorporeal support is a well-established tool to support profound cardiopulmonary failure. To broaden the indications for use, we present two cases of young adults with necrotizing soft tissue infections who sustained sepsis-induced hemodynamic collapse and required extracorporeal support to facilitate adequate tissue débridement as a bridge to recovery.