J Trauma
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Traumatic abdominal wall hernia (TAWH) is an uncommon injury. Handlebar hernia represents one type of TAWH: handlebar hernia is caused by low-energy impact against a small blunt object, can be detected by physical examination, and is infrequently associated with other significant injury. Surgical repair is recommended.
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The involvement of cytokines in trauma still has not been satisfactorily elucidated. The development of multiorgan failure, the very serious complication of multiple trauma with high mortality, should also be controlled by cytokines, endotoxin, and other mediators. We therefore prospectively studied 42 consecutive patients with multiple trauma admitted from June to December 1992 to the Research Institute for Traumatology and Surgery in Brno. ⋯ In conclusion, the IL-6 and TNF-alpha levels seem to play a significant role in multiple trauma and their late elevation in patients with MOF conveyed a poor prognosis. A significant correlation between initial IL-6 levels and ISS was observed. Other cytokines did not show dynamic changes during the study.
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The quality of a trauma system can be assessed by the rate of preventable deaths. A random selected sample of 110 trauma patients was examined using both clinical and autopsy data. ⋯ The main failures of treatment were identified as errors and delays during the first phases of in-hospital assessment and care. An improvement in the pre-hospital phase will be almost useless if the quality of the definitive in-hospital management is not addressed.
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A three-year retrospective and prospective study was conducted in the North Coast EMS Region of California to evaluate the effectiveness of a rural trauma program and its impact on patient outcome. Two hundred sixty-six patients with major trauma were identified. Age, hospital and prehospital Trauma Scores (TS), Revised Trauma Scores (RTS), Injury Severity Scores (ISS), and Mechanism of Injury (MOI) were recorded. ⋯ Blunt trauma accounted for the majority of injuries (82.1%) and the primary cause was motor vehicle crashes (63.8%). The z (mortality) and M statistics were -2.33 (p = 0.020) and 0.66, respectively. Thus a significant improvement in survival rates resulted compared with MTOS baseline norms.
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Case Reports
Thoracic aortic dissection with renal artery involvement following blunt thoracic trauma: case report.
Blunt thoracic aortic injury most often occurs beyond the left subclavian artery with subsequent transection and exsanguination. We present a case of an unrestrained driver involved in a high-speed motor vehicle crash who had a traumatic mid-thoracic aortic dissection involving the orifices of both renal arteries, resulting in anuria. This diagnosis should be considered in the presence of anuria following chest trauma.