J Trauma
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Forty intact cadaver elbows were studied to determine the contribution of the capitellum to elbow stability. With the elbow at 10 degrees of flexion, valgus motion of the elbow after capitellum excision demonstrated a minimal increase. Although some increase in valgus motion did occur after capitellum excision and radial head resection it was not until the ulnar collateral ligament was released that a severe valgus deformity was produced. ⋯ Followup at greater than 1 year utilizing various treatment modalities is reported. Although closed reduction gave the best result, acceptable results were also obtained by open reduction and internal fixation and excision. Our clinical findings corroborated the cadaver findings in that valgus instability of the elbow only occurred when fracture of the capitellum was associated with medial ligament injuries.
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The management of impaled foreign objects is always a challenge. Stabilization of the object, control of hemorrhage, and adherence to the basic principles of airway and breathing control are hallmarks of prehospital management. ⋯ A penetrating injury to the left hemisphere of the brain with a crowbar is presented. This case demonstrates the characteristics of these injuries in terms of extrication, assessment, management of complications, and neurologic sequelae.
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In order to investigate the effect of positive pressure ventilation on vena cava blood flow, intraoperative manometric measurements were made in three patients with blunt abdominal trauma. These patients had intra-abdominal hemorrhage but no injury to the vena cava. The vena cava pressure increased with stepwise increases in the inspiratory pressure of the ventilator. The implications of this for the management of injuries to the inferior vena cava are: control of blood loss from caval wounds requires blockage of retrograde and antegrade caval blood flow; temporary cessation can stop retrograde caval flow from the right atrium and allow identification and repair of the caval defect; and retrograde caval blood flow can be used to flush out air bubbles and blood clots.
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In order to effectively implement a community-wide trauma system, a mechanism of field triage is required. This process of triage should be simple to use and should accurately identify patients who are in need of level I trauma facility care. ⋯ The CRAMS (Circulation, Respiration, Abdomen, Motor, Speech) scale was prospectively studied as a potential triage tool by using it to score patients in the field and then comparing their scores to their emergency room dispositions and final outcomes. The CRAMS scale was easy to apply and accurately identified both the critically injured who should be triaged to a Level I center and the less critically injured who can be adequately cared for by Level II and III centers.
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Cutaneous injury caused by exposure to gasoline and other hydrocarbons is a clinical entity with potentially life-threatening effects. We report four cases of such injury. One patient developed full-thickness skin loss following gasoline immersion, and another developed severe systemic complications following contact with a carburetor cleaning solvent. ⋯ In most cases this includes debridement, topical antimicrobial agents, and dressing changes. Severe pulmonary, cardiovascular, neurologic, renal, and hepatic complications may accompany hydrocarbon absorption, particularly in cases involving gasolines containing lead additives. Therefore immediate surgical debridement should be considered if there is suspicion of continued absorption of toxic compounds from the wound.