J Trauma
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Complex vascular injuries of the extremities in which acute arterial insufficiency is combined with severe or prolonged shock, extended periods of ischemia, or associated fractures or soft-tissue injuries have unacceptably high limb loss rates, frequently because the allowable warm ischemia time for skeletal muscle is exceeded before adequate revascularization. In a 1-year period, ten patients with complex vascular injuries identified at our metropolitan trauma center underwent routine introduction of temporary plastic intravascular shunts at the site of vessel disruption, thus permitting immediate limb revascularization. ⋯ Following various local and distant orthopedic or general surgical procedures, arterial and venous continuity were uneventfully re-established. This experience suggests that the routine use of plastic intraluminal shunts in complex vascular injuries of the extremities has the distinct potential of reducing the excess morbidity from prolonged acute arterial insufficiency noted in such injuries.
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A unique case of traumatic rupture of the internal mammary artery secondary to blunt deceleration injury of the chest is reported. The injury, which produced changes consistent with great vessel disruption on the plain chest radiograph, was treated by percutaneous transcatheter embolization of Gianturco steel coils. The importance of surveying all arteries visualized during thoracic aortography in patients with widened mediastinum following deceleration injury to the chest is reinforced. Embolotherapy of this noncritical chest wall vessel is demonstrated.
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A patient with stab wounds to the chest may have negative physical findings, and normal radiologic examinations and still develop delayed pneumothorax or hemothorax. The frequency and time intervals of these complications have not been established. One hundred ten asymptomatic patients with chest stab wounds were prospectively studied. ⋯ Ten patients (9%) developed a delayed pneumothorax or hemothorax. Careful radiologic examination using inspiratory and expiratory chest films revealed all positive findings by 6 hours postadmission. Asymptomatic patients with chest stab wounds can be safely managed without hospitalization.
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Pulmonary dysfunction is a well-recognized sequela of sepsis, which has been quantitated by calculation of intrapulmonary shunt (Qs/Qt) and, more recently, by measurement of extravascular lung water (EVLW). We sought to demonstrate the relationship between Qs/Qt and EVLW in sepsis. Nine pigs were given live E. coli infusions and five control pigs received only crystalloid. ⋯ Regression analysis of Qs/Qt or EVLW yielded a correlation coefficient of r = 0.48. We concluded that while sepsis can result in both increased EVLW and Qs/Qt, the correlation is not sufficiently strong to account for the increased Qs/Qt on the basis of elevated EVLW alone. The possible relationships of arterial hypoxemia and pulmonary edema, ventilation-perfusion mismatch, and alterations in the normal hypoxic vasoconstrictive response in sepsis are considered.
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From 1973 through 1980 144 patients with chest trauma were treated. Concomitant acute respiratory failure was considered severe in 125 (83%). Morbidity and mortality were found to be related to the presence of shock, head injury Glasgow score 3-4, and size of the flail segment, but not by the extent of the thoracic or intrathoracic injuries. ⋯ Treatment was analyzed in two historical periods: In the first, 1973 through 1976, controlled mandatory ventilation and tracheostomy were used in 83 and 70% of the cases, respectively. In the second period, 1977 through 1980, intermittent mandatory ventilation plus soft-cuff endotracheal tube were used in 77% of the cases. Ventilator time did not vary in these two periods but the lung oxygen transport was better in the group treated with intermittent mandatory ventilation.