J Trauma
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To examine (1) the effects of trauma on changes in neutrophil L-selectin and CD11b expression and on the levels of soluble L-selectin and (2) whether these alterations are different on leukocyte subpopulations in those patients who develop multiple organ dysfunction syndrome. ⋯ These findings suggest that acute neutrophil activation is an early event after trauma and may be implicated as "a vulnerable window" for leukocyte-mediated end organ injury.
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To study the effect of graded crystalloid fluid resuscitation on central hemodynamics and outcome after intra-abdominal hemorrhage. ⋯ Crystalloid fluid therapy improved the hemodynamic status but increased the risk of rebleeding. Therefore, a moderate fluid program offered the best chance of survival.
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Hospitalization for observation is the current standard of practice for patients who have sustained blunt abdominal trauma and who do not require emergent operation, despite having undergone diagnostic studies that exclude the presence of an intra-abdominal injury. The reasons for this practice are multifactorial and include the perceived false-negative rate of all standard diagnostic tests, the belief that hospitalization will allow for the prompt diagnosis of occult injuries, and medicolegal considerations about the risk of early discharge. The focus of this study was to determine whether hospitalization for observation is necessary after a negative diagnostic evaluation after blunt abdominal trauma, to determine the negative predictive value of abdominal computed tomographic (CT) scanning in a prospective series of patients, and to identify which patients can be safely released from the emergency department without observation or hospitalization after blunt abdominal trauma. ⋯ These data indicate that abdominal tenderness is not predictive of an abdominal injury and that patients with a negative CT scan after suspected blunt abdominal trauma do not benefit from hospital admission and prolonged observation.
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Although hemorrhage or trauma (laparotomy) alone in mice produces a marked immunosuppression for 3 to 4 days and trauma plus hemorrhage produces immune depression for 5 days after resuscitation, it remains unknown when the immune functions return to normal after trauma-hemorrhage and whether lymphocyte and macrophage functions are similarly affected by trauma-hemorrhage. ⋯ The results indicate that a more severe and prolonged immunodepression occurs after combined trauma and hemorrhage than after trauma or hemorrhage alone.