J Trauma
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Insulin plus glucose, given for 7 days to hypermetabolic burn patients, has been shown to stimulate limb protein anabolism. We hypothesized that insulin plus glucose given to burn patients would also stimulate wound healing. ⋯ Data indicate that high doses of insulin and glucose can be safely administered to massively burned patients to improve wound matrix formation.
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Comparative Study
Blunt chest impacts: assessing the relative risk of fatal cardiac injury from various baseballs.
To compare various soft-core baseballs for their ability to reduce the risk of fatal chest-impact injury. ⋯ The results of this study indicate that soft-core baseballs may not differ from a standard baseball with regard to the risk of fatal chest-impact injury while playing baseball. Other techniques, such as preventive coaching, need to be implemented when trying to improve baseball safety.
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Comparative Study
Trauma and thermal injury: comparison of hemostatic and cytokine changes in the acute phase of injury.
Initiated either by thermal injury or mechanical trauma, the systemic inflammatory response syndrome stimulates activation of coagulation and fibrinolysis, evolving into a subclinical disseminated intravascular coagulation. ⋯ There was a difference in the degree and level to which homeostasis was perturbed between the two groups. The mechanism of injury did not affect the initiation of subclinical disseminated intravascular coagulation and cytokine release, and the physiologic response remained the same.
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The difference in speed, efficiency, and safety between diagnostic peritoneal lavage (DPL) and abdominal computerized tomography in the evaluation of adult blunt trauma patients with multiple injuries was investigated. ⋯ Patients with severe head injury, open fractures, or any evidence of hemodynamic instability are better served by DPL as the primary diagnostic modality. Its sensitivity and specificity are equivalent to those of computerized tomography; this facilitates evaluation and allows for simultaneous procedures and quicker initiation of definitive treatment.