Arch Surg Chicago
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Blunt carotid artery injury (BCI) remains a rare but potentially lethal condition. Recent studies recommend that aggressive screening based on broad criteria (hyperextension-hyperflexion mechanism of injury, basilar skull fracture, cervical spine injury, midface fracture, mandibular fracture, diffuse axonal brain injury, and neck seat-belt sign) increases the rate of diagnosis of BCI by 9-fold. If this recommendation becomes a standard of care, it will require a major consumption of resources and may give rise to liability claims. The benefits of aggressive screening are unclear because the natural history of asymptomatic BCI is unknown and the existing treatments are controversial. ⋯ Of the few patients with BCI, most remain asymptomatic or develop neurologic deficits shortly after injury. Although a widely applied, resource-consuming screening program may increase the rate of early diagnosis of BCI, an improvement in outcome is uncertain. A cost-effectiveness analysis should be done before trauma surgeons accept an aggressive screening protocol as the standard of care.
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Comparative Study
Quantification of pain and satisfaction following laparoscopic and open hernia repair.
Subjective experiences can be quantified by visual analog scale (VAS) scoring to improve comparison of surgical techniques. ⋯ Pain following hernia repair was age dependent. Following laparoscopic repair, patients had lower first-day pain scores in younger patients and earlier return to normal activities in all patients. Satisfaction was similar for both approaches. Subjective experiences can be quantified, compared to detect subtle differences in outcome for competing surgical techniques, and used to counsel patients before operation, with the goal of improving satisfaction.
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Video-assisted thoracic surgery sympathectomy is efficacious for patients with hyperhidrosis. ⋯ In this experience, palmar hyperhidrosis is predominantly a disease of young Asian women. Simultaneous bilateral video-assisted thoracic surgery sympathectomy is effective and can be accomplished with minimal morbidity and a short hospitalization. Compensatory sweating occurs in a third of patients, but is generally self-limiting.
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Multiple organ dysfunction (MOD) within 48 hours of injury is a reversible physiologic response to tissue injury and resuscitation. ⋯ Multiple organ dysfunction during resuscitation is a reversible response to severe injury and often resolves during the resuscitation period.
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Partial-breast irradiation for carcinoma by a single source of radiation placed in the center of a balloon inserted in the lumpectomy cavity is an effective method of treating breast cancer. Previous interstitial radiation therapy using iridium seeds placed within multiple catheters has been shown to be effective but impractical and cosmetically unacceptable to women. ⋯ Our early short-term experience indicates balloon brachytherapy to be an acceptable alternative to external beam radiation for selected operable breast cancers. The 1-week treatment time allows working women and those who live at a distance from radiation centers to choose breast conservation rather than mastectomy.