The New Zealand medical journal
-
Indoor cricket is a popular winter sport, but injuries sustained in the game have not been previously reported. The Accident Compensation Corporation statistics showed that in 1987 520 injuries were sustained in indoor cricket. This paper reports 33 finger and thumb injuries sustained in two seasons of indoor cricket. The majority of patients had some residual stiffness, deformity or loss of function as a result of the injuries.
-
This was a retrospective study of all children aged less than 15 years who attended the accident and emergency department of a provincial hospital on account of burns over a 3 year period. There were a total of 372 patients of whom 58% were male and 66% were preschoolers. There was no seasonal variation of numbers attending, 85% of patients attended between the hours of 8 am and 8 pm and in 80% of cases burns involved the limbs. ⋯ A total of 29 (7.8%) attending children were admitted of whom 6 (20% of admissions) were due to hot tap water burns. Sixteen (4.3%) of children received burns as a result of suspected or proven non-accidental injury. My findings suggest that burns continue to cause significant morbidity in preschool children and that hot tap water causes disproportionately severe and largely preventable injuries, the reasons for this are discussed.
-
This study examines the trends in drug treatment and costs of hypertension in a cohort of 1600 adult Aucklanders between 1982 and 1987. In 1987 prices the average daily cost of antihypertensive drug treatment per person increased from 42 cents to 74 cents over the five year period. The increase in cost seen in antihypertensive therapy in this cohort is explained by the introduction of new and more expensive drugs rather than by increases in the proportion of the population being treated for hypertension, daily dosage, number of antihypertensives per individual or in real prices of antihypertensives.
-
All attendances at Waikato Hospital accident and emergency department since 1980 have been coded and stored in computer files. Fifty thousand children under age 15 years attended A&E between 1980 and 1986. Age-specific attendance rates were determined and major reasons for consultation examined. ⋯ Sporting injuries dominated the 10-14 age group with 28% of all accidents being sports related. Road traffic injuries reflect the mobility of each age group with 7% of accidents in the under 1 group, rising to 14% for all children over 4 years. The implications of these patterns are discussed.
-
Five children with acute and chronic regional myofascial pain syndromes, involving the sternomastoid, the external oblique, the rectus abdominis and the biceps femoris, are described. The trigger points were treated initially by vapocoolant therapy followed by muscle stretching, and subsequently by moist heat applications and continuing muscle stretching. ⋯ Such syndromes received little attention in the medical literature, and consequently, affected patients have been given alternative diagnoses. The article seeks better recognition of such syndromes in order to provide adequate and appropriate management.