Lijec̆nic̆ki vjesnik
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Lijec̆nic̆ki vjesnik · Nov 2012
[How to improve perioperative blood management in patients undergoing total hip or knee replacement surgery?].
Total hip and knee arthroplasty is associated with significant perioperative blood loss, necessitating often blood transfusions. Because of risks and cost of allogenic blood transfusion and elective types of surgery several alternative methods have been developed to reduce allogenic blood use. We prospectively audited 65 consecutive patients undergoing primary total hip (THR; n = 30) or knee replacement (TKR; n = 35) at our Department of Orthopaedic Surgery which did not use autologous blood collection methods. ⋯ However, we reported high transfusion rates with 63.3% of THR and 82.6% of TKR patients receiving allogenic blood. Important steps to reduce allogenic blood use would include implementation of restrictive transfusion protocols with a defined hemoglobin value as a transfusion trigger, correction of preoperative anemia with i.v. iron +/- erythropoietin, use of one or more modalities of autologous transfusion (postoperative autotransfusion, preoperative blood donation), pharmacological agents like tranexamic acid (anti-fibrinolytic) and other complementary procedures. There is sufficient evidence in literature about the cost-benefit of certain methods which makes routine use of allogenic blood in THR and TKR surgery unacceptable even at general orthopaedic surgery departments.
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The aim of this study was to determine characteristics of injuries of children admitted to the Emergency Department (ED) of University Hospital Split, and also to define the mechanisms of injuries, as well as the type and severity of injuries. We evaluated 3,221 children with injuries treated in the ED of the University Hospital of Split in the period from January to July 2009. The following indicators were analyzed: age, gender, anatomic distribution of injuries, mechanism, Injury Severity Score (ISS) and the need for hospital and intensive care admission. ⋯ The most frequently injured body region in children treated in ED are limbs, and the most frequent mechanism of injury is fall. However, the most severe are head injuries, and the majority of severe injuries are caused by RTAs. These data are important for programs of injury prevention.