Zentralblatt für Chirurgie
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In an 11-year period, from 01. 08. 1987 to 31. 08. 1998, a total of 72 children (mean age 7.6 years, range 2-12 years) with dislocated supracondylar humeral fractures were treated surgically in the Department for Traumatology, University Hospital, Essen. The combination of supracondylar humeral fracture and ipsilateral forearm fracture occurred in 8 children (11.1 %). 4 revealed a complete forearm fracture in the distal third, 4 children a fracture of the distal physis (Salter-Harris type II). ⋯ Fractures of the distal physis were treated by closed reduction and application of an above elbow cast. Excellent results were achieved in all children with ipsilateral supracondylar and forearm fractures.
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Early diagnosis of the different severities of septic inflammation is important for early implementation of specific therapies. Sepsis and severe sepsis are accompanied by clinical and laboratory signs of systemic inflammation. ⋯ It is therefore important to identify markers, which, by enabling an early diagnosis of sepsis and organ dysfunction, would allow early specific therapeutic interventions. Wheras C-reactive Protein is a more sensitive parameter for the diagnosis of non-systemic infections, Procalcitonin seems to be a useful parameter to improve the diagnosis and monitoring of therapy in patients with severe sepsis and septic shock.
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The treatment of sepsis consists of focus control as well as supportive and adjuvant therapy. Especially the last option has been investigated during the last years. Different approaches showed promising results in animal experiments and phase-I trials but did not prove to be successful in large multicenter studies. ⋯ However, a recent large study with a monoclonal antibody against TNFalpha demonstrated a significant survival benefit. The recently published PROWESS study is the first investigation demonstrating the decrease of mortality in patients with sepsis after administration of protein C. Additionally, current data support the low-dose hydrocortisone therapy in patients with vasopressor dependent septic shock.
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Comparative Study
[Does hospital structure influence the outcome of operative treatment of femoral neck fractures?].
Data on 32 007 patients suffering from a medial fracture of the femoral neck have been collected between 1993 and 1999 in a database for external quality assurance organized by the chamber of physicians in Westfalia-Lippe. A statistical analysis (ANOVA, chi-square-test) has been performed to find out whether factors like specialization, annual volume or level of the hospital (primary, secondary or tertiary hospital) influence the outcome. ⋯ There are distinct differences regarding the way of treatment and procedural quality, but not concerning the short-term outcome between hospitals of different levels.