Zentralblatt für Chirurgie
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Case Reports Webcasts
[Surgery of high-grade asymptomatic stenosis of the internal carotid artery].
Surgery of carotid artery stenosis is an evidence-based procedure. In Germany approximately 25 percent of the strokes are caused by arteriosclerotic processes in the extracranial internal carotid artery and are consequently potentially avoidable by an appropriate treatment. The symptoms, the stenosis degree as well as the perioperative risk represent the basis for the indication. The perioperative complication rate should be under 3 percent for those cases with asymptomatic stenoses and under 6 percent for those with symptomatic stenoses. ⋯ In the hands of experienced vascular surgeons, the open carotid TEA including patch graft and the eversion endarterectomy under regional anaesthesia represent highly effective procedures for symptomatic/asymptomatic carotid stenosis. The S3-guidelines for the therapy of carotid artery stenosis will be published this year and should be consulted for the interdisciplinary therapy decision.
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Medical devices must be safe and functioning states the law. Treatments with medical devices need not be efficacious to be allowed. We investigated special requirements and problems arising from the law. ⋯ Large, high quality clinical studies of the efficacy of medical devices for treating anal incontinence are urgently needed. Only such studies enable health technology assessment and comprehensible decisions on reimbursement by health insurance.
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Hypothermia, defined as a body core temperature below 35 °C, could be divided into an endogeneous, therapeutic and accidental hypothermia. At admission in the emergency room multiple trauma patients show a hypothermic core temperature in up to 66 %. A core temperature below 34 °C seems to be critical in these patients as this temperature limit has been demonstrated to be associated with an increased risk for post-traumatic complications and a decreased survival. In polytraumatised patients with a core temperature below 32 °C a mortality rate of 100 % has been described. ⋯ Accidental hypothermia represents a serious problem in multiple trauma patients due to its frequency and negative pathophysiological effects. Therefore, early and effective re-warm-ing is essential in the treatment of hypothermic trauma patients. Possible protective effects of a therapeutic hypothermia in the treatment of trauma patients after initial resuscitation and operative bleeding control have to be clarified in further experimental and clinical studies.