Injury
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On January 12, 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake devastated metropolitan Port au Prince and surrounding areas and resulted in widespread injury, mortality and displacement. This study aimed to estimate the injury rate among the affected population and the resulting demand of emergency medical care in the aftermath of the earthquake. ⋯ Estimates of the injury burden in disasters in lower- and middle-income countries is essential for disaster preparedness and response planning in future natural disasters. Given the difficulties in reporting injuries in emergencies, including both challenges of aggregating information and lack of standardized definitions and inclusion/exclusion criteria for injuries that are not severe, ascertaining the injury burden of disasters will be a persistent challenge.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Periarticular raft constructs and fracture stability in split-depression tibial plateau fractures.
To evaluate relative fracture stability yielded by screws placed above a lateral plate, as well as locking and non-locking screws placed through a plate in a split depression tibia plateau fracture model. ⋯ Designs utilising screws through the plate trended towards statistically significant improved stability against plateau displacement relative to utilising screws outside the plate. Our study also suggests that there is no significant benefit of locking screws over non-locking screws in this unicondylar tibia plateau fracture model.
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There are few studies on Modic changes of the cervical spine in patients suffering from whiplash. This study compared Modic changes seen in whiplash patients 10 years after the injury with those observed in asymptomatic volunteers. ⋯ While Modic changes became more common in whiplash patients in the 10-year period after the accident, they occurred with a similar frequency in control subjects. We did not find any association between Modic changes and the nature of the car accident in which the whiplash occurred. Modic changes found in whiplash patients may be a result of the physiological ageing process rather than pathological findings relating to the whiplash injury.
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The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of a new assistive procedure for injecting cement in percutaneous vertebroplasty (PV). Percutaneous vertebroplasty is frequently used for treating patients with osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures. However, the leakage of bone cement during PV may lead to serious complications, such as spinal cord compression or pulmonary embolism. Herein we present a secure procedure designed to safely and effectively deliver the bone cement into the vertebral column. ⋯ Compared to the reported 20-88% cement leakage rate for the conventional PV procedure, the proposed decompressed PV procedure offers a more secure and effective way to perform cement injection, and reduces the likelihood of cement leakage.
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HIV is thought to be associated with increased rates of fracture non-union. We report on a prospective cohort of 96 HIV positive patients with 107 fractures that required internal fixation. The CD4 count was measured and patients were reviewed until eventual clinical or radiological union or non-union was established. ⋯ Contrary to previous assumptions, this study suggests that HIV infection does not increase rates of non-union in surgically managed fractures.