Injury
-
Road traffic crashes are responsible for a vast amount of death and disability in developing countries. This study uses a bottom up, micro-costing approach to determine the cost of road traffic related crashes in South Africa. ⋯ The cost of care of a RTC victim is significant. In light of the high numbers of RTC victims admitted over the course of the year this is a significant cost burden for a regional hospital to bear. This cost must be taken into account when allocating hospital budgets.
-
Paediatric extremity vascular injuries are infrequent, and management protocols draw significantly from adult vascular trauma experience necessitating a continuous review of evidence. ⋯ The epidemiology of paediatric peripheral vascular injury differs in India compared to west. Certain traditional management principles of extremity vascular trauma may stand uniquely challenged in the paediatric population.
-
Comparative Study
Angular stable multiple screw fixation (Targon FN) versus standard SHS for the fixation of femoral neck fractures.
Head-preserving fracture care especially for the elderly may be complicated by acetabular screw penetration, cut out, delayed union or femoral head necrosis. The following comparative study analyses whether a new angular stable device may overcome these shortcomings. ⋯ The study revealed less subsidence of the head fragment, lower cut out rate and a lower rate of conversion to hemiarthroplasty after Targon FN fixation in comparison to a standard SHS fixation in a small number of patients with hip fractures. However, this was not accompanied by functional limitations in the SHS group.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial
Management of comminuted but continuous mandible defects after gunshot injuries.
Firearm injuries continue as a major public health problem, contributing significant morbidity, mortality, and expense to our society. There are four main steps in the management of patients with gunshot wounds to the face: securing an airway, controlling haemorrhage, identifying other injuries and definitive repair of the traumatic facial deformities. The objective of this study was to determine late outcome of two treatment options by open reduction and internal fixation versus closed reduction and maxillomandibular fixation (MMF) in the treatment of gunshot injuries of the mandible. ⋯ Based on this study open reduction and internal fixation is the best available method for the treatment of gunshot mandible fractures without continuity defect.
-
Comparative Study
The ins and outs of terrorist bus explosions: Injury profiles of on-board explosions versus explosions occurring adjacent to a bus.
Terrorist explosions occurring in varying settings have been shown to lead to significantly different injury patterns among the victims, with more severe injuries generally arising in confined space attacks. Increasing numbers of terrorist attacks have been targeted at civilian buses, yet most studies focus on events in which the bomb was detonated within the bus. This study focuses on the injury patterns and hospital utilisation among casualties from explosive terrorist bus attacks with the bomb detonated either within a bus or adjacent to a bus. ⋯ Explosive terrorist attacks detonated within a bus generate more severe injuries among the casualties and require more urgent surgical and intensive level care than attacks occurring adjacent to a bus. The comparison and description of the outcomes to these terrorist attacks should aid in the preparation and response to such devastating events.