Injury
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Accidents involving high-speed passenger ferries have the potential to cause mass-casualty incidents (MCIs), yet there is a lack of relevant studies available to inform hospital disaster preparedness planning. ⋯ MCIs involving high-speed passenger ferries can result in a sudden surge in demand for both A&E and in-patient care, though the majority of victims may have minor injuries. Better access to lifejackets and mandatory seatbelt use may help to reduce injuries and deaths.
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Multicenter Study
Orthopedic treatment and early weight-bearing for bimalleolar ankle fractures in elderly patients: Quality of life and complications.
Non-operative treatment of Weber's type B ankle fractures is essential in elderly patients. However, there is controversy in the post-reduction management of the fracture between the use of early weight-bearing or traditional treatment and non-weight-bearing for 6-8 weeks. There is limited evidence available regarding which rehabilitation regimen should be included. This study aimed to compare the quality of life and the number of complications between the two types of intervention (weight-bearing and non-weight-bearing). ⋯ Early weight-bearing improves the quality of life and functionality in elderly patients with Weber type B fracture without increasing complications.
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Multicenter Study
Epidemiology of adult rib fracture and factors associated with surgical fixation: Analysis of a chest wall injury dataset from England and Wales.
Chest wall trauma is commonly seen in patients admitted with both high and low-energy transfer injury. Whilst often associated with other injuries, it is also seen in isolation following simple falls in the older patient. Fixation of the chest wall grows in popularity as part of optimising patient care, particularly in terms of critical care stay. There is currently no description of the epidemiology of these injuries at a national level; nor has there been identification of factors that predict which of these patients undergoes surgery. ⋯ There is considerable variation nationally in the management of chest wall trauma. Injury type, patient age and care setting contribute to decision making in fracture fixation. This unique national dataset characterises for the first time the nature of contemporary chest wall trauma management and should help inform the design of future research on this topic.