Injury
-
A series of 148 cases of chest injuries is presented and their treatment and results are described. The study covered a period of 5 1/2 years and the significance of associated injuries is stressed.
-
The wearing of seat belts was made compulsory for all front seat car occupants at the beginning of February 1983. A survey carried out at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading, a District General Hospital serving the West Berkshire area, has allowed assessment of the effect of legislation on the pattern of injuries sustained by car occupants involved in road traffic accidents, and of the effect it has had on the work-load of the Casualty Department and trauma wards. These preliminary findings show that there has been a change in the pattern of injuries sustained by car occupants in road traffic accidents following the introduction of compulsory seat belt use, but there has not been a significant drop in the work-load of the Trauma Department.
-
The diagnoses which were missed at patients' first attendance at an A & E Department over a 6-month period were noted and investigated. The most common cause of missed diagnosis was failure to interpret X-ray findings correctly; this and other causes are discussed. Recommendations as to how this can be improved are made.
-
This paper describes our experience of 340 cases of open fracture treated at the Al- Rasheed Military Hospital with a simple external fixation device.
-
A retrospective review was carried out of 100 consecutive patients with penetrating stab injuries of the chest and/or abdomen, requiring admission to hospital. Laparotomies were performed in 44 patients, while a further 7 were subjected to thoracotomy. Only 1 patient died, and this was a case of combined thoraco-abdominal injury. There was an annual increase in the numbers of such injuries, which were particularly prevalent in young, unemployed persons, often under the influence of alcohol.