Injury
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Young femoral neck fracture patients require surgical fixation to preserve the native hip joint and accommodate increased functional demands. Recent reports have identified a high incidence of fracture shortening and this may have negative functional consequences. We sought to determine if fracture shortening is associated with poor functional outcome in young femoral neck fracture patients. ⋯ Severe shortening is associated with clinically important decreases in functional outcome as measured by HHS following fixation of young femoral neck fractures, occurring in 13% of patients in this population. The principle of fracture site compression utilized by modern constructs may promote healing; however, excessive shortening is associated with worse patient-reported outcomes and objective functional measures.
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Multicenter Study
Delayed presentation or delayed diagnosis? A retrospective study of prospectively collected data of 482 foot and ankle injuries.
Delayed presentation of injury cases is common in developing countries like India. It is prudent to study reasons for delayed presentations to focus preventive measures towards responsible factors. Since foot and ankle orthopaedics is in its infancy in India, it was deemed to be worthwhile to study reasons for delayed presentations of foot and ankle injuries. ⋯ In developing countries like India, patients did neglect their foot and ankle injuries and presented late. In fact, by way of delayed diagnosis, clinicians were more responsible for indirect delayed presentations of foot and ankle injuries. This is contrary to the common belief that in developing countries like India, only patients would be solely responsible for delayed presentations after injury. Because delayed diagnosis by clinicians seemed more alarming than delayed presentation by patients, focus of prevention of foot and ankle injuries in developing countries should shift more towards educating clinicians than patients.
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Multicenter Study
The correlation between stabbing-related upper extremity wounds and survival of stabbing victims with abdominal and thoracic injuries.
When treating patients with stab injuries of the torso, clinicians often lack timely information about the degree and nature of internal organ damage. An externally observable sign significantly associated with characteristics of torso injuries may therefore be useful for practitioners. One such potential sign is the presence of wounds to the hands, sometimes sustained during victims' attempt to defend themselves during the violent altercation. Thus, the primary aim of this study was to evaluate the association between presence of upper extremity wounds and the severity of the thoracic and intra-abdominal injuries due to stabbing. ⋯ Patients with stabbing-related upper extremity wounds had a significant survival advantage over patients without such injuries. However, a greater number of sustained upper extremity wounds may be an external sign of greater severity of thoracic and intraabdominal stabbing injuries.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Patterns of health care use of injured adults: A population-based matched cohort study.
Healthcare use by traumatically injured individuals prior to and subsequent to their injury are not often explored for different types of injuries. This study aims to describe health care use 12 months preceding and 12 months following a traumatic injury by injury type and injury severity. ⋯ After sustaining a traumatic injury, many individuals are readmitted to hospital and require ongoing care up to 12 months post-injury. That injured individuals post-injury largely return to their pre-index injury hospital use by 6 to 7 months could imply a return to pre-injury function and/or that other measures of health service use should be explored. Trauma services should consider long-term follow-up and support services for seriously injured patients post-hospital discharge.
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Review Multicenter Study
Injury factors associated with discharge status from emergency room at two major trauma hospitals in The Gambia, Africa.
Injuries are the leading cause of disability across all ages and gender. In this study, we identified predictors of discharge status and disability at discharge among patients who seek emergency room treatment. ⋯ Epidemiology of injuries in The Gambia is similar to other low-income countries. However, the magnitude of cases and issues uncovered highlights the need for a formal registry.