Military medicine
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Pressurized Submarine Escape Training (PSET) physically prepares submariners to safely escape a submarine at depth. Failure to complete PSET is not a submarine service disqualification. Serious medical incidents are rare, but the safety record tradeoff has been low throughput. ⋯ Basic Enlisted Submarine School students were more likely to be disqualified and attrite than other submariner groups, and black/African American (ORadj 1.53) students were more likely to attrite than white students. Only cold/congestion/cough (ORadj 1.52), trouble swimming (ORadj 1.53), and screening during cold/flu season (ORadj 1.28), were associated with training attrition. Recommendations to modify screening requirements are listed in conclusions.
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The annual cost of treatment and lost productivity due to chronic pain is estimated to be $635 billion within the USA. Self-management treatments for chronic pain result in lower health care costs and lower utilization of provider-management treatments, such as hospitalization and medication use. The current study sought to identify and characterize patient factors and health conditions associated with chronic pain treatment utilization to inform ways to improve engagement in self-management pain treatment (e.g., applying heat or ice, exercising, or practicing relaxation). This study predicted (1) greater pain intensity and pain interference would be associated with greater utilization of self-management treatments and (2) this association would be moderated by patient factors (gender and age) and health comorbidities (anxiety, trauma, depression, and sleep disturbance). ⋯ While study conclusions may not generalize to all Veteran populations, findings suggest that Veterans with chronic pain were more likely to seek provider-management treatments when experiencing high-pain interference and high-sleep disturbance. In addition, Veterans were more likely to seek provider-management treatments when experiencing low-pain intensity and high-depression symptoms.
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Vital signs are included in the determination of shock secondary to hemorrhage; however, more granular predictors are needed. We hypothesized that fast Fourier transformation (FFT) would have a greater percent change after hemorrhage than heart rate (HR) or systolic blood pressure (SBP). Using a porcine model, nine 17 kg pigs were hemorrhaged 10% of their calculated blood volume. ⋯ The mean percent change for f1 was an 18.8% decrease; SBP was a 3.31% decrease; and HR was a 0.95% increase. Using analysis of variance, FFT at f1 demonstrates a statistically significant greater change than HR or SBP after loss of 10% of circulating blood volume (p = 0.0023). Further work is needed to determine if this could be used in field triage to guide resuscitation.
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We examined risk factors for combat-related extremity wound infections (CEWI) among U. S. military patients injured in Iraq and Afghanistan (2009-2012). Patients with ≥1 combat-related, open extremity wound admitted to a participating U. ⋯ The presence of a non-extremity infection at least 4 days prior to a CEWI diagnosis was associated with lower CEWI risk, suggesting impact of recent exposure to directed antimicrobial therapy. Further assessment of early clinical management will help to elucidate risk factor contribution. The wound classification system provides a comprehensive approach in assessment of injury and clinical factors for the risk and outcomes of an extremity wound infection.
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Exsanguinating hemorrhage is a primary cause of battlefield death. The iTClamp is a relatively new device (FDA approval in 2013) that takes a different approach to hemorrhage control by applying mechanism wound closure. However, no previous studies have explored the feasibility of utilizing the iTClamp in conjunction with hemostatic packing. ⋯ Blood loss was similar for Combat Gauze (M = 51 mL, 95%CI: 25-76 mL) and XSTAT (M = 60 mL, 95%CI: 30-90 mL). Blood loss was roughly twice as great for 10 cm wounds (M = 73 mL, 95%CI: 47-100 mL) than for 5 cm wounds (M = 38 mL, 95%CI: 18-57 mL). This pilot study supports the feasibility of a novel model for testing the iTClamp in conjunction with hemostatic packing towards controlling junctional hemorrhage.