J Trauma
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This study investigated injuries to the abdominal area of the body caused by large animals, as well as the management of this problem. ⋯ Large animal-related injuries to the abdominal area can be serious. Immediate transportation and early diagnosis of abdominal insults are important because of the frequencies of small bowel and mesenteric injuries, which are difficult to diagnose using currently available diagnostic tools.
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The international consensus definitions for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) have formed the basis for recruitment into randomized, controlled trials and, more recently, standardized the protocols for ventilatory treatment of acute lung injury. Although possibly appropriate for sepsis-induced ARDS, these criteria may not be appropriate for posttraumatic ARDS if the disease patterns are widely divergent. This study tests the hypothesis that standard ARDS criteria applied to the trauma population will capture widely disparate forms of acute lung injury and are too nonspecific to identify a population at risk for prolonged respiratory failure and associated complications. ⋯ The criteria for ARDS, when applied to the trauma population, capture a widely disparate group and has poor specificity for identifying patients at risk. Recruitment of trauma patients for ARDS studies or preemptive ventilatory management based solely on these criteria may be ill-advised.
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Using in-depth, real-world motor vehicle crash data from the United States and the United Kingdom, we aimed to assess the incidence and risk factors associated with thoracic aorta injuries. ⋯ Aortic injuries have been conventionally associated with frontal impacts. However, emergency clinicians should be aware that occupants of side-impact crashes are at greater risk, particularly if the occupant was unbelted and involved in a crash of high impact severity.