Archives of surgery (Chicago, Ill. : 1960)
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Occlusive vs gauze dressings for local wound care in surgical patients: a randomized clinical trial.
To compare effectiveness and costs of gauze-based vs occlusive, moist-environment dressing principles. ⋯ The occlusive, moist-environment dressing principle in the clinical surgical setting does not lead to quicker wound healing or less pain than gauze dressings. The lower costs of less frequent dressing changes do not balance the higher costs of occlusive materials. Trial Registration trialregister.nl Identifier: 56264738.
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Review Meta Analysis
Protective effects of epidural analgesia on pulmonary complications after abdominal and thoracic surgery: a meta-analysis.
To review the impact of epidural vs systemic analgesia on postoperative pulmonary complications. ⋯ Epidural analgesia protects against pneumonia following abdominal or thoracic surgery, although this beneficial effect has lessened over the last 35 years because of a decrease in the baseline risk.
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Comparative Study
Race and insurance status as risk factors for trauma mortality.
To determine the effect of race and insurance status on trauma mortality. ⋯ Race and insurance status each independently predicts outcome disparities after trauma. African American, Hispanic, and uninsured patients have worse outcomes, but insurance status appears to have the stronger association with mortality after trauma.
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To predict how much blood will be needed based on the number of injured patients arriving after a multiple-casualty incident. ⋯ One unit of blood per evacuated victim is sufficient in a small multiple-casualty incident and 2 U is sufficient in a large multiple-casualty incident. Half of the PRBC units should be blood group O.