Guns and Knives in New Mexico: Patterns of Penetrating Trauma, 1978–1993

Objective: To identify patterns of nonfatal and fatal penetrating trauma among children and adults in New Mexico using ED and medical examiner data.
Methods: The authors retrospectively sampled in 5-year intervals all victims of penetrating trauma who presented to either the state Level-1 trauma center or the state medical examiner from a 16-year period (1978–1993). Rates of nonfatal and fatal firearm and stabbing injury were compared for children and adults.
Results: Rates of nonfatal injury were similar (firearm, 34.3 per 100,000 person-years; stabbing, 35.1). However, rates of fatal injury were significantly different (firearm, 21.9; stabbing, 2.7; relative risk: 8.2; 95% confidence interval: 5.4, 12.5). From 1978 to 1993, nonfatal injury rates increased for children (p = 0.0043) and adults (p < 0.0001), while fatal penetrating injury remained constant. The increase in nonfatal injury in children resulted from increased firearm injury rates. In adults, both stabbing and firearm nonfatal injury rates increased.
Conclusions: Nonfatal injury data suggest that nonfatal violence has increased; fatal injury data suggest that violent death rates have remained constant. Injury patterns vary by age, mechanism of trauma, and data source. These results suggest that ED and medical examiner data differ and that both are needed to guide injury prevention programs.     

Interprofessional approaches to creating safe,high quality health care

Three supplementary perspectives are presented arguing that interprofessional collaboration is both necessary and desirable. Nonetheless, there are often too many serious intra-professional barriers and obstacles to interprofessional collaboration to make it successful. Some of these barriers, it is argued and illustrated, are found in the multiple ways in which professional identity is tacitly acquired and embodied in the practitioners' habitual, everyday practice. The paper then explores ways in which reflection, especially Second order reflection, can help to elucidate and overcome these obstacles, as well as increasing professional adaptability and competence.     

Systematic Reviews Published in the January 2011 Issue of The Cochrane Library

ABSTRACT

The Cochrane Library of Systematic Reviews is published quarterly as a DVD and monthly online. The January 2011 issue (first quarterly DVD for 2011) contains 4515 complete reviews, 1985 protocols for reviews in production, and 13,521 one-page summaries of systematic reviews published in the general medical literature. In addition, there are citations of 641,000 randomized controlled trials, and 14,018 cited papers in the Cochrane methodology register. The health technology assessment database contains over 9300 citations. One hundred and seven new reviews have been published in the last 3 months, of which five have potential relevance for practitioners in pain and palliative medicine.     

Prise en charge des entorses externes de cheville : étude clinique préliminaire sur l’efficacité du dispositif Myolux™

Ankle sprains are the most common injury of the musculoskeletal system and are associated with significant societal and economic impacts. It has been proven that classical therapeutic strategies may not be effective in preventing recurrent injuries: the recurrence rates reported in the literature can reach 73%. In order to provide an effective rehabilitation solution, a destabilizing orthosis was developed. This device is equipped with a mechanical articulator reproducing the subtalar mechanics and placed under the heel. In this paper, we present the main results of a preliminary clinical study conducted between 2004 and 2007. All subjects included in this study were treated with the abovementioned orthosis during 10 rehabilitation sessions of 30 minutes each. Data show a relatively low recurrence rate of 12% for the overall population. Moreover, it's of primary importance to note that this satisfactory ratio is largely reduced (3% of recurrence rate) for the 29 patients who performed one training session per month after the 10th initial rehabilitation sessions. Hence, the destabilizing orthosis appears to be an effective solution to prevent recurrent ankle sprains. However, joint protection requires long-term and regular training sessions. This result has motivated the development of a similar device allowing patients to perform training sessions at home. Finally, data obtained in this study are promising awaiting the final results of the comparative, multicentric and independent clinical trials currently managed by the Hospices Civils de Lyon.     

Clinical Trial Updates and Hotline Sessions presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2007

This article provides information and commentaries on trials which were presented at the Hotline and Clinical Trial Update Sessions at the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2007 in Vienna. The key presentations were performed by leading experts in the field with relevant positions in the trials or registries. It is important to note that unpublished reports should be considered as preliminary data, as the analysis may change in the final publications. The comprehensive summaries have been generated from the oral presentation and the webcasts of the European Society of Cardiology and should provide the readers with the most comprehensive information of relevant publications.     

Prospects for the control of neglected tropical diseases by mass drug administration

The prospects for the control of neglected tropical diseases, including soil-transmitted helminthiasis, shistosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis and trachoma, through mass drug administration, are exemplified by the elimination of the trachoma as a public-health problem in Morocco. In spite of this and other striking successes, mass drug administration programs are faced with major challenges resulting from suboptimal coverage and lack of efficacy. At current suboptimal coverage rates, programs may need prolongation for an extended period, increasing costs and undermining sustainability. Community participation through health education and information appears to be crucial to improve coverage and to achieve sustainability. Implementation of complementary measures, such as vector control, improved hygiene and environmental sanitation, are important to further control transmission and to prevent re-emergence of the infection and, again, may only be achieved effectively through community-based initiatives. To reduce costs and to relieve pressure on the health system, combining neglected tropical disease programs in areas where diseases coexist and integration with existing control programs for malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS is advocated. The risk of developing drug resistance is of particular concern in view of the lack of alternative drugs, and reduced treatment efficacy due to emerging resistance is evident for the soil-transmitted helminths and onchocerciasis. Given the risk for the development of drug resistance and the need for a high degree of participation, close attention should be paid to the monitoring of the coverage and efficacy of the different program components.     

Balance and Boundaries in Grief Counseling: An Intervention Framework for Volunteer Training

Volunteers or paraprofessional counselors are commonly used to provide supportive care to the bereaved. These counselors generally are trained in basic listening skills, providing a generic, nonspecific approach to intervention that remains to be proven effective. The present paper outlines a framework that provides paraprofessionals with a broader model for intervention with the bereaved. Attention to boundaries as a helper and balance in the grief recovery are central to the model. Interventions are described that provide the paraprofessional counselor with more options for tailoring their counseling strategy to the individual. These include techniques that are presumed to be more specific to the enhancement of grief recovery.     

A new method for the simultaneous analysis of unmodified and modified urinary nucleosides and nucleobases by high performance liquid chromatography

Details are given of a new, rapid and simple pre-fractionation method and an isocratic high performance liquid chromatography system suitable for parallel analysis of nucleosides and nucleobases from urine and other biological fluids. The quantitative recovery and excellent reproducibility of the method is demonstrated by analysis of representative standard RNA catabolites. The advantage of this new method for application to biological samples is discussed.     

Bacterial meningitis: an update of new treatment options

The outcome of bacterial meningitis critically depends on the rapid initiation of bactericidal antibiotic therapy and adequate management of septic shock. In community-acquired meningitis, the choice of an optimum initial empirical antibiotic regimen depends on the regional resistance patterns. Pathogens resistant to antibacterials prevail in nosocomial bacterial meningitis. Dexamethasone is recommended as adjunctive therapy for community-acquired meningitis in developed countries. In comatose patients, aggressive measures to lower intracranial pressure <20 mmHg (in particular, external ventriculostomy, osmotherapy and temporary hyperventilation) were effective in a case–control study. Although many experimental approaches were protective in animal models, none of them has been proven effective in patients. Antibiotics, which are bactericidal but do not lyse bacteria, and inhibitors of matrix metalloproteinases or complement factor C5 appear the most promising therapeutic options. At present, vaccination is the most efficient method to reduce disease burden. Palmitoylethanolamide appears promising to enhance the resistance of the brain to infections.     

Adsorption of Charged Non-albumin Bound Drugs by Amorphous Silica

We investigated the in vitro drug adsorption of PQ 10150 sodium silicate gel (AIS, Santa Clara, CA) with particle size of 230 um and surface area of 400 nr/g. We observed 99% to 88% adsorption of gentamicin; a mean 91 % of disopyramide; a mean 89% of quinidine at low concentration, falling to 75% at higher concentration. Insulin was 88% adsorbed at low concentrations but less so (65%) at higher concentrations. We observed a mean 83 % adsorption of procainamide, a mean 84% of N-acetyl procainamide, 74% oflidocaine, 73% of amitriptyline; and 44% of desipramine. We found an average 14% reduction of total digoxin concentration when serum containing digoxin (2 to 33 ng/mL) was exposed to sodium silicate, while the reduction in free digoxin concentration was 16%. Five percent ethosuximide was also removed. The adsorption of theophylline, phenobarbital, acetaminophen, phenytoin, ethylene glycol, methotrexate, salicylate, thiocyanate and diazepam was minimal and not significant. We conclude that significant amounts of charged, non-albumin bound drugs can be removed by PQ 10150 sodium silicate gel.     

自动化酸碱平衡图在急诊社区获得性肺炎诊治中的应用

目的 探讨自动化酸碱平衡图在急诊科社区获得性肺炎(CAP)患者诊断中的价值.方法 根据病史、肺功能测定结果、慢性阻塞性肺疾病(COPD)诊断标准,将111例CAP患者分为单纯CAP组(56例)和COPD合并CAP组[即慢性阻塞性肺疾病急性加重(AECOPD)组,55例].询问患者病史后即刻抽取动脉血测血气并进行自动化酸碱平衡图分析.结果 血气分析结果显示,AECOPD组动脉血二氧化碳分压(PaCO2,kPa)、HCO3- (mmol/L)、剩余碱(BE,mmol/L)均显著高于CAP组(PaCO2:7.714±2.414比5.896±1.308,HCO3-:30.767±7.185比25.014±3.043,BE:4.345±5.371比-0.354±3.180,均P＜0.01).自动化酸碱平衡图分析结果显示,AECOPD组患者酸碱平衡紊乱高达89.1％,CAP组为66.1％.将AECOPD组和CAP组患者中正常(10.9％、33.9％)、急性呼吸性酸中毒(急性呼酸,12.7％、14.3％)、慢性呼吸性酸中毒(慢性呼酸,49.1％、10.7％)、呼吸性碱中毒(呼碱,7.3％、14.3％)、代谢性酸中毒(代酸,12.7％、17.9％)、代谢性碱中毒(代碱,12.7％、8.9％)综合进行x2分析,差异有统计学意义(x2=24.421,P=0.001),而将正常、急性呼酸、呼碱、代酸及代碱进行x2分析,差异无统计学意义(x2=5.280,P=0.260),提示AECOPD患者慢性呼酸的发生率较单纯CAP患者显著增加.结论 自动化酸碱平衡图能帮助急诊科医师快速识别CAP患者是否存在多重酸碱平衡紊乱,并可快速识别急、慢性呼吸系统疾病.     

牙垫长度对减轻清醒气管插管患者口咽不适的影响

目的 探讨牙垫长度对减轻清醒插管患者口咽不适的影响.方法 选择2010年1至12月入住我院EICU 20例清醒插管1d的患者使用4 cm牙垫作为试验组,选择同期入住我院ICU 24例清醒插管1d的患者使用6 cm牙垫为对照组.比较1d内4个时段患者因牙垫造成的不适次数.结果 试验组6例(30％)发生不适,对照组15例(62.5％)发生不适,差异有统计学意义(x2=20.4,P＜0.05).结论 使用4 cm牙垫固定气管导管,对患者口咽部刺激小,可减轻患者口咽不适感,能增强清醒患者对气管插管的耐受性.     

Une estimation des décès traumatiques liés à la pratique sportive en France métropolitaine,en 2010

Introduction

Physical exercise presents numerous health benefits but it can also lead to accidents, of varying degrees of severity, some of which can result in death. The purpose of this study was to estimate, for the year 2010 in metropolitan France, the number of injury-related deaths linked to sporting practices.

Method

The study consisted in counting the injury-related deaths that occurred in 2010 in metropolitan France following a sporting practice, regardless of the context (professional, leisure or travel). Deaths linked to cycling, deaths in airplanes and deaths by drowning were not considered as sporting practices and so were not included in the study. The figures were collected from documentation compiled by government institutions or available in on-line media and the websites of associations and government organizations involved with sport.

Results

In 2010, 246 people died as a result of a sporting activity in metropolitan France. Mountain sports were the most dangerous (99 deaths), followed by water sports (50), hunting (27), aviation sports (23, of which 22 in ultralight/microlight aircraft), mechanical sports (23) and free flight sports (20, of which 10 were linked to paragliding and five to hang gliding). Seven times more men died than women. The most dangerous periods were summer and winter.

Discussion

Our study missed some cases, which led to an overly low figure for certain sports (horse riding and fishing, etc.), and missed those people who did not die immediately following their accident. This simple study, which remains to be completed, has provided an initial estimate of the number of injury-related deaths linked to sporting activities in metropolitan France.     

原发性肝癌自发性破裂的外科处理

总结分析56例原发性肝癌（PHC）自发性破裂患者临床特点及处理。发现腹痛是PHC自发破裂最常见症状，其次有腹膜炎体征、休克等。治疗PHC自发破裂手术方式包括压迫、破裂修补、肝动脉结扎、栓塞、肝叶切除等措施。经以上综合治疗，患者肝切除后1，2，3，5年生存率分别为72.7％，36.4％，9.1％与9.1％。PHC自发破裂以切除病灶为首选术式，术中采用多种措施预防癌细胞残留种植，辅以门静脉系统化疗可提高PHC自发破裂患者生存率。     

Imaging choices in occult hip fracture

Background: Hip fracture is a common injury, with an incidence rate of > 250,000 per year in the United States. Diagnosis is particularly important due to the high dependence on the integrity of the hip in the daily life of most people. Objectives: In this article we review the literature focused on hip fracture detection and discuss advantages and limitations of each major imaging modality. Discussion: Plain radiographs are usually sufficient for diagnosis as they are at least 90% sensitive for hip fracture. However, in the 3–4% of Emergency Department (ED) patients having hip X-ray studies who harbor an occult hip fracture, the Emergency Physician must choose among several methods, each with intrinsic limitations, for further evaluation. These methods include computed tomography, scintigraphy, and magnetic resonance imaging. Conclusion: We present an evidence-based algorithm for the evaluation of a patient suspected to have an occult hip fracture in the ED. Also outlined are future directions for research to distinguish more effective techniques for identifying occult hip fractures.     

Systematic Reviews Published in the April 2012 Issue of the Cochrane Library

ABSTRACT

The Cochrane Library of Systematic Reviews is published quarterly as a DVD but monthly online. The April 2012 issue (second DVD for 2012) contains 5045 complete reviews, 2182 protocols for reviews in production, and 17,084 short summaries of systematic reviews published in the general medical literature. In addition, there are citations of 674,000 randomized controlled trials, and 15,400 cited papers in the Cochrane methodology register. The health technology assessment database contains just over 11,000 citations. One hundred and seventeen new reviews have been published in the last 3 months of which 12 have potential relevance for practitioners in pain and palliative medicine. The impact factor of the Cochrane Library stands at 6.186. Readers are encouraged to access the full report for any articles of interest as only a brief commentary is provided.     

IRM et névromes des moignons damputation des membres inférieursMRI and leg stump neuroma.

OBJECTIVE: To describe RMI aspects of leg stump neuroma and to evaluate RMI scan interest for neuroma diagnosis and management.POPULATION AND METHOD: During a 2 years period, 224 amputated patients consulting for pain or prostetics problems were studied. In 10 cases, a characteristic pain leads to neurona diagnosis. This is described as a sensation of ascending or descending electric shock induced by the stimulation of an identified point with a reproducible topography. In all these cases, RMI scans were performed. In thirty two other cases, a RMI scan was performed to confirm a pathology (bursitis, bone abnormality) or in order to establish an etiologic diagnosis. Twelve neuromas were diagnosed.RESULTS: RMI scan showed a neuroma in the ten cases with a clinical suspicion and two asymptomatic neuromas were diagnosed out of the 32 patients without clinical suspicion. Medium delay between amputation and neuroma diagnosis is 11,6 year. In six cases, staking was modified and in six other cases, surgery was necessary. In aIl cases, clinical manifestations disappeared. Vanous RMI aspects ofneuromas are described and illustrated. Neuroma is observed on the extremity of a nerve that have a wavy aspect on its top. The neuroma is an oblong structure, with clear limits. There is an hyposignal with Ti sequence and variable signal with T2 and after gadolinium injection.DISCUSSION: RMI scan is a good way to diagnose amputee neuroma. It makes it possible to demonstrate the pathological character of the neuroma. It has to be performed when a neuroma is suspected. It enables to confirm the diagnosis and establish the exact topography and anatomic connection. Mechanical strains role as a factor of discovering the neuroma is discussed because of the concomitant evolution of associated lesions (bursitis, bone edema).Surgical repair takes place after correcting abnormal mechanical strains.