The management of penetrating neck injuries

In recent years, there has been a major increase in patients with penetrating injuries to the neck admitted to the Johannesburg Hospital. Pressure on resources led to increasing delays for surgery, and a policy of selective conservatism emerged. In common with other centers, mandatory exploration of all wounds that breach the platysma was found to be no longer necessary as it became clear that many penetrating wounds to the neck were best treated conservatively. A policy of blanket investigation of all nonoperated cases also matured toward selective investigation, directed by careful clinical examination. A retrospective study was made of all patients undergoing exploration for gunshot wounds or stabs to the neck at the Johannesburg Hospital Trauma Unit between 1994 and 1998. An overall mortality rate of 9% was mostly a reflection of severe, associated injuries. The evolution of the nonoperative management of cervical penetrating wounds is a good example of the validity of the concept of "selective conservatism." A distillation of the experience at a busy, urban trauma center is presented, with guidelines to manage these potentially lethal injuries.     

Surgical management of penetrating cardiac injuries using a fibrin glue sheet

A penetrating cardiac injury is among the most lethal of all injuries. We present a case of penetrating cardiac injuries to both ventricles. A laceration on the right ventricle was repaired using buttressed sutures, while an injury to the left ventricle was repaired using a collagen mesh dressing covered by fibrin glue (TachoComb patch) without employing cardiopulmonary bypass. The patient recovered uneventfully without a ventricular pseudoaneurysm. Our results demonstrate the usefulness of a TachoComb patch for penetrating cardiac injuries occurring adjacent to the large coronary artery in the posterior wall of the heart.     

Diffusion tensor imaging as an adjunct tool for the diagnosis of varicocele

A noninvasive imaging technique providing information about testicular dysfunction in testes with varicocele would be useful. The aim is to measure the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and fractional anisotropy (FA) in testes of infertile men with varicocele and to assess interobserver agreement. Sixteen infertile men with varicocele and 14 age‐matched controls underwent 1.5 T diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) MRI. Testicular ADC and FA were measured by two radiologists independently. Parametric and nonparametric statistical tests were applied to compare between the ADC and FA of testes with varicocele and normal testes. Interobserver agreement was evaluated. The interobserver variability for ADC (0.915) and FA (0.948) was very good. No differences in ADC (p = 0.294) were found between the two groups. FA was significantly lower in testes with varicocele compared to age‐matched controls (p < 0.001). An optimal cut‐off of FA 0.08 was found for the diagnosis of varicocele (sensitivity = 88%, specificity = 93.5%, positive predictive value = 91.6% and negative predictive value = 90.6%). Based on our results, FA is useful for the diagnosis of testes in infertile men with varicocele, with very good interobserver agreement. Therefore, DTI may be used as a noninvasive imaging tool in the work‐up of varicocele.     

Late sequelae of penetrating cardiac injuries

Fifty-four patients who survived a penetrating cardiac injury were assessed for late cardiac complications. The mean follow-up after injury was 23 months. Clinical history and physical examination suggested cardiac complications in nine patients (17 per cent). Electrocardiogram was abnormal, but usually not diagnostic, in 17 (31 per cent). Routine two dimensional Doppler echocardiography revealed abnormalities in 17 (31 per cent). Ten patients (19 per cent) had valvular or septal defects. Other abnormalities included pericardial effusion, ventricular and septal dysfunction, and ventricular dilatation. Although it is impossible to determine how many of these abnormalities were post-traumatic, it seems that the incidence of late sequelae of cardiac injuries is high, and it is recommended that routine late follow-up of these patients should be done. Assessment should include routine echocardiograms.     

Recombinant factor VIIa as an adjunct in nonoperative management of solid organ injuries in children

Background

Ongoing bleeding after blunt solid organ injury in children may require invasive therapy in the form of either angiographic or operative control. We report our experience in the use of a procoagulant, recombinant activated factor VII (rFVIIa), for controlling persistent bleeding in blunt abdominal trauma in children.

Methods

After institutional review board approval, the records of 8 children with blunt abdominal trauma, persistent bleeding, and managed nonoperatively with rFVIIa were reviewed.

Results

All 8 patients presented to our institution after sustaining blunt abdominal trauma and solid organ injury. All children had evidence of persistent bleeding with a drop in hematocrit and elevation in heart rate. Patients received a single dose of rFVIIa at 75 to 90 μg/kg (1 patient had 24 μg/kg) and had successful control of their bleeding without any further therapeutic intervention. Only 3 patients required a blood transfusion after rFVIIa administration—2 who had subarachnoid hemorrhages and the third during pelvic fixation. There were no cases of thromboembolic events after treatment with rFVIIa.

Conclusions

Recombinant factor VIIa is a useful adjunctive therapy in pediatric patients with evidence of ongoing hemorrhage from blunt abdominal injury and may reduce the need for invasive therapeutic procedures and transfusions.     

Unusual manifestations of penetrating cardiac injuries.

Penetrating cardiac injuries frequently first appear in an unusual and insidious manner, and their diagnosis may not be immediately obvious. In a series of 20 cases of cardiac injury, ten cases were indicative of such subtle symptoms, several of which were life-threatening. These unusual manifestations can be categorized as early, intermediate, or late. Early problems of four patients included the following: (1) sudden onset of shock during laparotomy, performed due to apparent abdominal trauma; (2) cardiac arrest on arrival in the emergency room; and (3) cerebral air embolus and mimicked symptoms of possible irreversible anoxic brain damage. The intermediate manifestations of cardiac injury are usually discovered in the early recovery period, and include myocardial infarction with cardiogenic shock and bullet embolus to a peripheral artery. Intermediate manifestations were observed in two patients. Four patients had late complications that included pseudoaneurysm, ventricular septal defect, valvular damage, and recurrent pericarditis. These late complications were observed between one month and 21 years after cardiac injury. This indicates the necessity of long-term follow-up of these patients.     

Surgical management of penetrating injuries of the esophagus

Although well protected and infrequently injured, penetration of the esophagus has a reported mortality of 10 to 30 per cent. The results of the management of seventy-seven patients with noniatrogenic penetrating injuries of the esophagus were reviewed. The region of esophageal injury was cervical in forty-five patients, intrathoracic in twenty-one patients, and intraabdominal in eleven patients. Gunshot wounds accounted for 75 per cent of the injuries. The overall mortality was 23 per cent. The highest morbidity and mortality was among patients with intrathoracic injuries, due to both difficulty in exposure and complexity of associated injuries. Because of the high incidence of late complications in intrathoracic injuries, cervical diversion and tube gastrostomy or complete esophageal exclusion must be considered early. Fundoplastic procedures were used in four patients with distal esophageal injuries. Although the overall mortality from truncal penetrating wounds has improved in recent years, the mortality from esophageal injuries remains high, reflecting a need for advancement in initial operative management.