Civilian casualties of Iraqi ballistic missile attack to Tehran, capital of Iran

Objective: To determine the pattern of causalities of Iraqi ballistic missile attacks on Tehran,the capital of Iran,during Iraq-Iran war.Methods: Data were extracted from the Army Staff Headquarters ba...     

Efficacy of Surgical Decompression in the Setting of Complete Thoracic Spinal Cord Injury

Abstract

Background/Objective: An assessment of neurological improvement after surgical intervention in the setting of traumatic thoracic spinal cord injury (SCI).

Methods: A retrospective evaluation of a nonconsecutive cohort of patients with a thoracic SCI from T2 to T11. The analysis included a total of 12 eligible patients. The neurologic and functional outcomes were recorded from the acute hospital admission to the most recent follow-up. Data included patient age, level of injury, neurologic examination according to the Frankel grading system, the performance of surgery, and the mechanism of the time-related SCI decompression.

Results: All patients had a complete thoracic SCI. The median interval from injury to surgery was 11 days (range, 1-36 days). Decompression, bone fusion, and instrumentation were the most common surgical procedures performed. The median length of follow-up was 18 months after surgery (range, 9-132 months). Motor functional improvement was seen in 1 patient (Frankel A to C).

Conclusion: Surgical decompression and fusion imparts no apparent benefit in terms of neurologic improvement (spinal cord) in the setting of a complete traumatic thoracic SCI. To better define the role of surgical decompression and stabilization in the setting of a complete SCI, randomized, controlled, prospective studies are necessary.     

Surgical treatment of discogenic sciatica

The evaluation of physical, psychological, social, and occupational factors are recommended in patients with discogenic sciatica. Surgical discectomy may be considered in selected patients with sciatica due to lumbar disc herniations that fail to resolve with conservative management for at least 6-8 weeks, or in patients with cauda equina syndrome. An appropriate pre-operative work up including neuroimaging is necessary. Surgery has been shown to be highly effective; shortening the time to recovery by around 50% compared to nonsurgical treatment. Whether one specific surgical procedure is better than other remains uncertain. Methodological limitations of studies evaluating the efficacy of percutaneous methods prevent ultimate conclusions. Post-operative complications occur in 1-3% of cases. If patients are appropriately selected, failures happen in less than 10% of cases. The most common modes of failure include recurrent disc herniation and fibrosis. Failed back surgery syndrome is also a challenge for spinal surgeons.     

The effect of tranexamic acid in traumatic brain injury: A randomized controlled trial

Purpose: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and disability. Intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) secondary to TBI is associated with a high risk of coagulopathy which leads to increasing risk of hemorrhage growth and higher mortality rate. Therefore, antifibrinolytic agents such as tranexamic acid (TA) might reduce traumatic ICH. The aim of the present study was to investigate the extent of ICH growth after TA administration in TBI patients. Methods: This single-blind randomized controlled trial was conducted on patients with traumatic ICH (with less than 30 ml) referring to the emergency department of Vali-Asr Hospital, Arak, Iran in 2014. Patients, based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, were divided into intervention and control groups (40 patients each). All patients received a conservative treatment for ICH, as well as either intravenous TA or placebo. The extent of ICH growth as the primary outcome was measured by brain CT scan after 48 h. Results: Although brain CT scan showed a significant increase in hemorrhage volume in both groups after 48 h, it was significantly less in the TA group than in the control group (p ¼ 0.04). The mean total hemorrhage expansion was (1.7 ± 9.7) ml and (4.3 ± 12.9) ml in TA and placebo groups, respectively (p < 0.001). Conclusion: It has been established that TA, as an effective hospital-based treatment for acute TBI, could reduce ICH growth. Larger studies are needed to compare the effectiveness of different doses.     

Alcohol consumption for simulated driving performance: A systematic review

Purpose: Alcohol consumption can lead to risky driving and increase the frequency of traffic accidents, injuries and mortalities. The main purpose of our study was to compare simulated driving performance between two groups of drivers, one consumed alcohol and the other not consumed, using a systematic review. Methods: In this systematic review, electronic resources and databases including Medline via Ovid SP, EMBASE via Ovid SP, PsycINFO via Ovid SP, PubMed, Scopus, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINHAL) via EBSCOhost were comprehensively and systematically searched. The randomized controlled clinical trials that compared simulated driving performance between two groups of drivers, one consumed alcohol and the other not consumed, were included. Lane position standard deviation (LPSD), mean of lane position deviation (MLPD), speed, mean of speed deviation (MSD), standard deviation of speed deviation (SDSD), number of accidents (NA) and line crossing (LC) were considered as the main parameters evaluating outcomes. After title and abstract screening, the articles were enrolled for data extraction and they were evaluated for risk of biases. Results: Thirteen papers were included in our qualitative synthesis. All included papers were classified as high risk of biases. Alcohol consumption mostly deteriorated the following performance outcomes in descending order: SDSD, LPSD, speed, MLPD, LC and NA. Our systematic review had troublesome heterogeneity. Conclusion: Alcohol consumption may decrease simulated driving performance in alcohol consumed people compared with non-alcohol consumed people via changes in SDSD, LPSD, speed, MLPD, LC and NA. More well-designed randomized controlled clinical trials are recommended.     

Preventing motor vehicle crashes related spine injuries in children

Background  

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating event that results in permanent disability for injured children. Among all etiologies of SCI, motor vehicle crashes (MVCs) are the leading cause and account for 29% of all traumatic SCIs in children. We tried to evaluate types and mechanisms of MVC-related spinal column and spinal cord injuries, risk factors, safety issues and legislation.