Complete urethral injury in the penile fracture: a case report and literature review

Penile fracture is described as a traumatic rupture of the tunica albuginea caused by blunt injury to the erect penis. It usually occurs as a single rupture of the tunica albuginea in one of two corpora cavernosa; a rupture with urethral injury is an extremely rare condition. Although its diagnosis is usually clinical, ultrasound plays an important role in confirming diagnosis and identifying the site of the injury. Here, we presented a case of penile fracture with complete urethral injury. A 43-year-old male was admitted to the hospital because of trauma to the genital and dysuria following sexual intercourse. After admission, the patient was diagnosed with double penile fracture and complete urethral injury after the physical and B-ultrasound examinations. Emergency surgery to remove the hematoma and repair the urethra was performed. The patient recovered smoothly and was discharged on the third day after operation. After two months’ follow-up, the patient urinated smoothly and achieved an adequate erection without other complications. In this case, consistent with previous studies, emergency surgery for penile fracture is necessary and can preserve the urethral function and sexual function. In addition, there are two lesions in tunica albuginea in this case, so careful search for the penile shaft during the surgery is important to avoid the missed injuries. This report provides evidence of an uncommon and underreported clinical case.     

The emergency medicine training needs of rural general practitioners

This study aimed to identify the emergency medicine training needs of rural general practitioners (GPs) in the catchment area of the Hunter Rural Division of General Practice. The GPs were surveyed using a questionnaire in which they were asked about their confidence levels in a number of specific emergency medicine skills, and about the areas of emergency medicine that they saw as priorities for upskilling. More than a third of GPs who were responsible for on-call work at the hospital indicated that they had low levels of confidence in a number of their emergency medicine skills, in particular skills relating to paediatric emergencies, cardiovascular emergencies, and respiratory emergencies. These emergency medicine domains were also seen as high priorities for upskilling by the majority of the respondents. The study shows that rural doctors need the opportunity to access emergency medicine training that provides upskilling not only in the management of clinical problems, but also in practical procedures.     

浅谈医院门诊部工作的主要特点与基本要求

翔实地阐述了门诊工作的特点：服务对象与病种的复杂性及心态的多样性;医疗质量监控缺乏系统必 ;病人就诊高峰的相对集中性;门诊诊治工作的时效性与风险性;急诊抢救工作的突发性与应性;门诊业务工作的多元性、专业性和服务保障工作的整体性;门诊部管理职能的双重性,同时提出了相应的基本要求。     

An action research investigation into the feasibility of experienced registered sick children's nurses (RSCNs) becoming children's emergency nurse practitioners (ENPs)

• ? Emergency nurse practitioners (ENPs) formally developed in accident and emergency (A & E) departments as a direct response to waiting times for the walking wounded, the need to reduce junior doctors hours and changes in nursing practice.
• ? ENPs existed informally for many years in minor injuries units and specialist ophthalmic departments.
• ? This study aimed to examine whether or not the role of ENP could be applied to the specialist service of a paediatric casualty department.
• ? The results showed that 3% of patients could be seen and treated to conclusion by a children's ENP, and some patients could have their care accelerated by a children's ENP.
• ? The introduction of children's ENPs would have an impact on waiting times, junior doctors work-load and the quality of patient care.

     

福州120院前急救系统2341例患者呼救原因、时间与年龄的对应分析

目的 研究福州市120院前急救系统的呼救原因、时间与患者年龄3个指标间的关系，为制订处理措施提供依据。方法 收集福州市120院前急救调度室1997年至2000年的呼救信息资料，以15％的比例从约1．5万例数据中，单纯随机抽样2341例，以SPSS8．0 for Windows建立数据库，以其中的对应分析(ANACOR)命令进行统计分析与绘图。结果 上午为心脑血管疾病，上夜为交通事故肇事及挫裂挤压伤的多发时间。14～29岁青年人交通事故肇事及挫裂挤压伤多见，30～59岁壮年人急性胃肠炎多见，60岁以上老年人心脑血管疾病多见。其它几项指标间未见明显的对应关系。结论 对应分析表明120院前急救系统呼救原因、时间和患者年龄间有一定的对应关系，这对于制订相应措施、提高警惕、妥善处理有参考价值。     

The use of intravenous nitroglycerin for cervico-uterine relaxation: a review of the literature

The safety, predictability, and ease of intravenous administration of nitroglycerin (NTG) have been firmly documented. In recent years, intravenous NTG has come to the attention of the obstetrician as a potent uterine relaxant. Intravenous nitroglycerin has been used to relax the uterus during manual extraction of retained placenta and to permit replacement of a contracted, completely prolapsed, inverted uterus. The use of this agent as a tocolytic has previously been reported in cesarean delivery of twins, in cases of intra partum external cephalic version, and for internal intrapartum podalic version of the second twin. This new procedure was also used for fetal head entrapment after vaginal breech delivery. The authors report a review of the literature about this subject. Received: February 1997 / Accepted: 20 June 1997     

Impact of medical practice guidelines on the assessment of patients with acute coronary syndrome without persistent ST segment elevation.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of introducing clinical practice guidelines on acute coronary syndrome without persistent ST segment elevation (ACS) on patient initial assessment. DESIGN: Prospective before-after evaluation over a 3-month period. SETTING: The emergency ward of a tertiary teaching hospital. PATIENTS: All consecutive patients with ACS evaluated in the emergency ward over the two 3-month periods. INTERVENTION: Implementation of the practice guidelines, and the addition of a cardiology consultant to the emergency team. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Diagnosis, electrocardiogram interpretation, and risk stratification after the initial evaluation. RESULTS: The clinical characteristics of the 328 and 364 patients evaluated in the emergency ward for suspicion of ACS before and after guideline implementation were similar. Significantly more patients were classified as suffering from atypical chest pain (39.6% versus 47.0%; P = 0.006) after guideline implementation. Guidelines availability was associated with significantly more formal diagnoses (79.9% versus 92.9%; P < 0.0001) and risk stratification (53.7% versus 65.4%, P < 0.0001) at the end of initial assessment. CONCLUSION: Guidelines implementation, along with availability of a cardiology consultant in the emergency room had a positive impact on initial assessment of patients evaluated for suspicion of ACS. It led to increased confidence in diagnosis and stratification by risk, which are the first steps in initiating effective treatment for this common condition.