127 patients who were transferred to a regional referral centre for specialist treatment within 48 h of serious injury were reassessed on arrival in the receiving accident and emergency department by a trauma team. 80 transferred patients (63%) required intervention in the accident and emergency department to complete assessment or resuscitation. In view of the well recognised difficulties in m...

Hand injuries account for 2000 referrals to the Northern Ireland plastic surgery trauma service each year. Emergency nurse practitioners are increasingly utilised to assess and manage minor injuries and independently refer patients to the hand trauma service. This paper uses a newly developed scoring system to assess the impact of varying grades of referring practitioner on the quality and appr...

OBJECTIVE to identify the prevalence of trauma in elderly people and how they accessed the health system through pre-hospital care. METHOD documentary and retrospective study at a mobile emergency care service, using a sample of 400 elderly trauma victims selected through systematic random sampling. A form validated by experts was used to collect the data. Descriptive statistical analysis was...

introduction extra-hepatic bile duct injuries in children following blunt abdominal trauma are rare; early diagnosis and treatment are imperative for a good outcome. the purpose of this report is to describe the management of problems encountered in children with bile duct injuries following blunt abdominal trauma. case presentation a three year-old girl presented with obstructive jaundice and ...

BACKGROUND Screening for acute stress is not part of routine trauma care owing in part to high variability of acute stress symptoms in identifying later onset of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The objective of this pilot study was to assess the sensitivity, specificity, and power to predict onset of PTSD symptoms at 1 and 4 months using a routine screening program in comparison to curren...

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the amount and nature of adult facial trauma in Aberdeen, Scotland's third largest city, that requires referral to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary oral and maxillofacial surgery department by the Emergency Department and Grampian's telemedicine service over a six month period. MATERIAL AND METHODS A retrospective audit using oral and maxillofacial surgery trauma clinic and the...

It is not uncommon for patients with muscle pain to end up in a chiropractic office, either by referral from another clinician or by self-referral. There are many conditions including trauma that are associated with inflammation of muscles. Even healthy people who overdo it with strenuous exercise can suffer temporary inflammatory changes in their muscles. Many conditions that seem to involve t...

BACKGROUND Specialisation in spinal services has lead to a low threshold for referral of cervical spine injuries from district general hospitals. We aim to assess the capability of a district general hospital in providing the halo vest device and the expertise available in applying the device for unstable cervical spine injuries prior to transfer to a referral centre. METHODS The study was a ...

A pilot study of the use of digital images as an adjunct to telephone referral was undertaken. Hand trauma represented the majority of the twenty patients included in the study, and the system was found to be an effective aid to delivering appropriate management. We have found image analysis to be a useful addition to the telephone referral process already in use in our unit, but it is unlikely...