OBJECTIVE To investigate the bacterial cleanliness of tap water in a large accident and emergency (A&E) department for its possible use in the cleansing and irrigation of open traumatic wounds. METHODS Tap water samples were collected from different areas within the department and analysed on two separate occasions for coliforms, S aureus, clostridia, pseudomonas, and beta haemolytic streptoc...

BACKGROUND Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are crucial in the inflammatory and remodeling phases of wound healing. We previously reported the correlation between pro-inflammatory cytokines and timing of successful combat-wound closure. We now extend our studies to investigate the correlation between wound-remodeling MMP expression and wound healing. METHODS Thirty-eight wounds in 25 patients...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE The incidence of traumatic hemipelvectomy is rare, but it is a devastating injury. Recently, an increasing number of patients with traumatic hemipelvectomy are admitted to trauma centers alive due to improvements of the pre-hospital care. Successful management requires prompt recognition of the nature of this injury and meticulous surgical technique. We present our succ...

For hundreds of years poor and chronic nonhealing wounds have constituted a serious problem to medicine. What is more, treating such wounds is an expensive let alone a long-lasting process. The following paper describes Professor Scheller's achievements in using propolis for poor and chronic non-healing wounds. The authors' intention was to present the results connected with the use of the etha...

Jean-Pierre St Mart is Core Surgical Trainee Year 1; Steven Jeffery, Lt Col Royal Army Medical Corps is Consultant Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon; Major John Clark is Senior Burns and Plastic Surgery Military Nurse Specialist, Burns and Plastics, all at The Royal Centre for Defence Medicine, Selly Oak Hospital, Birmingham The injuries sustained by British soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq ar...

The signature wounds of the Iraq War are traumatic brain injury and post traumatic stress disorder (PSTD). Due to an emergent need to address the symptoms of these wounds in returning Marines and navy corpsmen, a memorandum of understanding between the U.S. Marine Corps and East Carolina University’s Psychophysiology Lab and Biofeedback Clinic was signed and training services were begun in Febr...

The axial and perforator vascularised fasciocutaneous flaps are reliable and effective treatment methods for covering lower limb post-traumatic, septic, Charcot, and diabetic foot wounds. The authors describe the unique utilisation of a hybrid flap as an axial-perforator flap combination for the treatment of a traumatic diabetic foot wound.