BACKGROUND Thoracic trauma is the third most common cause of death after abdominal injury and head trauma in polytrauma patients. The purpose of this study was to investigate epidemiological data, treatment and outcome of polytrauma patients with blunt chest trauma in order to help improve management, prevent complications and decrease polytrauma patients' mortality. METHODS In this retrospec...

Massive injury remains the most common cause of death for productive age group globally. The current immune, inflammatory paradigm, based on an incomplete understanding of the functional integration of the complex host response, remains a major impediment to the development of effective innovative diagnostic and therapeutic effort. This study attempt to investigate the pattern of inflammatory a...

BACKGROUND Although the term "polytrauma" has been in use for decades, no generally accepted definition exists. The aim of this study was to demonstrate that different polytrauma definitions applied to a specific patient population result in diverse subgroups of individuals, who in turn present a varying outcome. METHODS All patients (≥18 years) treated at our level I trauma center within a t...

BACKGROUND Management of orthopaedic injuries in polytrauma cases continues to challenge the orthopaedic traumatologist. Mass disasters compound this challenge further due to delayed referral. Recently there has been increasing evidence showing that damage control surgery has advantages that are absent in the early total care modality. We studied the damage control modality in the management of...

Severe tissue trauma-induced systemic inflammation is often accompanied by evident or occult blood-organ barrier dysfunctions, frequently leading to multiple organ dysfunction. However, it is unknown whether specific barrier molecules are shed into the circulation early after trauma as potential indicators of an initial barrier dysfunction. The release of the barrier molecule junctional adhesio...

BACKGROUND An animal polytrauma model was developed, including trunk and extremity injuries combined with hemorrhagic shock and a prolonged post-traumatic phase. This could be useful for the assessment of different therapeutic approaches during intensive care therapy. METHODS A standardized polytrauma including lung contusion, liver laceration and lower leg fracture was applied in 25 pigs. Th...

INTRODUCTION The aim of this study was to determine if any patterns of infection or bacterial resistance existed in critically ill polytrauma patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) at the CM Johannesburg Academic Hospital (CMJAH). METHODS This was a prospective, single-center study of patient laboratory records of 73 critically injured polytrauma patients admitted to an ICU. The d...

Foot injuries are an often disabling, especially when the diagnosis is delayed and treatment is inappropriate; this becomes significant in polytrauma where diagnosis maybe missed, and in young adults who are injured in the prime of life. No data on foot injury is available from India or any other developing country; we undertook a prospective 1 year study to evaluate incidence and epidemiology ...

Authors inform about the group of 8 patients with abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS) occurred as a complication in large blunt injury of abdominal cavity. To the ACS diagnose, the measurement of intracystic pressure is used routinely, whose values correlate fully with values of intraabdominal pressure (IAP). In case of increasing values of IAP over 25 mm Hg with positive clinical signs of ACS...

Although research shows that caring for a family member with chronic disease or disability can cause significant distress for caregivers, it also shows that families that function well and adequately support patients can improve the quality of life and health outcomes for their ill or disabled family member. Currently, little knowledge exists about how families function and cope after a loved o...