Medical experience of a university hospital in Turkey after the 1999 Marmara earthquake.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to provide an overview of morbidity and mortality among patients admitted to the Hospital of the Medicine Faculty of Uludag University, Bursa, Turkey, after the 1999 Marmara earthquake. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of the medical records of 645 earthquake victims. Patients' demographic data, diagnosis, dispositions, and prognosis were reviewed. RESULTS: A total of 330 patients with earthquake related injuries and illness admitted to our hospital were included and divided into three main groups: crush syndrome (n = 110), vital organ injuries (n = 57), and non-traumatic but earthquake related illness (n = 55). Seventy seven per cent of patients were hospitalised during the first three days after the earthquake. The rate of mortality associated with the crush syndrome, vital organ injury, and non-traumatic medical problems was 21% (23/110), 17.5% (10/57), and 9% (5/55), respectively. The overall mortality rate was 8% (50/645). CONCLUSIONS: In the first 24-48 hours after a major earthquake, hospital emergency departments are flooded with large numbers of patients. Among this patient load, those patients with crush syndrome or vital organ injuries are particularly at risk. Proper triage and prompt treatment of these seriously injured earthquake victims may decrease morbidity and mortality. It is hoped that this review of the challenges met after the Marmara earthquake and the lessons learned will be of use to emergency department physicians as well as hospital emergency planners in preparing for future natural disasters.

[The analysis of traumatized patients who were admitted to the Uludag University Medical School Hospital after the Marmara earthquake]. / Marmara depremi sonrasi Uludag Universitesi Tip Fakültesi hastanesine basvuran travmali olgularin analizi.

The aim of this study was to analyze the victims of the Marmara earthquake who injured, especially had the crush syndrome. Our hospital received a total of 645 victims after the earthquake and admitted 330. Victims were classified into five different groups according to their diagnosis (crush syndrome, vital organ injury, vertebral and pelvic injuries, others and unknown) and their mortality rates were determined. Mortality was highest (21%) in the crush syndrome group. Second and third highest mortality were in the unknown (20%) and vital organ injury (20%) groups. The overall mortality rate was 8%. In conclusion the earthquake victims with crush syndrome and vital organ injury had the highest mortality and morbidity rates. Because of that so many departments (General Surgery, Emergency Medicine, Orthopedics Surgery, Plastic Surgery, Nephrology, Infection Disease etc.) had to be study in a great harmonious.

[Do emergency departments comply with the rules of patient transportation?]. / Hastaneler arasi sevklerde kurallara uyuluyor mu?

Emergency departments must comply with the rules of patient transportation. The aim of this study was to find out the compliance of the emergency departments in our region with patient transport the rules and regulations. 180 patients transported to our emergency department by an ambulance from another hospital, between 01.05.1999-01.07.1999 were analyzed. ACEP's (American College of Emergency Physicians) patient transportation rules were taken as a reference for comparison. Our findings have shown that the compliance to these rules is insufficient. Results of the study, will be presented to our colleagues working in the emergency departments in our region, in one of our monthly trauma meetings. State Department of health in the city, two state hospitals and Social Security hospitals in the region will also be informed about the results so that certain guidelines for better patient transportation can be established in the region.

[Trauma and resuscitation course (TRC): evaluation of the first 2 years]. / Travma ve resüsitasyon kursu (TRK): ilk 2 yilin degerlendirmesi.

Eight Trauma and resuscitation Courses (TRC): two instructor and 6 student courses have been organized in Turkey between December 1998 and November 2000. Questionnaire results of 121 students and 63 instructors were reviewed. We strongly believe that these results will be supportive for the courses in the future. Fifty-five of the instructors were from university, and 8 were from teaching hospitals. 121 doctors attended six student courses, the average age of whom was 34. Average time period following university graduation was 10 years (3 months 43 years) for the participants. Among these, 94% found the course content sufficient. The course book was determined as insufficient in terms of drawings and pictures by 15%. The main target population of the course was selected as emergency service doctors and practitioners. As a result we determined that the main criticisms were insufficient practical and video sessions and the lack of drawings in the course book our main goal is to accomplish the required changes, and make new courses more yielding and profitable, thus introduce standardization in terms of trauma care nationwide.

Outcome of major trauma in a Turkish university hospital: did integrated approach make a difference?

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of the institution in an in-hospital integrated approach to trauma on the mortality of severely injured patients in a university hospital in Turkey. We examined the effects of several risk factors, namely physiological parameters, anatomical findings, and the timeliness of therapeutic approaches, on the mortality of major trauma patients before and after the institution of integrated trauma care. The investigated risk factors were injury severity score (ISS), revised trauma score (RTS), anatomical localization of the injury, the type of injury, prehospital time, emergency room time, and referral from another hospital. TRISS (RTS, ISS, and age combination index) analysis was done for each patient and the M-, Z-, and W-statistics were calculated. Mortality in the low RTS and the penetrating injury groups decreased significantly. The overall mortality decreased from 32.5% to 23.3%. There were three unexpected survivors in the second period, but there were no unexpected survivors in the first period. Twenty-six of the first period and nine of the second period deaths were unexpected. A significant improvement was seen in the Z-statistics between the two periods. Z value increased from -2.47 to 0.55. In-hospital integrated approach to trauma made major improvements in the care of the patients with severe injuries, especially those with significant airway, ventilation and circulation problems.

Financial burden of trauma care on a university hospital in a developing country.

BACKGROUND: Trauma care is expensive and more so for the hospitals not subsidized by the government, as is the case in developing countries. In this study, the burden of trauma care on a typical Level I trauma center in Turkey was investigated. METHODS: Medical, demographic, and financial records of trauma patients who were hospitalized in the calendar year of 1996 were analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 347 patients had complete data available for analysis. The mean Injury Severity Score was 13.3+/-0.5. Total hospital charges and charges per patient were $547,391 and $1,577, respectively. There was a positive correlation between the Injury Severity Score and the hospital charges. Although 54.2% of the patients were self-payer and the rest (45.8%) had some form of a health insurance, 5.5% ($30,496) of total hospital charges of these 347 trauma patients could not be collected by the hospital. CONCLUSION: Trauma care is expensive and reimbursement is not always possible, but the hospital's nonreimbursed money was within tolerable limits, and the overall financial balance of the hospital from the trauma care was on the positive side, even in the absence of government subsidy.

L-glutamine enemas attenuate mucosal injury in experimental colitis.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate the role of 1-glutamine, short chain fatty acid, prednisolone, and mesalazine (5-aminosalicylic acid) enemas on mucosal damage and inflammation in experimental colitis. METHODS: Colitis was induced in rats with trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid in ethanol. Saline (n = 14), prednisolone (n = 13), 5-aminosalicylic acid (n = 14), 1-glutamine (n = 14), and short chain fatty acid (n = 13) enemas were applied twice daily to the rats for seven days after the induction of colitis. The sham group (n = 9) received only saline enemas. Rats were killed at the seventh day and their colonic macroscopic inflammatory scores were determined. Colonic mucosal gamma glutamyl transpeptidase activity and colonic mucosal malondialdehyde levels were measured. The same measurements but no enemas were done in the control group (n = 7). RESULTS: There were significant differences in macroscopic inflammatory scores between sham and colitis groups (P < 0.001). The macroscopic inflammatory scores of the colitis group were higher than the short chain fatty acid and glutamine groups (P < 0.05). Whereas the mucosal gamma glutamyl transpeptidase activity was diminished in prednisolone, 5-aminosalicylic acid, and short chain fatty acid groups when compared with the control group; in the colitis, sham, and glutamine groups the activity of this enzyme did not change. The mucosal malondialdehyde levels were significantly lower in the prednisolone and glutamine groups than in the colitis group. CONCLUSION: Only one of four agents tested, namely, 1-glutamine enemas, could decrease the severity of colitis both morphologically and biochemically. Moreover, L-glutamine prevented the colitis-induced oxidant injury in the colonic mucosa. On the other hand, prednisolone and short chain fatty acids seemed to improve only the physiologic changes of colitis.

Prostaglandin synthetase inhibition reduces peritonitis-induced early liver oxidant stress.

This study was undertaken to determine whether or not the prostanoid metabolism contributes to peritonitis-induced early liver oxidant stress. Lipid peroxidation products, malondialdehyde (MDA) and conjugated dienes (CD), were used to monitor oxidant stress. The rats were given a 5-cc intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of 25% rat feces suspension and then received either i.p. saline (peritonitis group, n = 11), vitamin E (n = 6), or diclofenac (n = 6). The liver and plasma MDA and CD levels were measured after 3 h. The plasma and liver MDA and CD levels were significantly higher in the peritonitis group than in the control (n = 9). Prostaglandin synthetase inhibitor (diclofenac) kept the liver and plasma MDA and CD at control levels. Antioxidant alpha tacopherol (vitamin E) was thus found not to be effective in reducing these increased MDA and CD levels. Peritonitis-induced early oxidant stress in the liver seems to be mediated by the oxidant-independent activation of the cyclooxygenase pathway.

Effects of vitamin E and cimetidine on peritonitis-induced lipid peroxidation.

To investigate the effects of acute fecal peritonitis on plasma and tissue lipid peroxidation and possible protective effects of vitamin E (Vit E) and cimetidine at 4 h in a rat peritonitis model, four groups were designated as: controls, peritonitis, Vit E and cimetidine. Plasma, liver, lung and kidney thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and conjugated diene (CD) levels were measured to monitor oxidative injury. The present fecal peritonitis model caused a significant elevation in liver TBARS; however, neither Vit E nor cimetidine was effective in preventing TBARS formation. Administration of Vit E and cimetidine caused significant decrements from the peritonitis value in liver and lung CD levels.

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy for acute cholecystitis.

Thirty-five patients with acute cholecystitis were operated on in a period of 17 months at Bayindir Medical Center. Open cholecystectomy (OC) was performed in 12 patients, and laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) was attempted in 23 of the patients. LC was successfully completed in 20 patients (conversion rate 13%). LC and OC groups were compared according to the sex, age, operative time, postoperative hospital stay, and gallbladder wall thickness. The differences in the mean operative time and mean days of postoperative hospital stay between the two groups were significant (p < 0.01). There were three (15%) and two (13.3%) postoperative complications in the LC and OC groups, respectively. In acute cholecystitis, LC increases the operative time but decreases the hospital stay compared with OC. LC does not increase the intraoperative and postoperative complication rates.

Thromboxane receptor blockade with BM 13,177 following toxic airway damage by smoke inhalation in sheep.

Thromboxane may play an important role in the pathogenesis of smoked mediated injury. We studied this possibility in 13 chronically instrumented sheep, which had the left lung exposed to smoke. BM 13,177, a thromboxane receptor antagonist, was given intravenously to six animals prior to smoke inhalation and during the experimental period. Seven animals received the vehicle. All animals were studied for 24 h under ventilatory support, then killed prior to harvesting lung tissue. Airway peak and plateau pressures in the vehicle-treated animals were elevated by 27% and 25% from baseline at 24 h post smoke inhalation. Concomitantly, the left pulmonary vascular resistance index rose continuously throughout the study period (baseline = 822 +/- 58; 24 h = 1819 +/- 84 dyn.s.cm-5.m2).BM 13,177 treatment completely prevented the rise in airway pressure, while the left pulmonary vascular resistance index was significantly attenuated (baseline = 726 +/- 79; 24 h = 1470 +/- 158 dyn.s.cm-5.m2) resulting in a significantly higher percentage of cardiac output being delivered to the smoked lung, compared to vehicle-treated animals. Thromboxane receptor blockade did not prevent smoke induced pulmonary edema formation. There was likewise no effect of BM 13,177 on the systemic hemodynamic changes seen following smoke inhalation. There was a decrease in cardiac index and an increase in systemic vascular resistance index in both groups. We conclude that smoke induced changes in airway and pulmonary vascular resistances may be mediated by thromboxanes. However, thromboxanes appear to play no role in the development of pulmonary edema and elevation of systemic vascular resistance following smoke inhalation injury.

Postburn gastrointestinal vasoconstriction increases bacterial and endotoxin translocation.

Splanchnic ischemia has been associated with bacterial translocation and increased endotoxin absorption from the gut. To study the effects of major burn on splanchnic circulation, minipigs were randomized to receive 40% flame burn and Parkland resuscitation or sham burn and maintenance fluids. Total and fractionated blood flow, O2 delivery and consumption, mucosal pH of the intestine, and endotoxin levels in the superior mesenteric vein were measured for 48 h, and then abdominal organs were harvested for bacteriological culture and histopathological analysis. Total mesenteric blood flow and fractionated blood flow to the mucosa-submucosa of the jejunum, cecum, and colon decreased 2 and 4 h postburn. Although mesenteric O2 consumption was unchanged, mesenteric O2 delivery and intestinal mucosal pH were decreased during the early postburn period. Concomitantly, endotoxin levels in the superior mesenteric vein were significantly elevated during the first 8 h postburn. The bacteriological cultures of the systemic tissue samples showed increased bacterial translocation in the burn group. After major burns, there is a transient selective splanchnic vasoconstriction, which is associated with intestinal mucosal acidosis and increased incidence of bacterial translocation and endotoxin absorption from the gut.

Living unrelated donor kidney transplantation between spouses.

From November 3, 1975 to November 3, 1990, 874 kidney transplants were performed at out centers. Of these, 675 (77.2%) were from living donors and 199 (22.8%) were from cadaver donors. Five hundred eighty (66.4%) of the living donors were first degree related while 99 (11.3%) were unrelated or second degree related donors, 29 of which were spouses. All donor recipient pairs were ABO-compatible, with the exception of one pair. Donor recipient relations were wife to husband in 25 cases and husband to wife in 4 cases. All were first grafts and started functioning during surgery. In this series, the follow-up for the recipients was 4 to 64 months (mean 33.5 +/- 4.5 months). One-year patient survival and graft survival rates were 92.4% and 81.9%, respectively. Two-year patient survival and graft survival rates were 92.4% and 78.2%, respectively. The single ABO-incompatible case is also doing well, 21 months postoperatively. This study demonstrates that the interspouse kidney transplantation may be used when cadaver organ shortage is a problem. While providing the couple with a better quality of life, interspouse kidney transplantation also enables the couple to share the joy of giving and receiving the "gift of life" from one another.