Combined orthopedic and vascular injury in the lower extremities: indications for amputation.

A retrospective review was undertaken to determine risk factors associated with amputation after open fractures of the lower extremity that were complicated by vascular injury. During an 11-year period ending in December 1987, we observed open fractures in 31 patients and injuries to the popliteal artery in 16 patients, to the tibial arteries in eight patients, to the femoral artery in five patients, and to the dorsal artery of the foot in two patients. Vascular repair was accomplished in 25 patients; 12 patients had primary end-to-end anastomosis, 12 patients had reverse saphenous vein grafts, and one patient had a bovine graft. Of these 25 patients, five patients required amputation because of infection and three patients required amputation because of continued ischemia. Three patients with irreparable damage had immediate amputation, and three patients without distal ischemia had vessel ligation only. The risk factors associated with amputation were shock on admission (10 of 19 patients [p less than 0.02]) and a crushed extremity (10 of 18 patients [p less than 0.01]). The overall amputation rate, which included three immediate amputations and eight late amputations, was 35.2%. The data suggest that limb salvage is possible in two thirds of patients with combined orthopedic and vascular injuries of the lower extremity, but a history of shock or crush injury with vascular compromise is an unfavorable prognostic sign.

Incidence and diagnosis of C7-T1 fractures and subluxations in multiple-trauma patients: evaluation of the advanced trauma life support guidelines.

A 5-year retrospective review was done to evaluate C-7 and C7-T1 cervical spine injuries and to assess the advanced trauma life support guidelines for cervical spine evaluation. Eighteen fractures of C-7 and four fracture-dislocation at C7-T1 were identified. Nineteen of the patients had neck pain, tenderness, or neurologic findings on initial examination. Three patients were awake and asymptomatic. The initial diagnosis could be made from lateral cervical spine x-ray film in only three of the 22 patients. In the remaining patients, the diagnosis was made by either swimmer's view (7 of 8 positive), oblique views (1 of 1 positive), flexion-extension views (2 of 3 positive), or computed tomography (CT) scan (7 of 7 positive). In two patients, the diagnosis was not made in the first 24 hours. Follow-up x-ray films were positive in 3 of 22 lateral cervical spine films, 10 of 14 swimmer's views, 2 of 3 oblique views, 2 of 3 flexion-extension views, and 14 of 20 CT scans. The data support the advanced trauma life support recommendation for liberal use of cervical spine radiologic screening. We recommend that the screening examination consist of a lateral cervical spine film, and a swimmer's view, if necessary, to visualize C-7 and the C7-T1 interspace. We further recommend that strong consideration be given to the use of a five-view trauma series. CT scan should be viewed as complementary to conventional film techniques.

Survival after emergency department versus operating room thoracotomy for penetrating cardiac injuries.

The authors undertook a 6-year retrospective review to assess their experience with penetrating cardiac injuries. Special emphasis was placed on identifying patients with and without tamponade and those requiring emergency department (ED) thoracotomy. Forty-eight patients were identified. Overall survival was 64.6 per cent. Thirty-three patients had tamponade, with 20 requiring ED thoracotomy. Fifteen patients did not have tamponade and two of these needed ED thoracotomy. Five patients who had ED thoracotomy were long-term survivors (22.7%). The remaining 26 patients, 13 with tamponade and 13 without, received operating room (OR) thoracotomy and all survived. The data shows that excellent results are possible with OR thoracotomy for penetrating cardiac injuries, with or without tamponade. However, results are not as good when ED thoracotomy is necessary. This may relate to the severity of the injury, the duration of tamponade, or the inability to control cardiac bleeding during thoracotomy in the ED setting. Even though survival is low with ED thoracotomy, it is high enough to continue to support its use in the deteriorating patient with a penetrating cardiac wound.