Vox Sanguinis International Forum on the use of prehospital blood products and pharmaceuticals in the treatment of patients with traumatic haemorrhage.

While specific practices and transported blood products vary around the world, most of the respondents in this International Forum transported at least one blood product for the transfusion to bleeding patients en route to the hospital. The most commonly carried product was RBCs, while the use of whole blood will likely increase given the recent reports of its successful use in the civilian setting, and because of the change in the AABB's Standards regulating its use. It will be interesting to see if plasma use in the prehospital setting becomes more widely used given today's enhanced appreciated of the coagulopathy of trauma and plasma's beneficial effect in reversing it, and if blood products are transported to the scene of injury by more vehicles, that is, not just predominantly in helicopters. It was not surprising that TXA is being widely administered as close to the time of injury as possible given its potential benefit in these patients. This International Forum highlights the importance of focusing attention on prehospital transfusion management with a need to further high­quality research in this area to guide optimal resuscitation strategies.

[Typhlitis].

Typhlitis (from Greek, "typhlon", cecum) is an inflammatory process involving the cecum and ascending colon--in neutropenic patients after chemotherapy. Early diagnosis and treatment is of great importance, since the mortality is high. In the past decade there has been an increasing number of reports, as well as impressive improvement in diagnosis, and treatment. We describe 2 patients treated in our department. We emphasize the evolving changes in the management of these patients, from early surgical intervention to conservative treatment, and the problem of prophylactic treatment for those who survive an episode of typhlitis.

[Psoas abscess mimicking septic arthritis of the hip].

Primary psoas abscess is a relatively rare and imposes diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. We describe a 16-year-old boy who presented with fever, limp and the clinical picture of septic arthritis of the hip joint. He did not respond to conventional medical treatment. When the diagnosis of psoas abscess was made and the abscess was drained, he gradually recovered. The diagnosis of psoas abscess is frequently missed. Correct diagnosis is very important because usually, cure only follows surgical drainage.