Analysis of anatomical localization and severity of injury in patients with blood transfusion in urban terrain hospital.

BACKGROUND: Blood loss is the most significant cause of mortality in trauma cases. In injured patients, rapid evaluation and appropriate transfusion is lifesaving. The present study aims to analyze the blood/blood products requirement based on available data and find any associations between the transfusion requirements and injury severity scores (ISS) and anatomical locations of injuries of transfused patients. METHODS: Between 30 July 2014 and 30 July 2016, casualties admitted to the urban terrain hospital (UTH) and transfused at least one unit of red blood cell (RBC) were included. UTH Transfusion Record Notebook data included patients' age, mechanism and anatomical location(s) of the injury, admission hemoglobin (g/dL) level, injury severity score (ISS), transfused units of erythrocyte suspension (ES), warm fresh whole blood (WFWB), fresh frozen plasma (FFP), and massive transfusion (MT) rate. RESULTS: In this study, all patients were male; the mean age was 28.7±7.8 years. Overall, 59 of 579 (10%) patients were transfused 458 units of RBC (ES+WFWB). Torso (thorax ± abdomen) injury was present in 61% of the casualties who underwent transfusion, and 93% of these patients underwent massive transfusion. In 71% of patients, the ISS was >15, and there was statistically significant high blood/blood products use and MT rate in these patients, respectively (p=0.021, p=0.006). CONCLUSION: Anatomical location of injuries and ISS are valuable in the rapid determining of MT and survival rates of casualties. Especially in torso injuries, bleeding control is difficult and transfusion requirement and mortality rates are high. This study presents the trauma of urban terrain conflict-related transfusion data from a UTH.

Case Report: Ultrasound-Guided Infraclavicular Brachial Plexus Block for a Case with Posterior Elbow Dislocation.

BACKGROUND: The interest in regional anesthesia procedures for the management of upper-extremity emergencies has increased. Toward that end, supraclavicular, interscalene, or infraclavicular approaches, with or without ultrasound guidance, are used for brachial plexus nerve blocks. Although many studies have reported on the use of ultrasound-guided supraclavicular and interscalene brachial plexus blocks for upper-extremity dislocations, very few studies have reported on the use of ultrasound-guided infraclavicular brachial plexus blocks. CASE REPORT: We present an adult patient with posterior elbow dislocation that is treated with reduction after applying an ultrasound-guided infraclavicular brachial plexus block. Additionally, we describe the infraclavicular block in detail and demonstrate the technique using images. WHY SHOULD AN EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN BE AWARE OF THIS?: Based on our experience, the ultrasound-guided infraclavicular block is a fast, safe, and efficient anesthesia technique that can be an excellent alternative to sedoanalgesia and other brachial plexus blocks for the management of elbow dislocations in the emergency department.

Efficiency of instant messaging applications in coordination of emergency calls for combat injuries: A pilot study.

BACKGROUND: Coordination of an emergency response team is an important determinant of prompt treatment for combat injuries in hospitals. The authors hypothesized that instant messaging applications for smartphones could be appropriate tools for notifying emergency response team members. The objective of this study was to investigate the efficiency of a commercial instant messaging application (WhatsApp, Mountain View, CA) as a communication tool for the emergency team in a level-I trauma center. METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated the messages in the instant messaging application group that was formed to coordinate responses to patients who suffered from combat injuries and who were transported to our hospital via helicopter during an 8-week period. We evaluated the response times, response time periods during or outside of work hours, and the differences in the response times of doctors, nurses, and technicians among the members of the emergency team to the team leader's initial message about the patients. RESULTS: A total of 510 emergency call messages pertaining to 17 combat injury emergency cases were logged. The median time of emergency response was 4.1 minutes, 6 minutes, and 5.3 minutes for doctors, nurses, and the other team members, respectively. The differences in these response times between the groups were statistically significant (p=0.03), with subgroup analyses revealing significant differences between doctors and nurses (p=0.038). However, no statistically significant differences were observed between the doctors and the technicians (p=0.19) or the nurses and the technicians (p=1.0). From the team leader's perspective, using this application reduced the workload and the time loss, and also encouraged the team. CONCLUSION: Instant messaging applications for smartphones can be efficient, easy-to-operate, and time-saving communication tools in the transfer of medical information and the coordination of emergency response team members in hospitals.

Ultrasound-Guided Femoral Nerve Blockage in A Patellar Dislocation: An Effective Technique for Emergency Physicians.

BACKGROUND: Patellar dislocation is an orthopedic emergency and its reduction can be painful. The aim of this case is to show that the ultrasound-guided femoral nerve blockage can be effectively used in the pain management of patellar reduction in the emergency department (ED). CASE REPORT: A 21-year-old man was admitted to our ED after suffering a fall down a flight of stairs. The initial physical examination and plain radiography showed a patellar dislocation in the right knee. We performed an ultrasound-guided femoral nerve blockage to provide a pain-free and comfortable patellar reduction. To our best knowledge, there is no manuscript except an old case series about use of the ultrasound-guided femoral nerve blockage in the management of patellar reduction in the medical literature. Procedural sedation is the preferred method used for this purpose in ED, but these medications need to be closely monitored because of their potential complications, such as nausea, vomiting, allergic reactions, and respiratory depression. WHY SHOULD AN EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN BE AWARE OF THIS?: Ultrasound-guided femoral nerve blockage gave rapid and effective pain control without any complication during the reduction in this patient. Therefore, we suggest this technique be used for pain management during the reduction of a dislocated patella in the ED.

[Hydatid cyst presenting with multiple recurrence and pelvic involvement: case report]. / Multiple rekürrensle seyreden pelvik tutulumlu hidatik kist: olgu sunumu.

Hydatid cyst disease is a parasitic infection which is caused by the metacestode form of Echinococcus granulosus and affects primarily the liver and lung. Bone involvement is found in 1% of patients afflicted with this disease. The spine is involved in about 50% of these cases. Herein, we report a 70 year old male case with pelvic and spinal hydatid cyst who was operated on eleven times.