Pediatric blunt abdominal trauma with horizontal duodenal injury in school baseball: A case report.

RATIONALE: Pediatric sports injuries, including those from baseball, most often are musculoskeletal injuries and rarely include blunt abdominal injuries. Duodenal injury is rare and often associated with other organ injuries. Because it has a relatively high mortality, early recognition and timely treatment are needed. Here, we report a case of successful treatment of a pediatric patient with duodenal injury incurred in the context of school baseball. PATIENT CONCERNS: A 13-year-old boy suffered blunt abdominal trauma and a right-hand injury caused by beating his abdomen strongly with his own right knuckle after he performed a diving catch during a baseball game. On the following day, the abdominal pain had worsened. DIAGNOSES: Computed tomography led to a suspicion of injury to the horizontal part of the duodenum. INTERVENTIONS: The duodenal injuries were repaired by simple closure. On the 10th post-operative day, an abscess formed in the retroperitoneal cavity because of an occult pancreatic injury. Ultrasound-guided percutaneous drainage of the cavity was performed. OUTCOMES: The post-operative course of the abscess drainage was uneventful. The patient was discharged from our hospital on day 72 after admission and was in good health at the 9-month follow-up. LESSONS: Regardless of the type of injury, we must assess the life-threatening conditions that can be expected based on the mechanism of the injury. In duodenal injuries, it is critical to perform surgical procedures and post-operative management based on the assumption of injuries to other organs.

The importance of simulation education for the management of traumatic cardiac injuries: a case series.

BACKGROUND: The management of cardiac trauma requires rapid intervention in the emergency room, facilitated by a surgeon with prior experience to have good outcomes. Many surgeons have little experience in the requisite procedures. We report here 4 patients who suffered cardiac trauma, and all 4 patients survived with good neurologic outcomes. CASE PRESENTATIONS: Patient 1 suffered blunt cardiac trauma from a motor vehicle accident and presented in shock. Cardiac tamponade was diagnosed and a cardiac rupture repaired with staples through a median sternotomy after rapid transport to the operating room. Patient 2 suffered blunt cardiac trauma and presented in shock with cardiac tamponade. Operating room median sternotomy allowed extraction of pericardial clot with recovery of physiologic stability. Patient 3 presented with self-inflicted stab wounds to the chest and was unstable. She was brought to the operating room and thoracotomy allowed identification of a left ventricle wound which was repaired with a suture. Patient 4 presented in cardiac arrest with multiple self-inflicted stab wounds to the chest. Emergency room thoracotomy allowed repair of a right ventricle laceration with recovery of vital signs. CONCLUSIONS: The management of all 4 patients was according to the principles taught in the ATOM course. Three of the 4 surgeons had no prior experience with management of cardiac trauma and credited the good outcomes to taking the ATOM course. These are uncommon injuries and formal training in their management is beneficial to patients.

Abnormal breathing of sudden cardiac arrest victims described by laypersons and its association with emergency medical service dispatcher-assisted cardiopulmonary resuscitation instruction.

BACKGROUND: Current guidelines for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) emphasise that emergency medical service (EMS) dispatchers should identify sudden cardiac arrest (CA) with abnormal breathing and assist lay rescuers performing CPR. However, lay rescuers description of abnormal breathing may be inconsistent, and it is unclear how EMS dispatchers provide instruction for CPR based on the breathing status of the CA victims described by laypersons. METHODS AND RESULTS: To investigate the incidence of abnormal breathing and the association between the EMS dispatcher-assisted CPR instruction and layperson CPR, we retrospectively analysed 283 witnessed CA cases whose information regarding breathing status of CA victims was available from population-based prospective cohort data. In 169 cases (59.7%), laypersons described that the CA victims were breathing in various ways, and that the victims were 'not breathing' in 114 cases (40.3%). Victims described as breathing in various ways were provided EMS dispatch-instruction for CPR less frequently than victims described as 'not breathing' (27.8% (47/169) vs 84.2% (96/114); p<0.001). Multivariate logistic regression showed that EMS dispatch-instruction for CPR was associated significantly with layperson CPR (adjusted OR, 11.0; 95% CI, 5.72 to 21.2). CONCLUSIONS: This population-based study indicates that 60% of CA victims showed agonal respiration, which was described as breathing in various ways at the time of EMS call. Although EMS dispatch-instruction was associated significantly with an increase in layperson CPR, abnormal breathing was associated with a much lower rate of CPR instruction and, in turn, was related to a much lower rate of bystander CPR.

A case of emphysematous cystitis diagnosed by exploratory laparotomy.

Emphysematous cystitis is a rare form of infection. Well known symptoms are: dysuria, urinary frequency and lower abdominal pain. We experienced a case of emphysematous cystitis presented with atypical peritoneal sign and computed tomography findings of massive intra-peritoneal fluid collection and abnormal gas appearance in pelvic space. Due to its presentation as acute abdomen, patient underwent exploratory laparotomy and the diagnosis of emphysematous cystitis was established. As far as we know, our case is the first report of emphysematous cystitis with intra-peritoneal fluid collection.

Secondary aortoduodenal fistula identified by ultrasonography.

A 73-year-old man underwent coronary artery bypass grafting, abdominal aortic aneurysm resection, and prosthetic implantation as a single procedure in 2002. His progress was favorable until April 2008, when he was admitted to our hospital with melena. B-mode ultrasonography revealed a 5-mm defect in the abdominal aorta at the graft anastomosis, and an umbilicated lesion was seen projecting between the posterior wall of the third part of the duodenum and the abdominal aorta. A color signal was noticed at this site on color Doppler ultrasonography, leading to the diagnosis of a secondary aortoduodenal fistula (ADF). We resected the inflammatory mass comprising the graft and the third part of the duodenum, and performed prosthetic re-implantation, omentopexy, and duodenojejunostomy. We could not find any previous reports of successful identification of secondary ADF using ultrasonography. When a patient with gastrointestinal hemorrhage following reconstructive aortic surgery is encountered in the emergency department, ultrasonography may be considered to be a useful modality in the diagnosis of secondary ADF.

Plasma ADAMTS13 activity parallels the APACHE II score, reflecting an early prognostic indicator for patients with severe acute pancreatitis.

OBJECTIVE: Severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) frequently progresses to pancreatitis-associated multiorgan failure (MOF) with high mortality. Decreased plasma ADAMTS13 activity (ADAMTS13:AC) results in the accumulation of unusually large von Willebrand factor multimers (UL-VWFM) and the formation of platelet thrombi, ultimately leading to MOF. The purpose of the study was to investigate the potential role of ADAMTS13:AC in the severity of SAP. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Plasma ADAMTS13:AC and its related parameters were sequentially determined in 13 SAP patients. ADAMTS13:AC was determined by the chromogenic act-ELISA. RESULTS: Within 1 or 2 days after admission, ADAMTS13:AC was lower in SAP patients (mean 28%) than in healthy controls (99%), and gradually recovered in the 11 survivors but further decreased in the 2 non-survivors. Patients with higher sepsis-related organ failure assessment (SOFA) scores showed lower ADAMTS13:AC than those without these scores. The inhibitor against ADAMTS13 was undetectable. On day 1, von Willebrand factor antigen (VWF:Ag) was higher (402%, p<0.001) in SAP patients than in controls (100%). VWF:Ag gradually decreased in the survivors, except in the 3 patients needing a necrosectomy, but remained high in the non-survivors. ADAMTS13:AC was inversely correlated with the APACHE II score (r=-0.750, p<0.005), and increased plasma concentrations of interleukin 6 (IL-6) and IL-8 at admission. UL-VWFM-positive patients had lower ADAMTS13:AC and decreased serum calcium concentrations, but higher VWF:Ag and IL-8 concentrations than UL-VWFM-negative patients. CONCLUSIONS: Plasma ADAMTS13:AC was closely related to the APACHE II score. This intimate relationship may serve as an early prognostic indicator for SAP patients. The imbalance between decreased ADAMTS13:AC and increased UL-VWFM could contribute to SAP pathogenesis through enhanced thrombogenesis.

Long-term results of high-dose extracorporeal and endocavitary radiation therapy followed by abdominoperineal resection for distal rectal cancer.

PURPOSE: To examine the complications, local effects, survival, and prognostic factors of preoperative high-dose radiation therapy in patients with advanced carcinomas of the distal rectum. METHODS: Forty-one patients with tethered or fixed rectal cancer located a median distance of 3.0 cm from the anal verge were treated with extracorporeal and endocavitary radiation therapy (70 Gy), followed 2 weeks later by abdominoperineal resection (APR). RESULTS: This combined radiotherapy achieved acceptable results. Postoperative complications developed in 18 patients (43.9%), 10 (24.3%) of which involved perineal dehiscence. Two patients (4.8%) suffered more than grade 3 toxicity. Destructive changes were histologically confirmed in all specimens, and there were four (9.8%) sterile specimens. Recurrence developed in 11 patients and there were 6 cancer-related deaths. Among six cases of local recurrence, three were found just outside of the radiation field. The 5-year survival and disease-free survival rates were 82.9% and 71.8%, respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed that nodal involvement was the sole independent prognostic factor for survival. Sexual function was maintained in the most recent patients who underwent APR with autonomic nerve-preserving surgery. CONCLUSION: Although the original aim of our treatment focused on curability, this combination therapy may be an option for selected patients, because of potential prevention of local recurrence, relatively low morbidity, and promising autonomic nerve function.

Hypertonic saline resuscitation reduces apoptosis and tissue damage of the small intestine in a mouse model of hemorrhagic shock.

The effect of hypertonic saline resuscitation on intestinal damage and the incidence of apoptosis after hemorrhagic shock were investigated. After anesthesia, male BALB/c mice weighing 24-34 g were hemorrhaged to the mean arterial pressure of 40 +/- 5 mmHg for 90 min. Animals were randomly assigned to four groups: 1) resuscitation with 4 mL/kg of 7.5% NaCl (hypertonic saline; HS) + shed blood (SB); 2) resuscitation with two times the volume of shed blood of lactated Ringer's solution (2LR) + SB; 3) sham (catheter only); or 4) control (no treatment). Intestinal damage was graded based on the extent of the vacuolation at the basal area of the intestinal villi. Apoptosis of the small intestines was examined with the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine 5-triphosphate nick-end labeling method and with DNA laddering. Caspase-3 activation, heat shock protein (HSP) 70, and HSP40 were assessed by western blotting. Apoptosis of the small intestine and intestinal damage were significantly lower (P < 0.01) in the HS+SB group compared with the 2LR+SB group 2 h and 6 h after hemorrhagic shock and resuscitation, respectively. This corresponded with more DNA fragmentation in the small intestine of the 2LR+SB group compared with the HS+SB group 2 h after hemorrhage and resuscitation. In addition, we observed less caspase-3 activation in the small intestine of the HS+SB group compared with the 2LR+SB group at 2 h after resuscitation. The content of HSP40 and HSP70 in the HS+SB group was similar to that in controls, but slightly decreased in the 2LR+SB group. HS resuscitation reduced intestinal damage and apoptosis after hemorrhagic shock, suggesting that HS resuscitation may improve the outcome after hemorrhagic shock by reducing apoptosis and damage to the small intestine.

Laparoscopic treatment for peripheral pancreatic duct injury after blunt abdominal trauma: report of a case.

We report the successful use of laparoscopy to treat a blunt pancreatic trauma (BPT) in a 33-year-old woman involved in a traffic accident. Computed tomography showed peripancreatic effusion and indicated an injury to the main pancreatic duct (MPD). Urgent endoscopic retrograde pancreatography (ERP) was performed. The ERP revealed a leakage of contrast medium from the peripheral pancreatic duct. The patient underwent drainage of pancreatic effusion using laparoscopic techniques. The patient had an uneventful course, and no complications have been detected a year after the operation. These results indicate that emergency ERP and laparoscopic drainage are appropriate for patients with peripancreatic effusion due to peripheral pancreatic duct injury.