Wound ballistics and blast injuries.

Wounds due to gunshot and explosions, while usually observed during battlefield combat, are no longer an exceptional occurrence in civilian practice in France. The principles of wound ballistics are based on the interaction between the projectile and the human body as well as the transfer of energy from the projectile to tissues. The treatment of ballistic wounds relies on several principles: extremity wound debridement and absence of initial closure, complementary medical treatment, routine immobilization, revision surgery and secondary closure. Victims of explosions usually present with a complex clinical picture since injuries are directly or indirectly related to the shock wave (blast) originating from the explosion. These injuries depend on the type of explosive device, the environment and the situation of the victim at the time of the explosion, and are classed as primary, secondary, tertiary or quaternary. Secondary injuries due to flying debris and bomb fragments are generally the predominant presenting symptoms while isolated primary injuries (blast) are rare. The resulting complexity of the clinical picture explains why triage of these victims is particularly difficult. Certain myths, such as inevitable necrosis of the soft tissues that are displaced by the formation of the temporary cavitation by the projectile, or sterilization of the wounds by heat generated by the projectile should be forgotten. Ballistic-protective body armor and helmets are not infallible, even when they are not perforated, and can even be at the origin of injuries, either due to missile impact, or to the blast.

Prehospital parameters can help to predict coagulopathy and massive transfusion in trauma patients.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of prehospital parameters, including vital signs and resuscitation (fluids, vasopressor), to predict trauma-induced coagulopathy (TIC, fibrinogen <1·5 g/l or PTratio > 1·5 or platelet count <100 × 109 /l), and a massive transfusion (MT, ≥10 RBC units within the first 24 h). METHODS: From a trauma registry (2011-2015), in which patients are prospectively included, we retrospectively retrieved the heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure (SBP), volume of prehospital fluids and administration of noradrenaline. We calculated the shock index (SI: HR/SBP), the MGAP prehospital triage score and the Injury Severity Score (ISS). We also identified patients who had positive criteria from the Resuscitation Outcome Consortium (ROC, SBP < 70 mmHg or SBP 70-90 and HR > 107 pulse/min). For these parameters, we drew a ROC curve and defined a cut-off value to predict TIC or MT. The strength of association between prehospital parameters and TIC as well as MT was assessed using logistic regression, and cut-off values were determined using ROC curves. RESULTS: Among the 485 patients included in the study, TIC was observed in 112 patients (23%) and MT in 22 patients (5%). For the prediction of TIC, ISS had good accuracy (AUC: 0·844, 95% confidence interval, CI: 0·799-0·879), as did the volume of fluids (>1000 ml) given during prehospital care (AUC: 0·801, 95% CI: 0·752-0·842). For the prediction of MT, ISS had excellent accuracy (AUC: 0·932, 95% CI: 0·866-0·966), whereas good accuracy was found for SI (> 0·9; AUC: 0·859, 95% CI: 0·705-0·936), vasopressor administration (AUC: 0·828, 95% CI: 0·736-0·890) and fluids (>1000 ml; AUC: 0·811, 95% CI: 0·737-0·867). Vasopressor administration, ISS and SI were independent predictors of TIC and MT, whereas fluid volume and ROC criteria were independent predictor of TIC but not MT. No independent relationship was found between MGAP and TIC or MT. CONCLUSIONS: Prehospital parameters including the SI and resuscitation may help to better identify the severity of bleeding in trauma patients and the need for blood product administration at admission.

Abbreviated laparotomy or damage control laparotomy: Why, when and how to do it?

The goal of abbreviated laparotomy is to treat severely injured patients whose condition requires an immediate surgical operation but for whom a prolonged procedure would worsen physiological impairment and metabolic failure. Indeed, in severely injured patients, blood loss and tissue injuries enhance the onset of the "bloody vicious circle", triggered by the triad of acidosis-hypothermia-coagulopathy. Abbreviated laparotomy is a surgical strategy that forgoes the completeness of operation in favor of a physiological approach, the overriding preference going to rapidity and limiting the procedure to control the injuries. Management is based on sequential association of the shortest possible preoperative resuscitation with surgery limited to essential steps to control injury (stop the bleeding and contamination), without definitive repair. The latter will be ensured during a scheduled re-operation after a period of resuscitation aiming to correct physiological abnormalities induced by the trauma and its treatment. This strategy necessitates a pre-defined plan and involvement of the entire medical and nursing staff to reduce time loss to a strict minimum.

Imaging of non-traumatic abdominal emergencies in adults.

Non-traumatic abdominal pathology is one of the most common reasons for consultation in emergency care services. Abdominal pain is the presenting symptom for many diseases, which often requires urgent care. Clinical history and physical examination are rarely sufficient to establish a definite diagnosis and imaging is usually necessary. The choice of imaging modality is oriented by the clinical context and guided by the institutional capabilities, safety and cost-effectiveness of the available tests. Plain radiographs have little or no place in the evaluation of the acute abdomen. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) still has limited availability in many hospitals, thus narrowing the imaging choice to ultrasound (US) and computerized tomography (CT). No scientific evidence exists to allow the imposition of one single strategy. At the present time, the clinician may choose either routine US evaluation complemented by CT in case the US is inconclusive or first-line CT (except for the evaluation of right lower quadrant [RLQ] pain, right upper quadrant [RUQ] pain and in pregnant women where ultrasound is the first-line study).

Feasibility of Catheter Placement Under Ultrasound Guidance for Progressive Preoperative Pneumoperitoneum for Large Incisional Hernia with Loss of Domain.

INTRODUCTION: Large incisional hernias with loss of domain (LIHLD) of the abdominal wall remain a therapeutic challenge due to the difficulty of replacing the contents of the hernia sac into the peritoneal cavity. Preoperative progressive pneumoperitoneum (PPP) is a valuable option. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of peritoneal catheter insertion under ultrasound guidance for PPP and to compare the morbidity and mortality of this new technique to previously used techniques in our department. METHODS: Medical records were reviewed retrospectively from February 1989 to April 2013 in a single institution. Three different techniques of PPP were evaluated: surgical subcutaneous implantable port (SIP), surgical peritoneal dialysis catheter (PDC), and radiologic multipurpose drainage catheter (MDC). Collected data included patients' age, sex, body mass index, medical and surgical history, hernia location, PPP technique, length of hospitalization, volume of air injected, morbidity and mortality linked to PPP, and the procedure of hernia repair. RESULTS: Thirty-seven patients with a mean age of 63.1 years were evaluated. Progressive preoperative pneumoperitoneum was performed using SIP, PDC, and MDC for 14, 11, and 12 patients, respectively. Overall morbidity related to the technique was seen in 36 % of SIP, 27 % of PDC, and 0 % of MDC. One patient from the SIP group died on the 3rd postoperative day due to septic shock following aspiration pneumonia. No postoperative mortality in the other groups was observed. CONCLUSION: The MDC is an interesting modification of the original technique and is a safe procedure. It is a minimally invasive technique with a very low risk of perforation of the viscera. Therefore, the use of a non-absorbable prosthesis with MDC technique can be offered for all patients undergoing PPP without increasing the risk of infection.

Contemporary body armor: technical data, injuries, and limits.

The introduction of firearms in the fifteenth century led to the continuous development of bulletproof personal protection. Due to recent industrial progress and the emergence of a new generation of ballistic fibers in the 1960s, the ability of individual ballistic protections to stop projectiles greatly increased. While protective equipment is able to stop increasingly powerful missiles, deformation during the impact can cause potentially lethal nonpenetrating injuries that are grouped under the generic term of behind armor blunt trauma, and the scope and consequences of these are still unclear. This review first summarizes current technical data for modern bulletproof vests, the materials used in them, and the stopping mechanisms they employ. Then it describes recent research into the specific ballistic injury patterns of soldiers wearing body armor, focusing on behind-armor blunt trauma.

[Subclavian artery rupture after road crash: many similitaries]. / Rupture de l'artère sous-clavière après un accident de la route : de nombreuses similitudes !

INTRODUCTION: Traumatic Subclavian Arterial Ruptures (TSCAR) are rare and with a poor prognosis. The aim of this study was to describe the epidemiological data and the medical charts of the initial care of each patient suffering a TSCAR following a traffic accident. METHODS: Using the register of the road crash in the Rhone department (France) that records every casualty using the AIS codes, we retrospectively reviewed the prehospital and intrahospital medical, biological and radiological charts of every patient. Follow-up was obtained at day 60 post-trauma. RESULTS: Among the 1181 severe traumatic injuries, five casualties have been recorded in the register with a TSCAR (0.4%). Four of the five patients died in an early dramatic fatal hemorrhagic shock. Similarities between casualties were observed for patients still alive at hospital arrival that associate 1) a two-wheel motorized rider (2-WMR) crashing without antagonist 2) a severe polytraumatism including thoracic and 3) orthopaedic lesions; 4) clinical and biological signs of a severe haemorrhagic shock; 5) radiological signs of scapulothoracic dissociation. CONCLUSION: TSCAR are rare with a high mortality. We recommend improving the early care by the recognition of the triad associating early severe shock, polytraumatism (thorax and superior limb) and radiological signs evocating scapulothoracic dissociation in a 2-WMR. These signs must lead to the operating theatre as fast as possible in association with early massive transfusions.

[Original vacuum dressing for the treatment of open femur fracture with gangrene immobilized by external fixation]. / Pansement aspiratif pour gangrène sur fracture ouverte du fémur immobilisée par fixateur externe.

We report a case of gangrene, which developed following an open fracture of the femur immobilized with an external fixator in a 45-year-old patient. A conventional vacuum dressing (VAC Therapy) could not be applied with the external fixator in place. An original vacuum dressing was thus fashioned after surgical debridement. Scabs were covered with calcium alginate. The lower limb was enveloped in sterile dressings and vacuum was achieved by suction with gastric tubes under adhesive films. The dressing was redone every 48 h in a surgical setting. Antibiotic prophylaxis enabled cure of the infection. Budding appeared within two weeks enabling skin grafting. Centro-medullary nailing was undertaken on day 30 to accelerate bone healing. At three months from the trauma, the initial loss of sensitivity in the leg and foot noted at the first weight bearing required programmed disarticulation of the knee after femur and wound healing. At six months, the patient had resumed his occupational activities and was pain free. This type of dressing could be useful for tissue loss over a fracture immobilized with an external fixator. This type of assembly can easily be installed in the operating room.

[Laparoscopic Janeway gastrostomy: an advantageous solution for self-sufficient enteral feeding]. / Gastrostomie tubulisée coelioscopique : une solution avantageuse pour une nutrition entérale autonome.

INTRODUCTION: Laparoscopic gastrostomy according to Janeway (LGJ) is an alternative to percutaneous gastrostomy techniques. METHODS: A series of 10 LGJ is reported. The laparoscopic technique involves an isoperistaltic tube of 6-7 cm of length and 10-12 mm of diameter is created by 2 applications of linear stapling and cutting device. The tube is led out, opened and fixed to the fascial and cutaneous planes and a Foley catheter is inserted. RESULTS: Mean operation time was 35 minutes. There was no complication. The LGJ was indicated in 9 patients with tumour of the pharynx and 1 patient with encephalopathy. CONCLUSION: The main drawback of the LGJ is the need of general anaesthesia. The main advantage is the creation by minimal invasive surgery of a permanent gastrostomy equipped with a removable catheter easily changeable by non specialized health professionals, and even by the patient himself.

[Liver abscesses secondary to sigmoid diverticulitis: report of four cases]. / Abcès intrahépatiques secondaires à une sigmoïdite diverticulaire: à propos de quatre cas.

INTRODUCTION: Pyogenic liver abscess often revealed by right sided abdominal pain and fever is a serious and life-threatening pathology. Biliary tract disease is the origin of the abscess in most cases but sometimes remains unidentified. A sigmoid septic source sometimes paucisymptomatic or hidden by an immunosuppressive treatment must be looked for. EXEGESIS: Here are four observations of liver abscesses, which are secondary to unknown sigmoiditis. The etiologic diagnosis was made either by abdomino-pelvic computed tomography or by enema with water-soluble products completed by a coloscopy. Each patient's liver abscesses were emptied by aspiration or catheter drainage in conjunction with antibiotics. Surgical treatment of sigmoiditis was performed either at the same time or later. CONCLUSION: Any liver abscess of unknown origin must lead to a search for unknown or disguised septic sigmoid pathology. Most of the time, injected abdomino-pelvic computed tomography makes the diagnosis possible, but enema associated with coloscopy is sometimes necessary.

The superior epigastric artery does not pass through Larrey's space (trigonum sternocostale).

The passage of the superior epigastric artery (SEA), the terminal branch of the internal thoracic artery (ITA), through the inferior orifice of the thorax differs in different reports. According to some, it passes through Larrey's space (trigonum sternocostale), therefore through a diaphragmatic orifice, but according to others it passes in front of the diaphragm and the transverse abdominal muscle. The aim of this study was to determine the position of the SEA in its thoracoabdominal segment. We carried out a series of 14 dissections (10 on embalmed cadavers and 4 on unembalmed cadavers), and a study of images from the Visible Human Project. Dissections always led to the same conclusions. After having dissected the trigonum sternocostale, we observed that no vascular element was present in the space, which was obstructed downwards by the parietal peritoneum and limited forwards by the aponeurosis of the transverse abdominal muscle. Inferior digitations of transversus thoracis were joined with the transversus abdominis. The SEA passed in front of the plane formed by these two muscles while the sternal and costal parts of the diaphragm were behind this plane. Whatever the level of the section of the Visible Human Project, there was always a musculoaponeurotic plane between Larrey's space and the superior epigastric artery and both veins. Larrey's space, or trigonum sternocostale, was limited medially by the lateral border of the sternal part of the diaphragm, laterally by the medial border of the costal part of the diaphragm, and anteriorly by the musculoaponeurotic plane formed by the transversus thoracis above and the transversus abdominis, below without a clear boundary between those muscles. The SEA, the terminal branch of the ITA, passed in front of this musculoaponeurotic plane.

[Resuscitative transverse thoracotomy]. / Thoracotomie transverse de réanimation.

The technique of resuscitative transverse thoracotomy is for use in case of circulatory arrest in the trauma patient. This technique, performed after orotracheal intubation, is initiated by a 5th intercostal space thoracostomy in each mid-axillary line. If the circulatory arrest is not caused by a tension pneumothorax, bilateral thoracotomies in the 5th intercostal spaces with transverse transsection of the sternum is performed. Middle vertical incision of the pericardium allows the evacuation of a cardiac tamponade. This wide surgical access has proved simple to perform, even by non experienced operators. It allows digital control of a heart wound, cross-clamping of the thoracic descending aorta or of pulmonary hilum, rapid perfusion of warm fluids through the right auricle and the performance of bimanual internal cardiac massage.

A new case of congenital cyst of the pancreas.

A new case of congenital cyst of the pancreas is reported. A 34-year-old woman was admitted with a painless, large, epigastric mass. Ultrasonography revealed an anechogenic retrogastric tumor. Computed tomography scan described a liquid cyst of the pancreas which was 15 cm in diameter. During surgery, a well-delimited translucent cyst was found and no local malignancy was observed. Extensive distal pancreatic resection with preservation of the spleen was performed and a thin part of cephalic pancreas was preserved. The liquid of the cyst did not contain any mucus. Microscopic study of the cyst wall described normal cuboidal cells and congenital cyst of the pancreas was diagnosed. Several diagnoses including hydatid cyst, pseudocyst and cystic tumors of the pancreas are discussed. Before surgery, lack of acute pancreatitis in recent medical history rules out pseudocyst and hydatid cyst. During the operation, if cystadenocarcinoma is easily ruled out, macrocystic serous cystadenoma is more difficult to exclude. Only histological examination of the cystic wall confirms the difference between cystadenoma and congenital cyst which remains an exceptional entity.

Review and evaluation of anatomy sites on the Internet (updated 1999).

In a preceding study, we had reviewed and evaluated the anatomy sites available on the Internet. The evolution of the available sites, the disappearance of certain sites and the appearance of new sites led us to update this list. In addition, the German-speaking sites were included in the study, which previously included only the Anglophone and French-speaking sites. Forty-eight sites were indexed and their addresses are available on the site of the Laboratory of Anatomy of the Faculty of Medicine Lyon-Nord (http://rockefeller.univ-lyon1.fr/Anatomie-Lyon- Nord). Compared to the scores allotted in 1998, we noted in 1999 a significant increase (p = 0.03) in the total score (12.13 +/- 2.98 vs. 11.23 +/- 2.28/20), which shows that the quality of the anatomic sites available on the Internet has improved.

Rat multiple organ blocks: microsurgical technique of removal for ex vivo aerobic organ preservation using a fluorocarbon emulsion.

A multiple organ block (MOB) is composed of en bloc removed organs (heart, lungs, liver, pancreas, kidneys, and bowel), connected by the vascular system, of which blood circulation is maintained by the heart and oxygenation by the lungs under artificial ventilation. The aim of this study is the description of a surgical technique of MOB removal in the rat. Ninety-five MOBs were removed from Wistar rats. The rats were anesthetized, a tracheotomy was performed, and the cannula was connected to a pressure-regulated respirator. A colectomy was performed. Ureters, vena cava inferior, aorta, and bile duct were cannulated using an operative microscope. The vessels that joined the MOB to the carcass were tied or coagulated to make removal of the MOBs possible. Once removed, the MOBs were placed in a vaseline oil bath at 37 degrees C and the aorta and vena cava were connected to an accessory vascular circuit to stabilize arterious pressure. Success rate (ex vivo survival of more than 10 min) after the 30th attempt was 90% and after the 60th attempt was 95% (global success rate 82%). Ex vivo survival of MOBs at 37 degrees C ranged from 1 to 450 min. Rat MOBs allows us to study the normothermic preservation of all the organs susceptible of being transplanted in one single series of experiments. We showed that removal of rat MOBs is feasible. This microsurgical technique is codified. Rat MOBs are suitable if perfusion liquids are difficult to obtain or if a great number of experiments are required. As MOBs are composed of synergically functioning organs in the absence of striated muscle, bone, and nervous system, they also could be useful for physiologic and pharmacologic studies.

Human maxilla bone response to 30 degrees oriented impacts and comparison with frontal bone impacts.

The aims of this study were to compare the responses of human maxilla and frontal bones under 30 degrees-oriented impacts. Maxilla and frontal bones of the same subject were impacted by a guided horizontal steel cylinder. Linear acceleration time histories and force time histories were plotted and corridors were proposed for maxilla bone response. Sensitivity of head dynamics in regard to impact energy level and localization showed the protection of the intracranial contents by the facial bones crushing. Injury risk curves were established for impact on frontal bone, showing a 50% risk injury for impact energy of 265 J or impact force of 7500 N.