[Acute abdominal trauma]. / Traumatisches akutes Abdomen.

BACKGROUND: In patients with multiple trauma, abdominal involvement is a particularly relevant injury pattern. Depending on the intensity and manner of injury, heterogeneous but often typical organ manifestations result. Knowledge of these injury patterns is essential for targeted diagnostics and treatment. OBJECTIVE: This review provides a presentation of typical forms of abdominal injury with appropriate radiological techniques and where applicable treatment. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Experiences and case examples from a supraregional trauma center are presented and discussed with the results of a Medline literature search and relevant parts of the german S3 guidelines on polytrauma. RESULTS: Traumatic abdominal injuries are subdivided into blunt and penetrating injuries. Among these groups, blunt trauma with splenic injury being most frequent followed by liver and kidney involvement. In penetrating abdominal injuries hollow visceral organs are most frequently affected. For diagnosis, ultrasound and with escalating injury severity, multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) are the most important methods. For years there has been an ongoing trend towards conservative management and interventional hemorrhage control. This is driven by improvements in imaging that enable a more precise classification and indications for subsequent treatment. CONCLUSION: Progress in radiology has led to an increasingly more important role for radiology in the management of traumatic abdominal injury. Therefore, it is crucial for the radiologist to gain interdisciplinary knowledge of the relevant trauma mechanisms and injury patterns of the severely injured patient in order to provide a treatment process that provides the optimal outcome.

Bertha Harris's Lover: lesbian and postmodern.

This article argues that the 1976 novel (reprinted in 1993) Lover by Bertha Harris, though receiving little critical attention in the past, can be considered an exemplary novel within discussions of both postmodern fiction and lesbian (or queer) theory. The article analyzes in particular the novel's self-consciousness as manifested by characters who cross-dress and who are artists (including the writer of the novel we are reading). The article calls for Harris to be added to the group of writers such as Wittig, Anzaldúa, Lorde, and Winterson, who are discussed within the context of a postmodern lesbian narrative.

Radius fractures in the horse: a retrospective study of 47 cases.

The case records, radiographs and treatment results of 47 consecutive equine radius fractures presented to The Ohio State University Veterinary Hospital from 1975 to 1985 were examined retrospectively. Chip fractures and incomplete fractures were not considered. Both diaphyseal fractures and fractures involving the physes were included. Diaphyseal fractures were placed into three major categories: comminuted, oblique and transverse; and subclassified as proximal, mid-diaphyseal, or distal. Fractures involving a physis were classified using the Salter-Harris classification system. The horses ranged in age from one day to 19 years old. Nineteen of the patients were destroyed humanely on presentation, and 28 were treated. Twenty-four of the 28 fractures treated were repaired by open reduction and internal fixation. Success rate was related to the age of the horse and the type of fracture. Adult radius fractures have a poor prognosis. Most fractures in foals are either physeal fractures or transverse or oblique diaphyseal fractures and have an excellent to good prognosis when repaired adequately.