Articles

Therapeutic anticoagulation can be safely accomplished in selected patients with traumatic intracranial hemorrhage

Therapeutic anticoagulation is an important treatment of thromboembolic complications, such as DVT, PE, and blunt cerebrovascular injury. Traumatic intracranial hemorrhage has traditionally been considered to ...

Authors: Matthew C Byrnes, Eric Irwin, Robert Roach, Molly James, Patrick K Horst and Patty Reicks

A decade of civilian vascular trauma in Kosovo

We sought to analyze the results of arterial injury management in a busy metropolitan vascular unit and risk factors associated with mortality and morbidity.

Authors: Luan Jaha, Tatjana Andreevska, Hajriz Rudari, Bekim Ademi and Vlora Ismaili-Jaha

Strangulated intercostal liver herniation subsequent to blunt trauma. First report with review of the world literature

Traumatic transdiaphragmatic intercostal hernia, defined as an acquired herniation of abdominal contents through disrupted intercostal muscles, is a rarely reported entity. We present the first reported case o...

Authors: Cino Bendinelli, Andrew Martin, Shane D Nebauer and Zsolt J Balogh

The value of C-reactive protein and lactate in the acute abdomen in the emergency department

This report describes the presentation of three critically ill patients with non-traumatic acute abdominal pain and increased concentrations of the biomarkers C-reactive protein (CRP) and lactate. In these thr...

Authors: Zainna C Meyer, Jennifer MJ Schreinemakers and Lijckle van der Laan

Endoscopic management of pancreatic duct injury by endoscopic stent placement: a case report and literature review

Recently, the diagnostic evaluation of pancreatic injury has improved dramatically. On the other hand, it is occasionally difficult to diagnose pancreatic injury, because there are no specific signs, symptoms,...

Authors: Yasuhiro Ito, Takeshi Kenmochi, Tomoyuki Irino, Tomohisa Egawa, Shinobu Hayashi, Atsushi Nagashima, Nao Hiroe, Mitsuhide Kitano and Yuko Kitagawa

Diaphragmatic rupture causing repeated vomiting in a combined abdominal and head injury patient: a case report and review of the literature

Diaphragmatic rupture after blunt abdominal injury is a rare trauma condition. Delayed diagnosis is not uncommon especially in the emergency room setting. Associated injuries often shift diagnosis and treatmen...

Authors: Dimitrios Symeonidis, Michail Spyridakis, Georgios Koukoulis, Grigorios Christodoulidis, Ioannis Mamaloudis and Konstantinos Tepetes

A rare cause of gastrointestinal phytobezoars: diospyros lotus

Diospyros Lotus (“Wild Date Palm of Trabzon or Persimmon”), which has been proven to cause phytobezoars, is a widely consumed fruit in the Black Sea and Northeast Anatolia regions of Turkey. The aim of the pre...

Authors: Gökhan Ertuğrul, Murat Coşkun, Mahsuni Sevinç, Behzat Yelimlieş, Fisun Ertuğrul and Toygar Toydemir

Traumatic subclavian arterial rupture: a case report and review of literature

Subclavian artery injuries represent an uncommon complication of blunt chest trauma, this structure being protected by subclavius muscle, the clavicle, the first rib, and the deep cervical fascia as well as th...

Authors: Marco Assenza, Leonardo Centonze, Lorenzo Valesini, Gabriele Campana, Mario Corona and Claudio Modini

How to mend a broken heart: a major stab wound of the left ventricle

A 28-year-old male admitted with a stab wound under his left nipple, underwent emergency surgery because of confusion, a decreasing blood pressure and increasing tachycardia. A median sternotomy incision was m...

Authors: Mari-Liis Kaljusto and Theis Tønnessen

Isolated extrahepatic bile duct rupture: a rare consequence of blunt abdominal trauma. Case report and review of the literature

A 16-year-old girl suffered blunt abdominal trauma. Clinically, a severe motor impairment with paraesthesia of the legs was found. Posterior osteosynthesis in T10-L1 with laminectomy in T10-T12 and posterolate...

Authors: Ruben Balzarotti, Stefania Cimbanassi, Osvaldo Chiara, Gianpietro Zabbialini and Claude Smadja

Complicated intra-abdominal infections in Europe: preliminary data from the first three months of the CIAO Study

The CIAO Study is a multicenter observational study currently underway in 66 European medical institutions over the course of a six-month study period (January-June 2012).

Authors: Massimo Sartelli, Fausto Catena, Luca Ansaloni, Ari Leppaniemi, Korhan Taviloglu, Harry van Goor, Pierluigi Viale, Daniel Vasco Lazzareschi, Carlo de Werra, Daniele Marrelli, Sergio Colizza, Rodolfo Scibé, Halil Alis, Nurkan Torer, Salvador Navarro, Marco Catani…

Thoracic hyperextension injury with complete “bony disruption” of the thoracic cage: Case report of a potentially life-threatening injury

Severe chest wall injuries are potentially life-threatening injuries which require a standardized multidisciplinary management strategy for prevention of posttraumatic complications and adverse outcome.

Authors: James Bailey, Todd VanderHeiden, Clay Cothren Burlew, Sarah Pinski-Sibbel, Janeen Jordan, Ernest E Moore and Philip F Stahel

Treatment of burns in the first 24 hours: simple and practical guide by answering 10 questions in a step-by-step form

Residents in training, medical students and other staff in surgical sector, emergency room (ER) and intensive care unit (ICU) or Burn Unit face a multitude of questions regarding burn care. Treatment of burns is ...

Authors: Ziyad Alharbi, Andrzej Piatkowski, Rolf Dembinski, Sven Reckort, Gerrit Grieb, Jens Kauczok and Norbert Pallua

Factors predicting mortality in emergency abdominal surgery in the elderly

This study aimed to investigate clinical features of abdominal emergency surgery in elderly patients, and to determine factors predicting mortality in these patients.

Authors: Naoto Fukuda, Joji Wada, Michio Niki, Yasuyuki Sugiyama and Hiroyuki Mushiake

Proposal for a recovery prediction method for patients affected by acute mediastinitis

An attempt to find a prediction method of death risk in patients affected by acute mediastinitis. There is not such a tool described in available literature for that serious disease.

Authors: Sławomir Jabłoński and Marcin Kozakiewicz

Sigmoid volvulus in pregnancy and puerperium: a surgical and obstetric catastrophe. Report of a case and review of the world literature

Sigmoid volvulus is a rare surgical complication occurring in pregnancy and puerperium. Only 84 cases of sigmoid volvulus in pregnancy have been reported in the English literature so far. We have reviewed the ...

Authors: Muhammad R Khan and Sameer ur Rehman

Emergency total thyroidectomy due to non traumatic disease. Experience of a surgical unit and literature review

Acute respiratory failure due to thyroid compression or invasion of the tracheal lumen is a surgical emergency requiring urgent management. The aim of this paper is to describe a series of six patients treated...

Authors: Mario Testini, Francesco Logoluso, Germana Lissidini, Angela Gurrado, Giuseppe Campobasso, Rocco Cortese, Giuseppe Massimiliano De Luca, Ilaria Fabiola Franco, Alessandro De Luca and Giuseppe Piccinni

Blunt trauma induced splenic blushes are not created equal

Currently, evidence of contrast extravasation on computed tomography (CT) scan is regarded as an indication for intervention in splenic injuries. In our experience, patients transferred from other institutions...

Authors: Clay Cothren Burlew, Lucy Z Kornblith, Ernest E Moore, Jeffrey L Johnson and Walter L Biffl

Acute pancreatitis due to pancreatic hydatid cyst: a case report and review of the literature

Hydatid disease is a major health problem worldwide. Primary hydatid disease of the pancreas is very rare and acute pancreatitis secondary to hydatid cyst has rarely been reported. We report the case of a 38-y...

Authors: Amin Makni, Mohamed Jouini, Montassar Kacem and Zoubeir Ben Safta

An audit of secondary peritonitis at a tertiary care university hospital of Sindh, Pakistan

Peritonitis is the most common life threatening surgical emergency, which requires urgent surgical intervention and is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. The objective of this study was to highlig...

Authors: Ahmer A Memon, Faisal G Siddiqui, Arshad H Abro, Ahmed H Agha, Shahzadi Lubna and Abdul S Memon

Ex-vivo porcine organs with a circulation pump are effective for teaching hemostatic skills

Surgical residents have insufficient opportunites to learn basic hemostatic skills from clinical experience alone. We designed an ex-vivo training system using porcine organs and a circulation pump to teach he...

Authors: Yoshimitsu Izawa, Shuji Hishikawa, Tomohiro Muronoi, Keisuke Yamashita, Masayuki Suzukawa and Alan T Lefor

Typhoid intestinal perforations at a University teaching hospital in Northwestern Tanzania: A surgical experience of 104 cases in a resource-limited setting

Typhoid intestinal perforation is still prevalent in many developing countries. Despite the advances in the management, the outcome in these patients in resource limited countries is still very poor. This stud...

Authors: Phillipo L Chalya, Joseph B Mabula, Mheta Koy, Johannes B Kataraihya, Hyasinta Jaka, Stephen E Mshana, Mariam Mirambo, Mabula D Mchembe, Geofrey Giiti and Japhet M Gilyoma

Non operative management of liver and spleen traumatic injuries: a giant with clay feet

Authors: Salomone Di Saverio, Ernest E Moore, Gregorio Tugnoli, Noel Naidoo, Luca Ansaloni, Stefano Bonilauri, Michele Cucchi and Fausto Catena

Evaluation of gastrointestinal injury in blunt abdominal trauma "FAST is not reliable": the role of repeated ultrasonography

To determine the diagnostic Accuracy of Focused Assessment Sonography for Trauma (FAST) and repeated FAST in the patients with blunt abdominal trauma.

Authors: Afshin Mohammadi and Mohammad Ghasemi-rad

A review on gastric diverticulum

The gastric fundal diverticulae are rare. They can present with variable symptoms. We are enclosing a literature review on gastric fundal diverticulum. Lessons have emerged which may help in the management of ...

Authors: Farhan Rashid, Ahmed Aber and Syed Y Iftikhar

Necrotizing fasciitis: literature review of contemporary strategies for diagnosing and management with three case reports: torso, abdominal wall, upper and lower limbs

Necrotizing fasciitis (NF) is an uncommon soft tissue infection, usually caused by toxin-producing virulent bacteria. It is characterized by widespread fascial necrosis primarily caused by Streptococcus hemolytic...

Authors: Zdravko Roje, Željka Roje, Dario Matić, Davor Librenjak, Stjepan Dokuzović and Josip Varvodić

Ovarian vein thrombosis mimicking acute abdomen: a case report and literature review

Ovarian vein thrombosis (OVT) is a rare, but serious condition that affects mostly postpartum women. A high index of suspicion is required in order to diagnose this unusual cause of abdominal pain.

Authors: Nikolaos Arkadopoulos, Dionysios Dellaportas, Anneza Yiallourou, Andreas Koureas and Dionysios Voros

The need for new "patient-related" guidelines for the treatment of acute cholecystitis

Heterogeneity of patients affected by acute cholecystitis, and their co-morbidities make very difficult to standardize the therapy for this very common condition. The staging system suggested in the recent "To...

Authors: Fabio C Campanile, Fausto Catena, Federico Coccolini, Marco Lotti, Dario Piazzalunga, Michele Pisano and Luca Ansaloni

Bush animal attacks: management of complex injuries in a resource-limited setting

Though animal-related injuries and fatalities have been documented throughout the world, the variety of attacks by wild animals native to rural East Africa are less commonly described. Given the proximity of o...

Authors: Katrina B Mitchell, Vihar R Kotecha and Alphonce Chandika

Laparoscopic drainage of an intramural duodenal haematoma: a novel technique and review of the literature

Intramural Duodenal Haematoma (IDH) is an uncommon complication of blunt abdominal trauma. IDH's are most often treated non-operatively. We describe laparoscopic treatment of an IDH after failed conservative m...

Authors: Gregory J Nolan, Cino Bendinelli and Jon Gani

Technique for chest compressions in adult CPR

Chest compressions have saved the lives of countless patients in cardiac arrest as they generate a small but critical amount of blood flow to the heart and brain. This is achieved by direct cardiac massage as ...

Authors: Taufiek K Rajab, Charles N Pozner, Claudius Conrad, Lawrence H Cohn and Jan D Schmitto

Complicated Intra-Abdominal Infections Observational European study (CIAO Study)

Complicated intra-abdominal infections are frequently associated with poor prognoses and high morbidity and mortality rates.

Authors: Massimo Sartelli, Fausto Catena, Luca Ansaloni, Daniel V Lazzareschi, Korhan Taviloglu, Harry Van Goor, Pierluigi Viale, Ari Leppaniemi and Carlo De Werra

Role of clinical judgment and tissue harmonic imaging ultrasonography in diagnosis of paediatric acute appendicitis

Appendicitis is the most common surgical emergency in children; yet, diagnosis of equivocal presentations continues to challenge clinicians.

Authors: Ossama Zakaria, Tamer A Sultan, Tarek H Khalil and Tamer Wahba

Ten-year experiences with Tracheostomy at a University teaching hospital in Northwestern Tanzania: A retrospective review of 214 cases

Tracheostomy remains a very important life saving surgical procedure worldwide and particularly in our environment where patients present late in upper airway obstruction. Little work has been done on this sub...

Authors: Japhet M Gilyoma, Darius D Balumuka and Phillipo L Chalya

An Observational Study of the Etiology, clinical presentation and outcomes associated with peritonitis in Lilongwe, Malawi

Peritonitis is a life-threatening condition with a multitude of etiologies that can vary with geographic location. The aims of this study were to elucidate the etiology, clinical presentation and outcomes asso...

Authors: Jonathan C Samuel, Javeria S Qureshi, Gift Mulima, Carol G Shores, Bruce A Cairns and Anthony G Charles

Appendicular perforation at the base of the caecum, a rare operative challenge in acute appendicitis, a literature review

Acute appendicitis is the most common acute surgical condition of the abdomen. Diagnosis is made based on full clinical history and examination as well as supported by a routine blood investigation and urine t...

Authors: Chee Siong Wong and Syed Altaf Naqvi

A technical modification for percutaneous tracheostomy: prospective case series study on one hundred patients

The purpose of this study is to describe a technical modification of percutaneous tracheostomy that combines principles of the Percu Twist™ and the Griggs-Portex^® methods in a reusable kit. One hundred patients u...

Authors: Joao B Rezende-Neto, Argenil J Oliveira, Mario P Neto, Fernando A Botoni and Sandro B Rizoli

Intramedullary nailing of the femur and the systemic activation of monocytes and neutrophils

Trauma such as found patients with femur fractures, induces a systemic inflammatory response, which ranges from mild SIRS to ARDS. Neutrophils (i.e. PMN) play an important role in the pathogenesis of this infl...

Authors: Falco Hietbrink, Leo Koenderman and Luke PH Leenen

Analytical review of 664 cases of penetrating buttock trauma

A comprehensive review of data has not yet been provided as penetrating injury to the buttock is not a common condition accounting for 2-3% of all penetrating injuries. The aim of the study is to provide the a...

Authors: Raimundas Lunevicius and Klaus-Martin Schulte

Reexpansion pulmonary edema following a posttraumatic pneumothorax: a case report and review of the literature

The reexpansion pulmonary edema is a rare, but life threatening complication of a pneumothorax. Early recognition and a fast symptom orientated therapy are necessary for a good outcome. Several cases after non...

Authors: Mark Malota, Markus C Kowarik, Barbara Bechtold and Reinhard Kopp

Clinical profile and outcome of surgical treatment of perforated peptic ulcers in Northwestern Tanzania: A tertiary hospital experience

Perforated peptic ulcer is a serious complication of peptic ulcers with potential risk of grave complications. There is paucity of published reports on perforated peptic ulcer disease in our local environment....

Authors: Phillipo L Chalya, Joseph B Mabula, Mheta Koy, Mabula D Mchembe, Hyasinta M Jaka, Rodrick Kabangila, Alphonce B Chandika and Japhet M Gilyoma

Post-traumatic diaphragmatic herniation of the liver, examined by positron emission tomography: case report

We present a case of post-traumatic diaphragmatic herniation of the liver, which mimicked an intrathoracic tumor. After an automobile accident, the patient underwent thoracotomies for hemothorax and lung cance...

Authors: Katsutoshi Sato, Kazumasa Orihashi, Yoshiharu Hamanaka, Norimasa Mitsui, Shinji Hirai, Naru Chatani and Takashi Nishisaka

Breast Gangrene

Breast gangrene is rare in surgical practice. Gangrene of breast can be idiopathic or secondary to some causative factor. Antibiotics and debridement are used for management. Acute inflammatory infiltrate, sev...

Authors: Imtiaz Wani, Iftikhar Bakshi, Fazl Q Parray, Ajaz A Malik, Rauf A Wani, Mubashir Shah, Irfan Husasin, Altaf Malik, Sajad Wani and Wahid Syed

Limb salvage after gas gangrene: a case report and review of the literature

Gas gangrene is a necrotic infection of soft tissue associated with high mortality, often necessitating amputation in order to control the infection. Herein we present a case of gas gangrene of the arm in an i...

Authors: John Aggelidakis, Konstantinos Lasithiotakis, Anastasia Topalidou, John Koutroumpas, Georgios Kouvidis and Paulos Katonis

Spontaneous adrenal pheochromocytoma rupture complicated by intraperitoneal hemorrhage and shock

MEN2A is a hereditary syndrome characterized by medullary thyroid carcinoma, hyperparathyroidism, and pheochromocytoma. Classically patients with a pheochromocytoma initially present with the triad of paroxysm...

Authors: Joseph S Hanna, Philip J Spencer, Cornelia Savopoulou, Edward Kwasnik and Reza Askari

Surgeon-performed sonographic findings in a traumatic trans-anal rectal perforation

Early diagnosis and active management of trans-anal rectal injuries is essential for a favorable outcome. Intraperitoneal free air (IFA) is usually diagnosed by an erect Chest X-ray. Point-of-care ultrasound h...

Authors: Fikri M Abu-Zidan, Mohamed I Abusharia and Katharina Kessler

Single port laparoscopic appendectomy: are we pursuing real advantages?

Single port appendectomy, due to its cosmetic appeal and to a technique similar to classic laparoscopic appendectomy, is provoking an increasing number of publications and case series to explore its feasibilit...

Authors: Nereo Vettoretto and Vincenzo Mandalà

Challenges in the management of extremity vascular injuries: A wartime experience from a tertiary centre in Sri Lanka

Management of peripheral vascular injuries often present critical challenges in resource limited settings of developing countries. The additional burden from a military conflict poses further challenges. Delay...

Authors: WDD de Silva, RA Ubayasiri, CW Weerasinghe and SM Wijeyaratne

Tension pneumothorax and life saving diaphragmatic rupture: a case report and review of the literature

A tension pneumothorax is a known life-threatening condition which requires a needle decompression. A diaphragmatic rupture is a relatively rare injury and is difficult to diagnose. A combination of a tension ...

Authors: Sylvain AA Pilate and Stefaan De Clercq

Midgut malrotation first presenting as acute bowel obstruction in adulthood: a case report and literature review

Malrotation of the midgut is generally regarded as paediatric pathology with the majority of patients presenting in childhood. The diagnosis is rare in adults, which sometimes leads to delay in diagnosis and t...

Authors: Okiemute F Emanuwa, Abraham A Ayantunde and Tony W Davies