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Biomedical subjects

D P Dressler

Publications and source records attributed to D P Dressler.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

The philanthropic string: medical aspects of military strategy.

Since antiquity, medical care has played an important role in both military strategy and conflict resolution. Although this is usually a negative and an unintended event, medical care can be a positive and a rational alternative to present-day weapons of mass destruction. Yet, military and civilian planners have not traditionally accepted, recognized, and used a "philanthropic string." Nevertheless, medical care can be an important factor in resolving international conflict, either in support of military operations or as a separate function. Therefore, it is timely, and pragmatic, to include humanitarian medical care in strategic military planning.

Altruism↗
PubMed1994

Austere military medical care: a graded response.

In war, there has always been a dichotomy between health care needs and resources, and until the mid 18th century, this was an accepted fact of military medicine. However, since then, health care has made remarkable progress based on a belief that a linear periodic deterministic approach will provide solutions to problems. The dichotomy between needs and resources has been recognized or accepted only in disaster or mass casualty medicine, and then only to a limited degree. While degradation to dyssymmetry or chaos and unpredictability is accepted in other scientific disciplines, it has been ignored in medicine. The unpredictability and dissonance inherent in providing military medical care exists, and requires an acceptance of chaos as normal and inevitable. Accordingly, graded responses or austere levels of treatment care plans should be developed that will provide for improved care, particularly in austere military situations.

Health Care Rationing↗
PubMed1982

Hemostatic and healing studies of sodium amylose succinate (IP760).

Acute and chronic studies were performed in the canine model to evaluate a new topical hemostatic agent in terms of initial hemostatic capability and tissue/material interaction during the healing process. IP760, a porous amylose succinate material, was applied to large splenic surface wounds in six acute and twelve chronic animals. Microfibrillar collagen (Avitene) was used in twelve chronic animals for comparison. While the hemostatic capabilities of the two agents were comparable, marked differences were noted in the healing response. In the IP760-treated wound sites the acute inflammatory response, granulation tissue infiltration with fibrosis and healing occurred earlier and in a more homogeneous manner than in the Avitene-treated wound sites. Healing of the IP760-treated wounds occurred concomitantly with the development of granulation tissue and fibrosis and the rapid resorption of the IP760.

Administration, Topical↗
PubMed1980

The effect of Hydron burn wound dressing on burned rat and rabbit ear wound healing.

The effect of Hydron burn wound dressing was evaluated using a standard Walker burned rat model (N = 156) and a rabbit ear wound model (N = 34). In both studies Hydron was administered only once in one group and changed twice weekly in another. Animals were predesignated as controls and for pathologic examination. Gross observations, including photographic documentation, and the pathologic analyses revealed no gross purulence or sepsis. No deaths occurred in the rabbit study. Of the 156 animals in the rat study only two died; a culture of the wounds revealed no sepsis. Statistical analyses revealed that in the rat study the once only application was significantly better at 7 days postburn than the twice weekly treatment and control groups. No significant differences among the treatment and control groups used in the rabbit study were revealed. The application of Hydron burn wound dressing did not adversely affect the wound healing.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

Evaluation of wound-covering materials.

Physical and in vivo (burned rat model) evaluations as wound coverings were performed for 1) a freeze-dried collagen/poly (epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL) film laminate, 2) a freeze-dried PCL "foam"/PCL film laminate, and 3) a heat-dried collagen/PCL film laminate. Porcine skin and cadaver skin were also evaluated in vivo for the purpose of comparison. Water-vapor transmission rates and Young's moduli were measured. The degree of adherence of the coverings to the wound were measured. Grafts which became significantly adherent (greater than 150 dyne/cm2) to the wound within 1 day were most successful in promoting the formation of a viable tissue bed which appeared ready to accept further grafting. The force required to remove the PCL foam laminate from a full-thickness excision wound was found to increase from 170 dyne/cm2 on the first day postgraft to 1500 dyne/cm2 by the tenth day. The force required to remove freeze-dried collagen laminate remained constant at 200 dyne/cm2 over the 10 day test period. For the heat-dried collagen laminate, a force of only 50 dyne/cm2 was required on day 1, increasing to 200 dyne/cm2 on day 6. Insensible water-loss rates of animals grafted with the laminates were found to be similar to those from animals with human cadaver skin grafts and less than that from animals with porcine skin grafts. When moistened, the laminates prepared using the freeze-dried materials were flexible and somewhat transparent permitting observation of the wound.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

Pulmonary bacterial defense. Effect of the burn wound on transfer of alveolar macrophage activation in rats by parabiosis.

The alveolar macrophage was studied in parabiotic rats using an inbred strain. Parabiotic pairs were sutured together at five weeks of age. Rats were subjected to a full thickness cutaneous burn of 20 per cent of the body surface area at seven weeks of age, and alveolar macrophages were washed from the lungs at six days post burn. The number of alveolar macrophages, their per cent of activation, and their ability to phagocytize and kill P aeruginosa in vitro were significantly increased at six days post burn in the burned controls and in both the burned and unburned members of the parabiotic pairs. No change in the alveolar macrophages was found in either unburned parabiotic pairs or in those which were sham-burned. These results indicate that a humoral or cellular agent produced either within the cutaneous burn wound or elsewhere as a response to the injury, traverses the parabiotic cross circulation to stimulate the alveolar macrophages.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

Corticosteroid treatment of experimental smoke inhalation.

The effect of four corticosteroid analogs was evaluated in the treatment of smoke inhalation injury. Rats were exposed to white pine smoke for 15 minutes at 25 C, in a specially designed smoke apparatus. Methylprednisolone, 10 mg bid x 2d, starting one hour post exposure, was most effective in reducing expectant mortality (22.6%). A single injection of methylprednisolone, 20 mg, at one hour, resulted in a 76.7% reduction. There was no significant difference between the single injection of methylprednisolone and dexamethasone, 4 mg, but the administration of analogs with primarily mineralocorticoid activity, cortisone and hydrocortisone, actually increased mortality. In the control rats, marked interstitial edema occurred by 24 hours, the absence of which following treatment correlated closely with the results of the mortality study. This suggests that post exposure death due to white pine smoke is a result of direct lung injury, with increased endothelial and alveolar membrane permeability and edema, and that administration of glucosteroids in massive doses was effective in reducing this permeability and resultant edema.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

Smoke toxicity of common aircraft carpets.

The smoke toxicity of three carpets commonly available for use in commercial aircraft was determined by ignition in a specially designed smoke apparatus. Rats were exposed for 15 min to three different fuel loads, on a weight-to-volume basis. Evaluation was by mortality, time of useful function (TUF), and unconsciousness. No deaths were noted with carpets A or C at 64 mg/l or 128 mg/l fuel load concentration; at 256 mg/l, 42% mortality resulted from carpet A and 4.5% with carpet C. Exposure to carpet B resulted in a mortality of 4.3%, 72.5%, and 100% at the three concentrations. The TUF data and time of unconsciousness correlated closely with the results of the mortality, but were much more sensitive. These studies indicate that a potential severe hazard exists with some types of carpet, and further research is needed to identify and eliminate these materials from aircraft interiors.

Accidents, Aviation↗
PubMed1974

Pulmonary bacterial susceptibility in the burned rat.

An in vivo model system, using the burned rat as a model of altered host resistance, was developed and studied to investigate the lung's ability to handle an aerosolized bacterial insult of either P. aeruginosa or S. aureus. Rates of lung bacterial clearance were correlated with mortality, bacteriologic and histologic results. Susceptibility of the lung to sepsis was shown to be directly related to host resistance and was significantly increased following cutaneous thermal injury. Exposure of burned, non-seeded rats to a bacterial aerosol on day one post burn resulted in a mortality of 50% (P. aeruginosa) and 11.1% (S. aureus). This mortality clearly demonstrates an increased susceptibility at day one post burn. In contrast, this susceptibility gradually decreased with time; no mortality in the burned rat when exposed on day six post burn or in the normal, unburned rat. Histologic findings correlate well with the mortality results showing a gradually decreasing severity of pneumonitis if aerosol exposure was further delayed. Lung bacterial clearance studies revealed that the initial good response of the pulmonary defense mechanisms immediately following aerosol challenge are short-lived and that a marked increase in pulmonary bacterial susceptibility occurs as early as 24 hours following thermal injury.

Aerosols↗