Biomedical subjects

R E Whitley

Publications and source records attributed to R E Whitley.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1996

Conservative treatment of copperhead snakebites without antivenin.

Polyvalent antivenin remains the most recommended treatment of crotalid envenomation, including copperhead snakebites. Because of the significant morbidity associated with antivenin therapy, some have proposed conservative therapy for less serious envenomations. Few if any studies have separated the treatment of the less serious copperhead bite from the more serious bite of a rattlesnake or a water moccasin. Fifty-five patients, including 12 children, with copperhead bites were treated over a 12-year period. All 55 patients were successfully treated conservatively without antivenin. Conservative treatment resulted in no deaths, limb loss, or residual disability. The mean hospital stay was 2.15 days compared with 3.9 days in patients with systemic symptoms. These data support a conservative approach to most copperhead envenomations and suggest that the treatment for copperhead bites should be segregated from the more serious rattlesnake and water moccasin snakebites.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1981

Vertical deceleration injuries.

Six patients simultaneously sustained vertical deceleration injuries. Vertical deceleration injuries are serious and characteristically involve major weight bearing structures with forces transmitted through the foot, leg, pelvis and vertebral column. Injuries of the lower extremity are likely to be unilateral and comminuted because the force of deceleration is applied to a small area. The severity of the injury increases by increasing the rate of deceleration and decreasing the distance through which the body is decelerated. More severe injury occurs when deceleration forces are applied to the body in the vertical axis compared with the transverse, provided that mass, velocity and stopping distance remain the same.

Acceleration↗

PubMed1981

The effect of prophylactic drainage on subhepatic fluid collections after elective cholecystectomy: a prospective randomized ultrasonographic study.

Seventy-six patients undergoing elective cholecystectomy were randomly divided into drained and nondrained subjects and studied with sonography preoperatively and postoperatively to determine the incidence and fate of subhepatic fluid collections. In the drained group, detectable subhepatic fluid was seen in 5 per cent of patients, whereas it occurred in 20 per cent of nondrained patients. Although this difference achieved statistical significance (P less than 0.05), there were no complications directly attributable to the retained subhepatic fluid. On the contrary, this study supports previous observations that patients undergoing cholecystectomy without drainage have less postoperative fever. Subhepatic fluid collections occurred in a small number of patients so managed but were of no clinical significance in this study.

Adult↗