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S Sauerland

Publications and source records attributed to S Sauerland.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

[Personnel and structural requirements for the shock trauma room management of multiple trauma. A systematic review of the literature].

The aim of the study was the description of personal and structural preconditions essential for adequate diagnostic requirements and treatment in severely injured patients. Herein we give detailed information regarding both the composition and qualification of the trauma team and the activation criteria as well as instructions for the design of the emergency room and technical requirements. Clinical trials were systematically collected (MEDLINE, Cochrane, and hand searches) and classified into evidence levels (1 to 5 according to the Oxford system). The trauma team should consist of (trauma) surgeons, anesthesiologists, radiologists, and one to two nursing staff members of each department. The attending physician should be present within 20 min. Trauma team activation criteria are among others: high energy/velocity trauma, penetrating injuries, GCS < or =14, and intubation. The emergency room should be integrated in the emergency department with all technical equipment being permanently available for optimal diagnostic and therapeutic management. A CT scanner should be positioned nearby.Adequate management of severely injured patients requires optimal personal and structural conditions. High costs and additional personnel are justified by improved quality of treatment.

Emergency Medical Services↗

[Diagnosis and immediate therapeutic management of chest trauma. A systematic review of the literature].

OBJECTIVE: Injuries to the chest contribute significantly to the morbidity and mortality in multiple injured patients. This systematic review focuses on evidence based initial diagnostics and emergency room management of chest trauma. METHODS: Clinical trials was systematically collected (Medline, Cochrane and hand searches) and classified into evidence levels (1 to 5 according to the Oxford system). RESULTS: There are only a few studies that document the impact of injury mechanism and clinical examination of the patient. There is a positive correlation between crash severity or lateral impact with injury severity. Auscultation was found to be very sensitive in the detection of pneumothorax. Helical CT of the chest is most important in the initial work-up. Aortography is only indicated in selected cases. Whether tube thoracostomy is necessary in patients with occult pneumotharaces is still a matter of discussion. Indications for endotracheal intubation are poorly investigated and predominantly based on expert opinion. CONCLUSION: Numerous comparative studies (LE 2) dealing with emergency diagnostics and therapy of chest trauma are available, however only a few randomized studies do exist. Based on the available data a rational therapy of chest trauma is possible.

Clinical Trials as Topic↗

The Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT): better presentation of surgical trials in the Journal of Hand Surgery.

To assure readers that study results are scientifically valid, the methods of a clinical trial should be described adequately. Since randomization, blinding, and intention-to-treat-analysis are major bias-reducing techniques, these aspects should be reported most accurately. The Consolidated standards of reporting trials (CONSORT) are recommendations to improve the reporting of trials. CONSORT requires that trial authors describe basic methodological aspects that readers need to appraise the strengths of reported clinical trials. This article presents the CONSORT recommendations and explains some of their main aspects. From now on, the Journal of Hand Surgery will use CONSORT to assist authors of randomized controlled trials in improving the description of their studies. We believe that this decision increases the scientific validity of study reports and helps readers when critically appraising articles.

Data Interpretation, Statistical↗

Obesity is a risk factor for recurrence after incisional hernia repair.

BACKGROUND: Any individualisation of incisional hernia repair requires a profound knowledge of risk factors for recurrence. METHODS: A series of 160 patients underwent incisional hernia repair and were prospectively followed up at 3, 6, 12, and 24 months after surgery. We analysed the importance of various variables to predict recurrence. RESULTS: An overall recurrence rate of 11% ( n=17) was observed. The risk for recurrence was not significantly affected by any of the clinical variables except for obesity ( P=0.03). Even when controlling for the influence of age, gender, hernia size, and surgical technique, obesity remained a significant predictor with a rate ratio of 1.10 per unit BMI (95%-CI: 1.02-1.18; P=0.01). CONCLUSION: This and other studies found hernia recurrence to be more likely in obese patients. Probably, such patients, therefore, should receive mesh rather than suture repair.

Adult↗

Port function after laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding for morbid obesity.

BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LGB) has gained wide popularity, but information on port function is limited. METHODS: In a prospective nonrandomized study, we analyzed port function and related symptoms in 50 consecutive patients with severe obesity. All patients underwent LGP in a five trocar technique. In 11 patients, the port was placed subcutaneously in the subxiphoid region. In 39 patients, the port was implanted in the left upper abdomen. Mean duration of follow-up was 2.8 years. RESULTS: Patients (12 males and 38 females) had an initial body mass index (BMI) of 47.1 kg/m2. Puncturing the subxiphoidal port was without problems in all 11 patients. However, seven women reported pain and inconvenience when wearing a brassiere. Two underwent port reimplantation in the left upper abdomen (one due to infection; one due to pain). Among the 39 patients with abdominal port implantation, nine patients required port correction (two of them twice). The causes were port dislocation (four cases), difficult puncturing (three), tube leakage (three), and infection (one). CONCLUSION: The high number of complications suggests that the port is the Achilles' heel of LGB. Ports at the subxiphoid site were easier to puncture, but frequently caused pain in female patients.

Adult↗

[Surgical pain management. A Germany-wide survey including the effect of clinical guidelines].

INTRODUCTION: Over the last few years, various studies have aimed at improving the diagnosis and therapy of perioperative and posttraumatic pain. METHODS: In an anonymous postal survey, 2,393 German surgical clinics were asked to describe several aspects of their clinical pain treatment. In order to assess the influence of interdisciplinary guidelines on surgical pain therapy, the results of this survey were compared to a survey from 1997. RESULTS: The response rate was 30.8% ( n=738). Pain was measured quantitatively in 11.4% ( n=80) of hospitals, a figure which is unchanged since 1997. In pain treatment,however, some changes were discernible: while 46.6% of all hospitals in 1997 used patient-controlled analgesia often or occasionally, this proportion has risen to 64.5%.Both, the national acute pain guidelines and the WHO chronic pain guidelines were well known (71.3% and 74.7%) and accepted (98.8% and 98.5%, respectively). Among those surgeons who knew the national guidelines,93.7% reported that they used them clinically. In 149 hospitals (20.2%), local guidelines have been developed either anew or from existing guidelines. CONCLUSIONS: Although clinical guidelines are widely used, pain therapy in surgical patients has improved only marginally.

Acute Disease↗

[Risk factors for the development of pneumonia in multiple injured patients. Results of a prospective clinical trial].

Pneumonia is the most common infectious complication in multiple trauma patients. In a prospective clinical cohort study, 266 multiply injured patients were examined for the development of pneumonia. Various risk factors were tested in uni- and multivariate analyses. Three different definitions of pneumonia were used in order to examine how results depended on definition. The incidence of pneumonia was 41%, but varied with definition (30-50%). Injuries to the thorax, head,and abdomen were associated with a significantly increased risk of pneumonia (adjusted relative risk: 1.77, 1.97,and 1.52, respectively).Furthermore, increasing age led to a higher risk of pneumonia. Although the primary analysis revealed a higher pneumonia risk in male patients (adjusted relative risk: 2.23; 95% CI: 1.43-3.05), this result could not be consistently reproduced when using other definitions of pneumonia. Trunk and head injuries and age are proven risk factors for developing posttraumatic pneumonia. The association between male gender and an increased rate of infectious complications remained questionable.

Abbreviated Injury Scale↗

[Operative or conservative treatment of anterior cruciate ligament rupture: a systematic review of the literature].

The aim of this paper was to examine all studies that compared operative and conservative treatment of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture. Covering a period of 22 years all relevant articles were retrieved from the medical databases Medline, Embase, and Cochrane. The results of these studies were judged on to the criteria of subjective stability (giving-way phenomenon), objective stability (pivot shift test), and return to the preinjury level of sports. There were 11 different studies published in 16 articles consisting of 2 randomized,2 prospective, and 7 retrospective trials. Except in one study the results in the operative groups were always better than in the conservative groups. The meta-analysis of both randomized studies showed significant advantages for the operative treatment. Although arthroscopic ligament plasty is an established standard method for the treatment of ACL rupture, there is almost no basis for this procedure in the literature.Thus,new clinically applicable studies are necessary to develop objective guidelines for the treatment of anterior cruciate ligament tears.

Anterior Cruciate Ligament↗

Fingers, hands or patients? The concept of independent observations.

In hand surgery trials, it is often possible to take several measurements from the same patient, because many disorders here affect bilateral or multiple structures, such as the hand itself, the finger joints or the tendons. Most conventional statistical analyses that take place on the level of hands, digit rays or joints rather than patients violate the assumption that observations should be independent. Furthermore, ignoring the multiplicity of data inflates sample size and thus may lead to spurious significance. This article describes three options to deal with such problems. First, the analysis can simply be restricted to only one measurement per patient. Second, a self-controlled design may be advantageous for conditions that usually have a bilateral pattern. Third, complex statistical modelling (involving generalized estimating equations) can be used to analyse all available measurements with adjustment for data dependency.

Controlled Clinical Trials as Topic↗

A rare complication of laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding.

The most common complications of laparoscopic gastric banding (LGB) are band dislocation, port problems, and leakage in the band system. We present a case of an aneurysmal dilatation of the balloon portion of the band by filling as a rare complication of LGB. A 53-year-old male patient with morbid obesity (body mass index 40 kg/m2) was treated with LGB (adjustable Bioenterics gastric band). Six months after the operation there was no evidence of weight reduction. X-ray examination showed the band to be in the correct position. The port punction revealed no spontaneous fluid loss. The contrast filling of band demonstrated no signs of leakage but there was an abnormal dilatation of one part of the balloon. Only one filling segment of balloon was dilatated and the rest was empty. Two and a half years after the initial operation, we carried out laparoscopic band exchange. Six weeks later, the band was adjusted with 2 ml saline, and the patient reported successful reduction of food volume. He had lost 18 kg 3 months postoperatively. We conclude that band function requires careful intraoperative monitoring. In patients who do not lose weight after gastric restriction surgery, uncommon complications must also be considered.

Body Mass Index↗

Laparoscopic versus open surgery for suspected appendicitis.

BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic surgery has been proposed to have diagnostic and therapeutic advantages over conventional surgery. OBJECTIVES: To compare the diagnostic and therapeutic effects of laparoscopic and conventional 'open' surgery in the treatment of suspected acute appendicitis. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched for original articles and abstracts published until end of 2000. As main search tools we employed the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register (CCTR), MEDLINE, EMBASE and SciSearch. CCTR and MEDLINE searches were repeated until 10 October 2001, all other databases were searched 10 October 2000. We also handsearched the congress proceedings of endoscopic surgical societies. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included clinical trials that assessed either: (1) Therapeutic effects of laparoscopic appendectomy (LA) versus open appendectomy (OA) in adults, (2) Therapeutic effects of LA versus OA in children, (3) Diagnostic effects of diagnostic laparoscopy (LAP) followed by LA or OA if necessary versus immediate OA, (4) Therapeutic effects of diagnostic laparoscopy (LAP) followed by OA if necessary versus immediate OA. We included only randomized studies and excluded those with unconcealed allocation. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two reviewers independently assessed each study's eligibility and quality. One reviewer extracted the data, 10% of which were later cross-checked by a second reviewer. Abstract authors and authors of articles lacking important information on trial design or results were contacted. MAIN RESULTS: We included 45 studies, of which 39 compared LA (with or without diagnostic laparoscopy) vs. OA in adults. Wound infections were about half as likely (Peto OR 0.47; 95%-CI 0.36 to 0.62) after LA than after OA, but intraabdominal abscesses were increased nearly threefold after LA (Peto OR 2.77; 95%-CI 1.61 to 4.77). The duration of surgery was 14 minutes (95%-CI 10 to 19) longer for LA. Pain on day 1 after surgery was reduced after LA by 8 mm (95%-CI 3 to 13 mm) on a 100 mm VAS. Hospital stay was reduced by 0.7 days (95%-CI 0.4 to 1.0). Return to normal activity, work, and sport were 6 days (95%-CI 4 to 8), 3 days (1 to 5), and 7 days (3 to 12) earlier after LA than after OA. While the operation costs of LA were significantly higher than that of OA, the costs outside hospital were reduced. Strong heterogeneity was found for most outcomes, but not for wound infections and intraabdominal abscesses. In children, much less data were available, but the result do not seem to be much different when compared to adults. Pain which was measured blindly in two paediatric trials, was similar after LA and OA (-1 mm VAS; 95%-CI -8 to +7 mm). In trials on unselected patients, diagnostic laparoscopy led to large but variable reductions in the rate of negative appendectomies (RR 0.21; 95%-CI 0.13 to 0.33). In parallel, the rate of unestablished diagnoses was significantly decreased after laparoscopy (RR 0.34; 95%-CI 0.22 to 0.53). In fertile women, these effects were even more pronounced: rate of negative appendectomies: RR 0.19; 95%-CI 0.11 to 0.34; rate of patients without a final diagnosis established: RR 0.24; 95%-CI 0.15 to 0.38. REVIEWER'S CONCLUSIONS: In those clinical settings where surgical expertise and equipment are available and affordable, diagnostic laparoscopy and LA (either in combination or separately) seem to have various advantages over OA. Some of the clinical effects of LA, however, are small and of limited clinical relevance. In spite of the mediocre quality of the available research data, we would generally recommend to use laparoscopy and LA in patients with suspected appendicitis unless laparoscopy itself is contraindicated or not feasible. In gangrenous or perforated cases, however, LA may possibly carry a higher risk of intraabdominal infections.

Acute Disease↗

Pneumonia in multiple injured patients: a prospective controlled trial on early prediction using clinical and immunological parameters.

OBJECTIVE AND DESIGN: In a prospective trial 266 multiple injured patients were included to evaluate clinical risk factors and immune parameters related to pneumonia. METHODS: Clinical and humoral parameters were assessed and multivariate analysis performed. RESULTS: The multivariate analysis (odds ratio with 95% confidence interval (CI)) revealed male gender (3.65), traumatic brain injury (TBI) (2.52), thorax trauma (AIS(thorax) > or = 3) (2.05), antibiotic prophylaxis (1.30), injury severity score (ISS) (1.03 per ISS point) and the age (1.02 per year) as risk factors for pneumonia. The main pathogens were Acinetobacter Baumannii (40%) and Staphylococcus aureus (25%). A tendency towards higher Procalcitonin (PCT) and Interleukin (IL)-6 levels two days after trauma was observed for pneumonia patients. CONCLUSION: The immune parameters (PCT, IL-6, IL-10, soluble tumor necrosis factor p-55 and p-75) could not confirm the diagnosis of pneumonia earlier than the clinical parameters.

Adolescent↗

[Systematic literature searches for clinical guideline development in the field of out-of-hospital and early in-hospital care of multiply injured patients].

QUESTION: To what extent does the scientific literature have an impact on current clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) in trauma surgery? METHODS: We searched for CPGs on the initial management of multiply injured patients and assessed the quality of literature search and appraisal within these CPGs. Secondly, we compiled a list of all medical journal with relevance to prehospital trauma care. Lastly, we performed a hand search for randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in some of the German not in Medline indexed traumatological journals. RESULTS: We identified 22 CPGs of varying methodological quality. The American guidelines scored highest. Only 21 of the 38 journals (55%) in the field of prehospital trauma surgery were indexed in Medline, while 6 were covered only by Embase and 11 were indexed in neither of both databases. Hand searching four non-indexed German journals identified nearly 200 RCTs. CONCLUSION: Information flow between clinical research and CPG development remains difficult. Thoroughly performed literature searches have an important role in CPG development.

Emergency Medical Services↗

Randomized clinical trial of suture repair, polypropylene mesh or autodermal hernioplasty for incisional hernia.

BACKGROUND: Since conventional suture repair for incisional hernia is associated with high recurrence rates, alloplastic and autoplastic prosthetic techniques have been suggested. METHODS: In a randomized trial, 160 patients with simple or complex hernias underwent either suture repair, autodermal skin graft or onlay polypropylene mesh repair. Suture repair was not done in complex hernias. This report concerns a planned interim analysis. RESULTS: At mean follow-up of 16 months, there were 17 hernia recurrences that were distributed similarly between the surgical techniques. There were fewer infectious complications after suture repair (three of 33 patients) than after skin graft or mesh repair (seven of 39 and five of 28 for simple hernias; seven of 31 and ten of 29 respectively for complex hernias) (P not significant). The severity of infections after polypropylene mesh implantation prompted the trial committee to discontinue the study. No differences were noted in duration of stay in hospital and quality of life. However, pain was significantly more frequent after polypropylene mesh repair (pooled risk ratio 2.9 and 1.8 at 6 weeks and 1 year respectively). CONCLUSION: Suture repair was safe for small incisional hernias. Both autoplastic and alloplastic hernia repair yielded comparably low recurrence rates, but led to a high rate of wound infection.

Female↗