Penetrating thoracoabdominal injuries.
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Our experience indicates a continued rising incidence of gunshot wounds of the chest in the United States. During the past 4 1/2 years, 250 consecutive cases were treated at the King-Drew Medical Center in Los Angeles. Ninety per cent presented with a haemothorax or haemopneumothorax. Pneumothorax alone was present in only 3 per cent of cases. Twenty per cent had associated intra-abdominal injuries, involving mostly the diaphragm, liver, spleen and the gastrointestinal tract. Eighty per cent were treated with tube thoracostomy and among these there were 2 deaths, neither being related to the chest injury. About 16 per cent underwent thoracotomy with a mortality of 12.8 per cent, all the deaths being caused by severe cardiac wounds. The overall mortality was 2.8 per cent. The complication rate was 5.3 per cent, most complications occurring in patients with associated intra-abdominal and spinal cord injuries. The average period of hospitalization was 6.5 days. The management plan and the indications for the two courses of therapy are discussed.
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There is controversy about the frequency of and risk factors for infectious complications of percutaneous liver biopsy in liver transplant recipients. The aim of this study was to identify the incidence and nature of complications associated with liver biopsy after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT), with particular emphasis on infection. The medical records of all patients undergoing OLT between January 1990 and August 1994 were reviewed retrospectively to identify complications requiring hospitalization within one week of percutaneous liver biopsy. The nature and severity of complications were recorded and possible risk factors for infectious complications were examined. One hundred ninety-eight patients underwent 1,136 percutaneous liver biopsies. There were eleven complications (0.96%), including as follows: 7 infections, 3 bleeding episodes, and 1 vasovagal reaction. Infections after percutaneous liver biopsy included fever and bacteremia (n = 6), and fever without bacteremia (n = 1). All infections developed only in patients with underlying biliary tract abnormalities; the frequency of infection was higher (9.8%) in patients with choledochojejunostomy when compared with those with choledochocholedochostomy (1.4%). Bacteremia was more likely caused by skin flora in patients with choledochocholedochostomy (CDC) and by enteric bacteria in patients with choledochojejunostomy (CDJ). All infections were treated successfully with parenteral antibiotics. We conclude that biliary tract abnormalities are the primary risk factors for infection after percutaneous liver biopsy, although the risk is higher in patients with CDJ than with CDC. These data support the use of antibiotic prophylaxis before percutaneous liver biopsy in OLT recipients with biliary tract abnormalities.
Postoperative complications after lung resection necessitating rethoracotomy are rare. The most common early complication is hemorrhage. Reintervention is indicated if bloody secretion of more than 250 ml/h persists over a period of hours. Any large intrapleural hematoma should be removed to avoid infection or development of pleural callosity. Further indications for rethoracotomy are: persistent parenchyma fistula, pneumothorax, residual cavity, pleural empyema, leakage of the bronchial stump and mechanical bronchial obstruction.
Most thoracic injuries can be treated adequately with intensive care, pleural drainage and judicious physiotherapy. From the total of 571 patients with severe thoracic injuries treated in the Surgical Department of the University of Cologne over the last 10 years, 14% of those with blunt trauma (BT) and 33% with penetrating trauma (PT) underwent thoracotomy. Thoracotomy for PT was usually performed earlier and gave better results than thoracotomy for BT. With one exception, all PT underwent thoracotomy in the first 24 h after admission. For thoracotomy carried out for BT however, 38% took place after 24 h and 21% after 5 days. Postoperative mortality for BT was 3 times higher than for PT (56% vs. 18%). Reasons for this are to be found in the severe thoracic and general injuries associated with BT. The surgical procedure will depend on the type and extent of the thoracic and general injuries and on the general condition of the patient.
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The objectives of this study were to explore the hypotheses that: (1) patients with traumatic rupture of the aortic isthmus (TRA) who have not exsanguinated into the pleural cavity upon hospital presentation are unlikely to develop rupture of the hematoma during the time necessary to investigate all injuries and attend to those of more immediate danger; and (2) appropriate medical therapy can prevent free rupture of the hematoma. The medical records of 112 patients who were proved to have TRA at the isthmus resulting from injury within the preceding 7 days were reviewed. Fifty of these patients received medical treatment aimed at decreasing aortic wall stress; 46 were managed under a formal protocol. The available English language and European literature for the past 15 years was surveyed for evidence of the effects of delay between injury and aortic repair. Eight patients died before aortic repair, six of aortic exsanguination (all within 4 hours of injury). Of 77 patients for whom the time of injury was recorded and the aorta was repaired, 36 were repaired within 12 hours of injury and 41 between 12 hours and 24 weeks; none developed aortic hemorrhage. No patient receiving adequate medical therapy died of rupture of the hematoma. Other major surgery preceded aortic repair in 33 patients. We conclude that the concept that traumatic rupture of the aorta should always take priority over other injuries is incorrect. Pharmacologic reduction of wall stress appears to decrease the probability of rupture of the periaortic hematoma.
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In the University Hospital of Granada (Spain), 359 surgical trauma patients underwent intraoperative autotransfusion. The patients were divided into 2 groups, according to their blood loss: group I (blood loss less than or equal to 2000 ml) and group II (blood loss greater than 2000 ml). Patients from group I did not require homologous blood transfusion. So the high risk involved in this type of transfusion was avoided. Macroscopic haemoglobinuria was only found in those patients where the Solcotrans, Viavae type of autotransfusion system was used; with the Bentley ATS system, no macroscopic haemoglobinuria was registered. With patients from group II, however, that is, those with a blood loss of more than 2000 ml, we had to fall back on homologous transfusion in addition to retransfusing autologous blood. When the transfusion exceeds 4000 ml there is increasing bleeding, which requires treatment with fresh frozen plasma, platelets and/or fibrinogen. The mortality rate of patients in group II was very high but the patients died from the severity of their injuries or from postoperative complications which were not due to autotransfusion in itself with the exception of 3 patients who underwent massive autotransfusion (12,000 to 25,000 ml) and died from acute renal failure. The main indication for intraoperative autotransfusion is without doubt abdominal and thoracic trauma which lead to high blood loss.
Surgical management and follow up of 85 patients with liver trauma are reported. 20 patients had only liver trauma, all others were polytraumatised. Letality was 20% in patients with sole liver trauma, the overall letality was 43%. In most cases death resulted from prolonged circulatory shock. Most of the other casualities resulted from septical complications of biliary peritonitis. Prognosis was mainly correlated with the interval between trauma and surgical treatment as well as with the amount of blood lost. The main features of the operative technic were access to the liver through a subcostal and sometimes transdiaphragmal incision, temporary tamponade of the bleeding source, compression of the hepatoduodenal ligament, of the vena cava (intrapericardial) to minimize blood loss. Instead of hemihepatectomy, resection of liver tissue was limited to the smallest amount possible, and followed by extensive drainage.
In a prospective study, real-time ultrasonography was applied as the initial imaging procedure in 103 consecutive patients with blunt abdominal or thoracic trauma. Additional peritoneal lavage was not performed. Pathological findings were present in 22 patients (21%). Sensitivity of the examination was 95.5%, with two false positive results, specificity was 97.5% with one false negative result. Lesions of intraabdominal or thoracic organs were demonstrated directly by ultrasonography in 14 patients. In the remaining patients free fluid was discovered in the abdominal cavity. Splenic and hepatic lesions occurred most frequently followed by hematothorax. Ultrasonography can be recommended as the initial imaging procedure, giving a high amount of information in the primary diagnosis of blunt abdominal thoracic trauma.
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