Objective To find a better method of emergency repair of skin and soft tissue defects in the lower leg, ankle and foot. Methods The distally based superficial sural artery flap was designed on the posterior aspect of the leg. From February 2000 to December 2003, 18 patients with skin and soft tissue detects of the lower leg, ankle and foot were treated with island fasciocutaneous flap supplied by superficial sural artery by emergency. The size of the flap ranged form 4 cm× 5 cm to 11 cm×12 cm. Results The flaps survived totally in 16 cases and necrosed partially in 2 cases. After 1-2 year postoperative follow-up, the results were satisfactory except that in 2 flaps. Conclusion The island fasciocutaneous flap supplied by superficial sural artery may provide a useful method for emergency repair of soft tissue defect of the lower limbs.
As a global accidental injury, drowning has a huge spiritual and economic impact on patients, families and society. In order to improve the quality of pre-hospital and in-hospital emergency treatment of drowning, improve the prognosis, improve survival rate, and reduce the burden of drowning, in 2016, the Wilderness Medical Society drafted practice guidelines related to drowning. The first update of this guide was released in June 2019. The updated guide covers the terms of drowning, rescue and resuscitation, emergency treatment, preventive measures and other aspects. This article interprets the updated guidelines in order to provide recommendations for the first aid of drowning.
Objective To provide references and recommendations about emergency physician training for our country by analyzing the characteristics of emergency physicians training objective, subject, process, content, appraisal and assessment in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. Methods Such databases as Ovid, Proquest, MDConsoult and relevant websites of national emergency medicine were searched to include literature covering guidelines and documents on emergency education and training in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. According to the evidence-based scientific principles and methods, we graded and analyzed the included information. Results A total of 40 articles were included, covering 12 guidelines and documents, 2 reviews and 26 research documents. Each of the four countries owned a sound emergency specialist training access system especially on how they used competency as the core to design the training content, courses and appraisal and assessment system to improve overall ability and quality of emergency physicians. Conclusion Our country’s emergency physician training certainly has lagged behind those of the developed countries. We should learn from positive experience of the developed countries to standardize emergency physician training, improve the emergency physician training content and curriculum, strengthen access management and the construction of appraisal system, and cultivate the competency of emergency physicians.
Objective To determine the effect of interlocking intramedullary nail in treatment of open tibial and fibula fractures and analyze the method to promote the bone union. Methods From December 2003 to June 2006, thirtyfive patients with open tibial and fibula fracture were treated with emergency debridement, interlocked intramedullary fixation for tibia and fixed fibula at the same time. During operation, the bone marrow was collected and grafted into the fracture gaps. Among them, there were 27 males and 8 females, involving in 22 left legs and 13 right legs. Their ages ranged from 19 to 65 years, with an average of 34.7 years. The location of fracture was the middle of the tibia and fibula in 16 cases, the distal 1/3 of the tibia and fibula in 12 cases and the proximal 1/3 in 7 cases. According to the Gusitilo classification of open injuries, there were 7 cases of type I, 19 cases of type II, 8 cases of type III a and 1 case of type III b. The mean range of knee motion was 48.3° (45-70°). The mean time from injury to operation was 4.3 hours (50 minutes to 7 hours). Results The mean operation time was 94 minutes (60-132 minutes) and the mean blood loss was 122 mL (100-350 mL). The wound healed by first intention in 32 patients. Incision was sutured in 2 cases of type III a fractures after operation 4 days, gastrocnemius flap graft was performed in 1 case of type III b fracture 1 week after operation. They all achieve good heal ing. No fractures spl it off, no iatrogenic nerve and vascular injury occurred, no osteofascial compartment syndromes or deep vein thrombus happened. Tension bl isters appeared in 1 case of type II fracture after operation and subsided after 5 days. Patients were followed up for 14-43 months (mean 22 months). The X-ray films showed that fracture union was observe in 30 cases after 14 weeks of operation, in 3 cases after 18 weeks and in 1 caseafter 22 weeks of operation. The fractures union time was 15.2 weeks on average. About 2 cm nonunion in lateral tibial appeared in 1 case of type I fracture. No fracture occurred again. The mean range of knee motion was 127° (121-135°). The mean HSS score was 96.5 (87-100) at the end of the follow-up. The excellent and good rate was 100%. Conclusion The curative effect of interlocking intramedullary nail is definite in treatment of open tibial and fibula fractures and it can enhance fracture union to plant bone marrow into the fracture gaps.
Objective To investigate the status quo of knowledge and attitude towards pain among medical staff in West China Hospital of Sichuan University. Methods The medical staff in Emergency Department of West China Hospital of Sichuan University were investigated by the Chinese version of Knowledge and Attitudes Survey Regarding Pain (2008) questionnaire, the contents of which related to pain assessment, pain related knowledge, analgesic related knowledge, and comprehensive application, etc. And the questionnaire scores were compared among medical workers with different background. Results A total of 156 questionnaires were sent out and 130 valid ones were taken back, with an effective recovery rate of 83.3%. There was no statistically significant difference in questionnaire scores among the medical workers with different education background or different professional titles (P>0.05). The questionnaire scores were significantly different among nurses with different seniority (F=3.785, P=0.035), and the mean score of the nurses with more than 10 years of seniority was the highest (22.78±7.11). The questionnaire scores were significantly different among nurses working in different areas (F=3.043, P=0.033), and the mean score of the nurses working in rescue room was the highest (24.53±7.84).The erroneous items were concentrated on item 5, 17, 19. In the answers to the open questions, 97.7% (127/130) thought that the existing pain knowledge could not satisfy the needs of clinical work; 100.0% (130/130) believed that it was necessary to study pain related knowledge; 80.0% (104/130) acquired pain related knowledge from clinical experience, 40.0% (52/130) from books, 15.4% (20/130) from the network; 90% ( 117/130) commonly used numeric rating scale to evaluate the patients’ pain degree, 20.0% (26/130) evaluated the patients’ pain degree through facial expressions. Conclusions The overall level of pain management knowledge and attitude in medical staff in Emergency Department is low. The continuing education on pain knowledge should be strengthened, the attitude towards pain treatment and the importance of pain management should be paid more attention, and the standardized training and supervision should be enhanced.
Emergency treatment of ocular trauma is a systematic and complicated work. Rapid and correct diagnosis and treatment are needed to maximize the recovery of ocular structure and function. In recent years, China has made remarkable progress in the emergency treatment of ocular trauma, including the development of Expert consensus on the norms of emergency treatment of ocular trauma in China (2019), the establishment of a national ocular trauma database, and the development of VisionGo Artificial Intelligence prediction system for ocular trauma. These measures improve the treatment level of ocular trauma and provide support for the prediction of postoperative visual acuity in severe traumatic eyes. However, with the development of economy and society, the characteristics of ocular trauma in our country have changed. For example, the majority of hospitalized patients were open ocular injuries, farmers and workers were the main occupational groups, and the proportion of eye injuries caused by traffic injuries increased year by year, and the proportion of women and minors increased. Although the annual loss of life of ocular trauma disability in China has decreased faster than the world average, the emergency treatment of ocular trauma still faces many challenges, such as regional differences, insufficient primary medical resources, lack of standardized training, and insufficient promotion of emergency treatment standards. In order to cope with these challenges, it is necessary to further strengthen the popularization of science and technology for the prevention and treatment of ocular trauma, standardize the emergency treatment process, strengthen the training of grass-roots medical personnel, strengthen the safety of emergency surgery, and pay special attention to the particularity of children's ocular trauma. In addition, relevant research has been actively carried out to establish a complete database of emergency patients with ocular trauma to promote the accurate prevention and treatment of ocular trauma.
Objective We evaluated effectiveness and performance of medical rescue after Lushan earthquake during 2 weeks, and enriched Wenchuan lessons to provide useful references for emergency medical rescue (EMR) after similar earthquake worldwide. Methods We collected and analyzed official information, public documents, news release, and relevant information from websites, and then we systematically reviewed and descriptively analyzed all included literature of EMR after earthquake (domestic and foreign). Results Learned from Wenchuan earthquake, EMR for Lushan earthquake were characterized as: a) Assess the situations of quake damage and injuries were scientifically assessed; human resources, funds and materials were reasonably distributed; and the EMR relied mainly on regional rescue power of Sichuan province. b) Patients’ with critical injuries were treated using “Four concentration treatment principles”, which resulted in a new medical record of zero death, 14 days after the earthquake. c) The experience of EMR after Lushan earthquake verified, enriched and improved lessons from Wenchuan, Yushu and Yiliang earthquake, which provided first-hand references of evidence-based decision making for earthquake EMR worldwide.
Objective To evaluate the effects of emergency coronary artery bypass grafting (ECABG) in the treatment of emergent patients, and to summarize our experience. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 160 patients who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in Nanjing General Hospital of Nanjing Command from January 2010 through December 2013. The patients were divided into an ECABG group (operation underwent on the day diagnosed, n=27, 22 males and 5 females, at age of 70.2±10.2 years) and a conventional group (CABG operation underwent on 5 days after diagnosed, n=133, 104 males and 29 females, at age of 66.3±8.9 years). Results Statistical differences were found between the ECABG group and the conventional group in EuroSCORE (5.8±3.2 versus 3.4±2.1, P=0.001), acute myocardial infarction (33.3% vs. 11.3%, P=0.007), rate of application of IABP (29.6% versus 12.0%, P=0.034), pericardium and mediastinal tube drainage (533.4±132.8 ml versus 414.8±124.3 ml, P=0.018). There was no statistical difference in continuous renal replacement therapy (P=0.677), postoperative sternal wound complication (P=1.000), the length of hospital stay (P=0.589), or 30-day-mortality (P=0.198) between the two groups. We followed up 24 patients(88.89%) for 3-36 months in the ECABG group. One patient occurred angina symptoms at the end of 1 year follow-up. The symptoms disappeared after treatment. The other patients had no symptoms of angina pectoris and myocardial ischemia. Conclusion ECABG as a lifesaving therapy is an effective procedure in the treatment of severe and acute patients. Sufficient preoperative assessment, good myocardial protection, full revascularization, and comprehensive treatment plays an important role in the success of ECABG.
Objective To investigate the clinical features, etiology and treatment strategies of patients with delirium in emergency intensive care unit ( EICU) . Methods Patients with delirium during hospitalization between January 2010 and January 2012 were recruited from respiratory group of EICU of Beijing Anzhen Hospital. Over the same period, same amount of patients without delirium were randomly collected as control. The clinical datawere retrospectively analyzed and compared. Results The incidence of delirium was 7.5% ( 42/563) . All delirium patients had more than three kinds of diseases including lung infections, hypertension, coronary heart disease, respiratory failure, heart failure, renal failure, hyponatremia, etc. 50% of delirium patients received mechanical ventilation ( invasive/noninvasive) . The mortality of both the delirium patients and the control patients was 11.9% ( 5 /42) . However, the patients with delirium exhibited longer hospital stay [ 14(11) d vs. 12(11) d, P gt;0. 05] and higher hospitalization cost [ 28, 389 ( 58,999) vs. 19, 373( 21, 457) , P lt;0.05] when compared with the control group. 52.4% ( 22/42) of delirium patients were associated with primary disease. 9. 5% ( 4/42) were associated with medication. 38. 1% (16/42) were associated with ICU environment and other factors. Conclusions Our data suggest that the causes of delirium in ICU are complex. Comprehensive treatment such as removal of the relevant aggravating factors, treating underlying diseases, enhancing patient communication, and providing counseling can shorten their hospital stay, reduce hospitalization costs, and promote rehabilitation.
ObjectiveTo investigate the status quo of emergency resources in all township hospitals in a county of Aba Autonomous Region. MethodWe set up a uniform electronic version questionnaire between April 15th and 18th, 2015. The leaders of township hospitals filled in their information and uploaded the data including emergency medical services, human resources, medical device and technology application situation. Then, the data were statistically analyzed. ResultsFor these township hospitals, the service population was 2 206.05±846.95, the service radius was (25.5±14.3) km. The number of registered doctors per 1 000 people of resident population was 1.52, the number of registered nurses per 1 000 people of resident population was 0.47, and the number of hospital beds per 1 000 people of resident population was 1.69. The staff in all township hospitals included 74 doctors and 23 nurses. The constitution of positional titles and academic qualifications of doctors and nurses in these township hospitals was not significantly different (P>0.05). All township hospitals had a total of six ambulances, one of which was ambulance for rescue and monitoring, and the others were ordinary ambulances. The devices equipped in the ambulances and hospitals were not sufficient, and most doctors and nurses could only perform surrounding vein puncture, and debridement and suture surgery. They could not recue critically ill patients alone. ConclusionsFor these township hospitals, the service radius is too long, the number of doctors and nurses is too small, and the ability of service is insufficient. In order to meet the demand of emergency resources in ethnic areas as far as possible, we should increase investment and promote medical devices, increase the number of doctors and nurses, improve the personnel structure, and strengthen professional training.