Effect of technique and timing of tracheostomy in patients with acute traumatic spinal cord injury undergoing mechanical ventilation.

Objective: To assess the effect of timing and techniques of tracheostomy on morbidity, mortality, and the burden of resources in patients with acute traumatic spinal cord injuries (SCls) undergoing mechanical ventilation.

Design: Review of a prospectively collected database.

Setting: Intensive and intermediate care units of a monographic hospital for the treatment of SCI.

[Course of alcohol withdrawal syndrome in a general hospital].

Introduction And Objective: There is little information available regarding the course of alcohol withdrawal syndrome in a general hospital. The aim of this study was to analyse the timing of the most important clinical features attributed to alcohol withdrawal, as well as their prognostic implications.

Material And Method: A cohort study of patients with a diagnosis of alcohol withdrawal syndrome was carried out at the Xeral Hospital in Lugo (Spain) between 1987 and 2003, in accordance with DSM IV-TR criteria.