Attrition due to orthopedic reasons during combat training: rates, types of injuries, and comparison between infantry and noninfantry units.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify the prevalence and types of orthopedic injuries in infantry and noninfantry units responsible for attrition from combat training.

Methods: 18,651 soldiers consecutively recruited to combat units (5 infantry and 4 noninfantry units) were included in this study. All recruited soldiers underwent and successfully passed a meticulous medical selection process.

Acute care for exercise-induced hyperthermia to avoid adverse outcome from exertional heat stroke.

Introduction: Exertional heat stroke (EHS) is a major concern in military trainees performing intense physical exercise, with substantial morbidity rates. Prehospital diagnosis of EHS is essentially clinical. Thus, soldiers, command personnel, and medical staff are taught to recognize this injury and immediately begin aggressive treatment to prevent further deterioration.

Hard times call for creative solutions: medical improvisations at the Israel Defense Forces Field Hospital in Haiti.

Mass disaster medicine is characterized by the need to manage limited resources that are far inadequate to meet the population's demands. Under these hectic conditions, lack of specific medical equipment is expected and requires improvisation using available items. We describe the innovative use of medical improvisations at the Israel Defense Forces field hospital, working in the earthquake zone, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on January 2010.

Vestibular evoked myogenic potentials and saccular plasticity in divers.

Introduction: Otolith function, which is dependent on linear velocity and acceleration, may be expected to change in underwater divers, who are submerged in a medium that is denser than air. The purpose of the present study was to examine possible changes in the sacculocollic reflex of professional divers and to investigate whether there might be diving-induced adaptation of the saccular response.

Methods: We used the vestibular evoked myogenic potential (VEMP) response to evaluate saccular function in 12 professional divers shortly after a dive and after an interval of at least 24 h.

Hemifacial spasm associated with otitis media with effusion: a first reported case.

Hemifacial spasm is a condition consisting of unilateral paroxysmal involuntary contractions of the muscles innervated by the facial nerve. The most common etiology is a vascular loop compression at the root exit zone of the nerve. We present here a first reported case of hemifacial spasm associated with otitis media with effusion, in a 6-year-old girl, which was relieved immediately following ventilation tubes insertion.

Group-A streptococcal meningitis in an adult, secondary to purulent otitis media.

Group A streptococcal meningitis is rarely encountered today, although group A streptococcal severe infections are on the increase. We present here a case of an adult male with bacterial meningitis as a complication of otitis media induced by Group A Streptococcus. The approach to diagnosis and treatment considerations are discussed.

Performance of infusion pumps during hyperbaric conditions.

Background: Many hyperbaric facilities use infusion pumps inside the chamber. It is therefore important to ensure that this equipment will perform accurately during hyperbaric conditions. The authors tested the function and accuracy of the Imed 965 and Infutec 520 volumetric infusion pumps, the Easy-pump MZ-257 peristaltic infusion pump, and the Graseby 3100 syringe pump.