Publications by authors named "J Agel"

Importance: Fracture-related infection (FRI) is a serious complication following fracture fixation surgery. Current treatment of FRIs entails debridement and 6 weeks of intravenous (IV) antibiotics. Lab data and retrospective clinical studies support use of oral antibiotics, which are less expensive and may have fewer complications than IV antibiotics.

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Objectives: The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the utility of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Surgical Wound Classification (SWC) in predicting surgical site infection (SSI) after orthopaedic trauma procedures.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Level I academic trauma center.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study analyzed the OXYGEN trial, which compared high levels of oxygen (80% FiO2) vs. lower levels (30% FiO2) for preventing infections in patients with specific types of fractures and aimed to see if using an "as-treated" approach changed the results compared to the "intention-to-treat" method.
  • - Conducted at 29 trauma centers, 1,231 patients with tibial plateau, tibial pilon, or calcaneus fractures were randomly assigned to either oxygen treatment; adherence was evaluated using two specific criteria based on the percentage of surgery time at different oxygen levels.
  • - Results showed no significant differences in primary and deep infection rates, but the treatment group had fewer
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Objectives: Individuals with pelvic and acetabular fractures are at high risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE). The purpose of this study was to determine whether serum markers for thrombophilia and rapid thromboelastography (r-TEG) values correlate with increased VTE risk among patients with pelvic and acetabular fractures.

Design: Prospective observational study.

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Background: The authors believe that the L5-S1 facet joint injury in the setting of pelvic fractures is underappreciated by orthopedic traumatologists. The purpose of this study was to draw attention to the L5/S1 facet joint in the setting of pelvic ring injuries.

Methods: This was a retrospective comparative study of all patients greater than or equal to 18 years of age with an acute pelvic ring injury (AO/OTA 62 B to C) presenting to a single level I trauma center.

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