Management of destructive bowel injury in the open abdomen.

Background: Little attention has been focused on destructive injuries of the bowel in patients requiring open abdominal management. We therefore reviewed our institutional experience for destructive bowel injury requiring open abdominal management with the vacuum pack technique (vac).

Methods: The trauma registry at a Level I trauma center was used to identify patients sustaining destructive bowel injury for an 11-year period beginning in May 1990.

Routine prophylactic vena cava filtration is not indicated after acute spinal cord injury.

Background: Acute spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating problem, with over 10,000 new cases annually. Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a well-recognized risk in SCI patients, although no clear recommendations for prophylaxis exist. We therefore evaluated whether routine placement of prophylactic inferior vena cava filters is indicated in SCI patients.