Barriers and Facilitators for the Use of Patient Lifts by Healthcare Workers: A Scoping Review.

(1) Background: Patient lifts are evidence-based engineering controls used in Safe Patient Handling Programs to assist healthcare workers in moving patients. They have been shown to be beneficial for both healthcare workers and patients. However, these devices are not consistently used.

Factors associated with elective surgical case cancellation at a tertiary hospital in Malawi.

Background: Same-day cancellation of surgery affects up to 44% of cases at a public tertiary hospital in Lilongwe, Malawi. To characterize these cancellations, this study examines surgical volume, cancellation causes, and surgery completion rate after initial cancellation, which are not otherwise monitored for analysis in this setting.

Methods: We conducted a serial cross-sectional study at the Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) during a 6 month period.

Epidemiology of burns in a humanitarian setting: A national study among refugees in Lebanon.

Introduction: Burns represent one of the leading causes of morbidity worldwide and disproportionately impact women, children, and socioeconomically disadvantaged individuals. Syrian refugees who fled conflict to land in overcrowded informal settlements across Lebanon are a particularly vulnerable population. This study aims to assess the etiology and risk factors for burns in this population.

Damage to medical complexes in the Israel-Hamas war: a geospatial analysis.

Introduction: Medical facilities are civilian objects specially protected during armed conflict by international humanitarian law (IHL). These protections are customarily applied regardless of the conflict, parties or contexts involved. Attacks on medical care have characterised the bombardment campaign of the Gaza Strip beginning 7 October 2023.

Lateral column lengthening (LCL) using a rectangular shape graft for managing symptomatic flexible flatfoot showed acceptable early functional and radiological outcomes.

Purpose: We aimed to report the results of performing lateral column lengthening (LCL) using a rectangular-shaped graft to correct the flat foot deformity.

Methods: A total of 28 feet of 19 patients (10 males, 9 females) having an average age of 10 ± 3.2 years who were unresponsive to conservative management underwent flat foot deformity correction through LCL procedure supplemented with rectangular-shaped graft harvested from the fibula.

Health services access, utilization, and barriers for Arabic-speaking refugees resettled in Connecticut, USA.

Background: Arabic-speaking refugees are the largest group of refugees arriving in the United States since 2008, yet little is known about their rates of healthcare access, utilization, and satisfaction after the end of the Refugee Medical Assistance (RMA) period.

Methods: This study was a cross-sectional observational study. From January to December 2019, a household survey was conducted of newly arrived Arabic-speaking refugees in Connecticut between 2016 and 2018.

The Beirut ammonium nitrate blast: A multicenter study to assess injury characteristics and outcomes.

Background: Blasts incidents impose catastrophic aftermaths on populations regarding casualties, sustained injuries, and devastated infrastructure. Lebanon witnessed one of the largest nonnuclear chemical explosions in modern history-the August 2020 Beirut Port blast. This study assesses the mechanisms and characteristics of blast morbidity and mortality and examines severe injury predictors through the Injury Severity Score.

Factors impacting trauma-specific quality of life following injury: A multi-center assessment in Lebanon.

Objective: Injuries account for a large portion of the global burden of disease, representing over 10% of all disability adjusted life years (DALYs). This study analyzes the economic impact of injury for those experiencing moderate-to-severe injury in Beirut, Lebanon. It further examines the impact of different demographic and socioeconomic factors on trauma-specific quality of life 1-2 years following injury.

Neurotrauma in the Syrian War: analysis of 41,143 cases from July 2013-July 2015.

Introduction: Despite nearly a decade of conflict, little is known about trauma and injuries resulting from the Syrian war.

Methods: Secondary analysis was conducted of an administrative dataset of patient presentations to a network of 95 war-affected hospitals in Syria from July 2013-July 2015. Logistic regression was performed to identify factors associated with mortality of neurotrauma patients.

Characterization of fertility alteration and marker validation for male sterility genes in novel PTGMS lines hybrid rice.

Photoperiod and thermosensitive genetic male sterile (PTGMS) lines have become one of the main sources of global rice production increasing. This study was conducted to evaluate the fertility alteration and validate the male sterility genes using validation markers in novel Egyptian and PTGMS lines under natural conditions. The study revealed that the new genetic male sterile lines belong to the type of photo-thermosensitive genetic male sterility (PTGMS).

Household economic impact of road traffic injury versus routine emergencies in a low-income country.

Introduction: Road traffic injuries (RTIs) are increasing and have disproportionate impact on residents of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where 90% of deaths occur. RTIs are a leading cause of death for those aged 15 - 29 years with costs estimated to be up to 3% of GDP. Despite this fact, little primary research has been done on the household economic impact of these events.

Charcot Arthropathy of Foot and Ankle: Radiographic and Clinical Patterns with Related Outcomes.

Purpose: Our aim is to retrospectively review and evaluate the patterns of affection of Charcot arthropathy of foot and ankle.

Methods: Two hundred twenty-eight patients (235 feet) with post-acute Charcot were reviewed and classified anatomically through plain radiographs into type I and type II based on single or multiple regions affected, respectively. Type I included ankle, Lisfranc (tarsometatarsal), naviculocuneiform, forefoot, and hindfoot which includes one of the following: talonavicular joint, calcaneocuboid joint, or calcaneus.

Screw versus suture button in treatment of syndesmosis instability: Comparison using weightbearing CT scan.

Background: The superiority of screw or suture button fixation for syndesmotic instability remains debatable. Our aim is to compare radiographic outcomes of screw and suture button fixation of syndesmotic instability using weight bearing CT scan (WBCT).

Methods: Twenty patients with fixation of unilateral syndesmotic instability were recruited and divided among two groups (screw = 10, suture button = 10).

Impact of nursing education and a monitoring tool on outcomes in traumatic brain injury.

Introduction: Throughout the world, traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality. Low-and middle-income countries experience an especially high burden of TBI. While guidelines for TBI management exist in high income countries, little is known about the optimal management of TBI in low resource settings.

Non-operative management of blunt abdominal solid organ trauma in adult patients.

Introduction: Despite agreement in the literature that "stable" blunt trauma patients may be managed conservatively, in Egypt many such patients receive operative management. This paper presents the results of a pragmatic, prospective, observational study to evaluate outcomes of non-operative (NOP) versus operative (OP) management of blunt abdominal solid organ trauma in hemodynamically stable adults admitted to Tanta University Emergency Hospital (TUH) in Egypt.

Methods: A prospective observational study enrolled adult blunt abdominal trauma patients with solid organ injury at TUH over a 3-year period (June 2014-June 2017).

Leveraging the COVID-19 response to improve emergency care systems in the Eastern Mediterranean Region.

The COVID-19 pandemic began as a cluster of reported cases of acute respiratory illness in China on 31 December 2019 and went on to spread with exponential growth across the globe. By the time it was characterized as a global pandemic on 11 March 2020, 17 of 22 countries in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) had reports of infected persons. EMR countries are particularly susceptible to such outbreaks due to the presence of globally interconnected markets; complex emergencies in more than half of the countries; religious mass gatherings that draw tens of millions of pilgrims annually; and variation in emergency care systems capacity and health systems performance within and between countries.

Defining High-risk Emergency Chief Complaints: Data-driven Triage for Low- and Middle-income Countries.

Objectives: Emergency medicine in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is hindered by lack of research into patient outcomes. Chief complaints (CCs) are fundamental to emergency care but have only recently been uniquely codified for an LMIC setting in Uganda. It is not known whether CCs independently predict emergency unit patient outcomes.

Loss of nucleus accumbens low-frequency fluctuations is a signature of chronic pain.

Chronic pain is a highly prevalent disease with poorly understood pathophysiology. In particular, the brain mechanisms mediating the transition from acute to chronic pain remain largely unknown. Here, we identify a subcortical signature of back pain.

Towards developing a consensus assessment framework for global emergency medicine fellowships.

Background: The number of Global Emergency Medicine (GEM) Fellowship training programs are increasing worldwide. Despite the increasing number of GEM fellowships, there is not an agreed upon approach for assessment of GEM trainees.

Main Body: In order to study the lack of standardized assessment in GEM fellowship training, a working group was established between the International EM Fellowship Consortium (IEMFC) and the International Federation for Emergency Medicine (IFEM).

Emergency care surveillance and emergency care registries in low-income and middle-income countries: conceptual challenges and future directions for research.

Despite the fact that the 15 leading causes of global deaths and disability-adjusted life years are from conditions amenable to emergency care, and that this burden is highest in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), there is a paucity of research on LMIC emergency care to guide policy making, resource allocation and service provision. A literature review of the 550 articles on LMIC emergency care published in the 10-year period from 2007 to 2016 yielded 106 articles for LMIC emergency care surveillance and registry research. Few articles were from established longitudinal surveillance or registries and primarily composed of short-term data collection.

Evaluation of Syndesmosis Reduction on CT Scan.

Background: Computed tomography (CT) imaging has traditionally been considered the gold standard for evaluation of syndesmostic reduction, but there is no uniformly accepted method to assess reduction. The aim of this study was to evaluate the intra- and interobserver reliability of published measurement techniques for evaluation of syndesmotic reduction on weightbearing CT scan (WBCT) in hopes of determining which method is best.

Methods: Medical records were reviewed to identify patients who underwent operative stabilization of unilateral syndesmotic injuries.

Distraction subtalar arthrodesis for calcaneal malunion: comparison of local versus iliac bone graft.

Aims: We hypothesized that there is no difference in the clinical and radiological outcomes using local bone graft iliac graft for subtalar distraction arthrodesis in patients with calcaneal malunion. In addition, using local bone graft negates the donor site morbidity.

Patients And Methods: We prospectively studied 28 calcaneal malunion patients (the study group) who were managed by subtalar distraction arthrodesis using local calcaneal bone graft.

Devastating neurologic injuries in the Syrian war.

Background: Since 2011, hundreds of thousands of Syrians have been displaced and injured due to the ongoing Syrian civil war. In this study, we report the prevalence of neurologic injuries in a major rehabilitation center on the Turkish-Syrian border where death and injury tolls continue to rise.

Method: Based on several on-site visits from 2013 to 2016, medical practitioners collected data from patients in the major rehabilitation center on the border of Turkey and Syria.