Using routine accident and emergency department data to describe local injury epidemiology.

All 17330 Accident and Emergency Department (A and E) attendances following injury (67% of all A and E attendances by residents of the EH54 postcode (the town of Livingston) at St John's Hospital during 1995 and 1996 were examined to study local accident epidemiology. The overall annual injury attendance rate for males (245.7/1000) and females (148.

Prognosis of elderly patients with non-specific abdominal pain.

Objective: To examine the long term outcome of patients over 65 years presenting with acute non-specific abdominal pain.

Setting: District general hospital.

Design: Retrospective cohort survey.

Use of Autosuture Surgiport for pleural drain insertion.

The insertion of pleural drains (tube thoracostomy) is associated with serious complications in up to 10 per cent of cases. A safe and efficient technique of tube thoracostomy using the Autosuture Surgiport is described.