General versus spinal anaesthesia in proximal femoral fracture surgery - treatment outcomes.

Background: Proximal femoral fractures are a major public health problem because of the increasing proportion of elderly individuals in the general population. The mode of choice for anaesthesia in surgical treatment of these fractures is still debated in terms of better postoperative outcome. The aim of our study was to compare the effect of general over spinal anaesthesia on mortality in proximal femoral fracture surgery.

PRACTICAL CHRONIC PAIN ASSESSMENT TOOLS IN CLINICAL PRACTICE.

The aim of the study was to show the role of tools in the evaluation of chronic pain (CP) in general practitioner (GP) everyday clinical practice. The study was done by analyzing electronic database of the first visits of 1090 CP patients referred to the Pain Clinic of the Karlovac General Hospital, Karlovac, Croatia, by their GPs. All patient records were analyzed according to the cause of CP, strongest pain a week before the examination, quality of sleep, and the Patients' Global Impression of Change scale.

[PAIN AND GUIDELINES FOR PAIN PREVENTION IN CHRONIC WOUND].

This review article describes the occurrence of painful sensation with special reference to the occurrence of pain in chronic wounds, and presents recommendations for medical treatment of pain. Treatment is focused on pharmacotherapy. The recommended basis for rational use of analgesics is the WHO ‘three-degree’ scale.

Secondary stroke in patients with polytrauma and traumatic brain injury treated in an Intensive Care Unit, Karlovac General Hospital, Croatia.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is divided into primary and secondary brain injury. Primary brain injury occurs at the time of injury and is the direct consequence of kinetic energy acting on the brain tissue. Secondary brain injury occurs several hours or days after primary brain injury and is the result of factors including shock, systemic hypotension, hypoxia, hypothermia or hyperthermia, intracranial hypertension, cerebral oedema, intracranial bleeding or inflammation.