Reduction and ring fixation of instable C1 fractures with monoaxial pedicle screws.

Introduction: Ring fixation of C1 can be performed using pedicle screws and a rod in case of unstable Jefferson or lateral mass fractures of C1.

Materials And Methods: In a case series of three patients, we stabilized C1 fractures surgically using a modified technique of C1 ring fixation by using monoaxial instead of polyaxial screws. Functional outcome and pain was recorded postoperatively.

Clinical Performance and Safety of 108 SpineJack Implantations: 1-Year Results of a Prospective Multicentre Single-Arm Registry Study.

This prospective, consecutive, multicentre observational registry aimed to confirm the safety and clinical performance of the SpineJack system for the treatment of vertebral compression fractures (VCF) of traumatic origin. We enrolled 103 patients (median age: 61.6 years) with 108 VCF due to trauma, or traumatic VCF with associated osteoporosis.

Balloon kyphoplasty and percutaneous fixation of lumbar fractures in pediatric patients.

Purpose: Type A fractures of the spine requiring operative stabilization are rare injuries in the pediatric population. Current reports have demonstrated the safety of the combination of balloon kyphoplasty and minimal invasive management of thoraco-lumbar fractures in adults. There is no information about the efficacy of this approach in managing pediatric vertebral fractures.

Demineralization after balloon kyphoplasty with calcium phosphate cement: a histological evaluation in ten patients.

Purpose: Balloon kyphoplasty (BKP) with calcium phosphate cement (CPC) is increasingly being used for spinal surgery in younger patients. In routinely performed follow-up CT scans we observed considerable areas of demineralization in CPC processed vertebrae in several patients. To rule out infections or inflammations histological examinations were planned for these patients.

Outcome of type C (AO) distal humeral fractures: follow-up of 22 patients with bicolumnar plating osteosynthesis.

Background: In the last 40 years, 220 patients with type C distal humeral fractures (AO13-C1-3) were treated at our hospital operatively. Aim of this study is to present results of patients treated by dual plating osteosynthesis in the last decade and to compare them with our previous series (A-C).

Materials And Methods: From 1999 to 2008, 48 distal humeral fractures were treated operatively by perpendicular dual plating osteosynthesis.

Penetrating neck trauma causing tracheal rupture, spinal cord injury, and massive pneumocephalus.

We describe a case in which tracheal, esophageal, and spinal cord injuries associated with massive pneumocephalus were caused by a flying chainsaw segment. To our knowledge, this is the first such case reported in the medical literature. The management challenges inherent in this exceedingly rare combination of injuries are discussed, and a novel theory explaining the possible pathophysiological mechanism that led to pneumocephalus in our patient is put forth.

Transdiaphragmatic repositioning of the heart in the setting of emergency laparotomy after blunt trauma.

Cardiac luxation after blunt trauma is a rare condition that carries a high mortality rate. We report a case of a left pericardial rupture with partial dislocation of the heart into the left pleural cavity and cardiac strangulation in a polytraumatized patient after a severe motor vehicle accident. This case is of special interest because the patient not only had cardiovascular compromise but was also actually in cardiac arrest and being resuscitated when an emergency repositioning of the heart through the diaphragm in the setting of damage control laparotomy restored circulation.

Successful prolonged resuscitation involving the use of tenecteplase without neurological sequelae.

Prehospital cardiac arrest is associated with a very poor prognosis. We report a case of complete neurological recovery after prolonged resuscitation involving the use of tenecteplase in a patient with undifferentiated cardiac arrest with a return of spontaneous circulation after 1 hour of resuscitation, where basic life support was commenced immediately by a bystanding family member. Factors associated with an increased chance of survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest are discussed as well as the role of thrombolytics in cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Cricothyroidotomy on the scene in a patient with severe facial trauma and difficult neck anatomy.

We present a case of a patient with severe facial trauma who was treated at the scene by a physician-staffed trauma life support team. Because of massive oropharyngeal bleeding in addition to a difficult neck anatomy in a very obese patient, a cannot-intubate, cannot-ventilate situation occurred. Control of the airway could finally be achieved by surgical cricothyroidotomy.