A decade long overview of damage control laparotomy for abdominal gunshot wounds.

Purpose: Over the last three decades, damage control laparotomy (DCL) has become important in the management of abdominal gunshot wounds (GSW). This paper reviews the experience of a single institution over a decade with the use of DCL for GSW of the abdomen.

Methods: Longitudinal data (2013-2022) was collected from the Hybrid Electronic Medical Registry database to identify all patients with an abdominal GSW over the study period.

The rate of iatrogenic injuries in surgical patients appears resistant to multiple interventions: what can we learn from aviation safety?

Background: This project analyses all iatrogenic injuries from our department over the last decade and tracks their rate against several interventions.

Methods: All patients who sustained an iatrogenic injury between 2012 and 2022 were reviewed.

Results: A total of 946 iatrogenic injuries occurred in 731 patients.

Adverse events associated with the use of indwelling devices in surgical patients.

Background: Indwelling devices (IDs) are ubiquitous in modern healthcare and may often be associated with morbidity. This paper investigates adverse events related to IDs in surgical patients, which are generally placed into patients either to administer therapy, manage outputs or for specific therapeutic benefit.

Methods: A retrospective electronic database-based assessment of all adverse events relating to IDs was undertaken from December 2012 to August 2021.

Transdiaphragmatic pericardial washout post penetrating cardiac injury found incidentally at diagnostic laparoscopy.

A 22-year-old male presented following a precordial stab. He was haemodynamically and metabolically normal. Initial investigations did not reveal pericardial fluid or haemothorax.

Trauma patterns during the COVID-19 lockdown in South Africa expose vulnerability of women.

Background: Trauma care places a significant burden on the South African (SA) healthcare system, and this has not changed significantly in recent history. We speculated that the COVID-19 lockdown regulations (travel restriction and alcohol ban) would affect trauma patterns.

Objectives: To compare the burden and nature of trauma over the COVID-19 lockdown period with the equivalent period over the past 5 years using routinely collected data from the Pietermaritzburg Metropolitan Trauma Service in KwaZulu-Natal Province, SA.

Pain, Depression, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Following Major Extremity Trauma Among United States Military Serving in Iraq and Afghanistan: Results From the Military Extremity Trauma and Amputation/Limb Salvage Study.

Objectives: Assess the burden and co-occurrence of pain, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among service members who sustained a major limb injury, and examine whether these conditions are associated with functional outcomes.

Design: A retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Four U.

Analysis of Surgical Adverse Events at a Major University Hospital in South Africa.

Background: Surgical 'never events' have serious adverse outcomes for patients. A never event can be defined as a serious, avoidable patient safety incident that would not occur if necessary preventative measures are implemented. The literature from South Africa on this topic is limited.

Non-organic Vision Loss in the Afghanistan and Iraq Conflicts.

Non-organic visual loss (NOVL), defined as a decrease in visual acuity or field without an identifiable organic cause, can be challenging to diagnose, especially in patients whose NOVL is superimposed on some component of true organic pathology. Exposure to combat puts soldiers at risk of emotional distress and physical trauma, which can contribute to the development of NOVL with conversion disorder or malingering. This case series describes six patients with NOVL who sustained ocular or non-ocular injuries while serving in combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and highlights diagnostic pearls and components of inter-disciplinary management in the unique military context.

Prenatal development is linked to bronchial reactivity: epidemiological and animal model evidence.

Chronic cardiorespiratory disease is associated with low birthweight suggesting the importance of the developmental environment. Prenatal factors affecting fetal growth are believed important, but the underlying mechanisms are unknown. The influence of developmental programming on bronchial hyperreactivity is investigated in an animal model and evidence for comparable associations is sought in humans.

The Military Extremity Trauma Amputation/Limb Salvage (METALS) study: outcomes of amputation versus limb salvage following major lower-extremity trauma.

Background: The study was performed to examine the hypothesis that functional outcomes following major lower-extremity trauma sustained in the military would be similar between patients treated with amputation and those who underwent limb salvage.

Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study of 324 service members deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq who sustained a lower-limb injury requiring either amputation or limb salvage involving revascularization, bone graft/bone transport, local/free flap coverage, repair of a major nerve injury, or a complete compartment injury/compartment syndrome. The Short Musculoskeletal Function Assessment (SMFA) questionnaire was used to measure overall function.

Attributional intervention for depression in two people with multiple sclerosis (MS): single case design.

Background: Depression is common in those with MS. The hopelessness theory of depression, emphasizing the role of attributional style, is supported in this population. Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) that can affect attributional style can reduce depression in people who have MS.

A dissociative episode following stage hypnosis in a combat-injured soldier: implications, treatment and reflections.

Significant data to suggest the need for more appropriate precautions for volunteers participating in stage hypnosis is presented. This paper is a case report of a soldier previously injured in battle who, due to participating in stage hypnosis one year after his injury, experienced a dissociative episode wherein post-traumatic stress symptoms were prominent. During this episode, which lasted over three hours, the service member assaulted an acquaintance, subsequently believed he was a prisoner of war, experienced amnesia for some of the events, and was eventually psychiatrically hospitalized.

Patient experience of neurologic rehabilitation: a qualitative investigation.

Objective: To understand the experiences of patients who had undergone neurologic rehabilitation.

Design: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of semistructured interviews.

Setting: Neurologic rehabilitation unit.

Human and mouse gene nomenclature.

Standard genetic nomenclature is necessary to help researchers, clinicians, and the public to access data on their genes of interest, and to communicate in a globally understood language of approved gene symbols. In both human and mouse, one unique symbol (acronym/abbreviation) and one name are assigned for each gene. Co-ordination between human and mouse gene nomenclature is a successful endeavor, due in part to the historical interaction between the two nomenclature committee groups.

Psychodynamic concepts inherent in a biopsychosocial model of care of traumatic injuries.

The psychological issues facing medical and surgical patients suffering from traumatic injuries are numerous and varied. These injuries may occur in the settings of armed conflict, terrorist attack, natural disaster, or accident. The goal of preventing or decreasing significant and disabling psychiatric comorbidity can be the objective and assignment of a Psychiatry Consultation Liaison Service (PCLS) within the hospital setting.

Posttraumatic stress disorder and depression in battle-injured soldiers.

Objective: This study examined rates, predictors, and course of probable posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression among seriously injured soldiers during and following hospitalization.

Method: The patients were 613 U.S.

Psychiatric interventions with returning soldiers at Walter Reed.

War is a malefic force and results in many psychiatric and medical casualties. Psychiatry's involvement with soldiers experiencing psychological stress resulting from combat experience has been reported for many years (Zajtchuk, 1995). It has been demonstrated that a myriad of diagnosis to include depression, anxiety, somatoform, adjustment disorders and psychotic behaviors also emerge (Wain et al.

DNA sequence and analysis of human chromosome 18.

Chromosome 18 appears to have the lowest gene density of any human chromosome and is one of only three chromosomes for which trisomic individuals survive to term. There are also a number of genetic disorders stemming from chromosome 18 trisomy and aneuploidy. Here we report the finished sequence and gene annotation of human chromosome 18, which will allow a better understanding of the normal and disease biology of this chromosome.

Thesaurus-based disambiguation of gene symbols.

Background: Massive text mining of the biological literature holds great promise of relating disparate information and discovering new knowledge. However, disambiguation of gene symbols is a major bottleneck.

Results: We developed a simple thesaurus-based disambiguation algorithm that can operate with very little training data.

Nomenclature of the ARID family of DNA-binding proteins.

The ARID is an ancient DNA-binding domain that is conserved throughout the evolution of higher eukaryotes. The ARID consensus sequence spans about 100 amino acid residues, and structural studies identify the major groove contact site as a modified helix-turn-helix motif. ARID-containing proteins exhibit a range of cellular functions, including participation in chromatin remodeling, and regulation of gene expression during cell growth, differentiation, and development.

Update on human genome completion and annotations: gene nomenclature.

Why is agreeing on one particular name for each gene important? As one genome after another becomes sequenced, it is imperative to consider the complexity of genes, genetic architecture, gene expression, gene-gene and gene-product interactions and evolutionary relatedness across species. To agree on a particular gene name not only makes one's own research easier, but will also be helpful to the present generation, as well as future generations, of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who are about to enter genomics research.

Gene map of the extended human MHC.

The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is the most important region in the vertebrate genome with respect to infection and autoimmunity, and is crucial in adaptive and innate immunity. Decades of biomedical research have revealed many MHC genes that are duplicated, polymorphic and associated with more diseases than any other region of the human genome. The recent completion of several large-scale studies offers the opportunity to assimilate the latest data into an integrated gene map of the extended human MHC.

Reflections on hypnotizability and its impact on successful surgical hypnosis: a sole anesthetic for septoplasty.

While hypnosis has been a significant medical tool through the ages, its use has been, at best, capricious. After the development and widespread use of ether, hypnosis has been mostly relegated to the role of an adjunct to chemical anesthesia. The present paper describes a case where hypnosis was used as the sole anesthetic for a septoplasty.

Comparison of cytochrome P450 (CYP) genes from the mouse and human genomes, including nomenclature recommendations for genes, pseudogenes and alternative-splice variants.

Objectives: Completion of both the mouse and human genome sequences in the private and public sectors has prompted comparison between the two species at multiple levels. This review summarizes the cytochrome P450 (CYP) gene superfamily. For the first time, we have the ability to compare complete sets of CYP genes from two mammals.