A traumatic spinal subdural hematoma is a rare condition, and only nine cases have been reported until now. We report a rare case of concomitant intracranial hemorrhage and spinal subdural hematoma with a review of the literature. A 45-year-old man was referred to our institute after being stroke by a car. He complained of nausea, headache, back pain, and bilateral sciatica. Brain computed tomography and lumbar spine magnetic resonance images revealed both an intracerbral hemorrhage and a subdural hematoma in the L4 to S1 level. After performing a lumbar spinal puncture and draining the hemorrhagic cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), the intracranial and spinal hematomas were resolved completely without any neruologic deficits.
Back Pain ; Brain ; Cerebrospinal Fluid ; Headache ; Hematoma* ; Hematoma, Subdural ; Hematoma, Subdural, Spinal* ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Intracranial Hemorrhages ; Middle Aged ; Nausea ; Punctures* ; Sciatica ; Spinal Puncture ; Spine ; Stroke

Penetrating facial wounds are uncommon and are usually life threatening because of the possibility of brain damage. There are three possible pathways for penetrating the cranium through the orbit: via the orbital roof, via the superior orbital fissure, or between the optic canal and lateral wall of the orbit. Brain injuries resulting from the penetrating wounds show extensive parenchymal damage, hemorrhage, and brain edema. Transorbital penetrating wounds can lead to diverse lesions of the optical apparatus, including the eye globe, the optical nerve, and the chiasm. Moreover, intracerebral structures may be hurt, and bleeding and infection may occur. Early diagnosis and prompt debridement are the fundamental factors affecting the outcome of a penetrating facial wound. An 87-year-old man was admitted to the emergency department with a grinder impacted into the medial aspect of the right eye. On presentation, the man was fully conscious with a Glasgow Coma Scale score of 15 and complained of a visual disturbance of the right eye. Computed tomography demonstrated a right orbital medial and inferior wall fracture, a frontal bone fracture, and a contusional hemorrhage in frontal lobe of the brain. A craniotomy with hematoma removal and repair of the orbital floor was done. He showed no neurological deficits except right visual loss. This appears to be the first report of a man with a penetrating facial wound caused by a grinder, who presented with a potentially disastrous craniocerebral injury that did not lead to any serious neurological seguelae.
Aged, 80 and over ; Brain ; Brain Edema ; Brain Injuries ; Contusions ; Craniocerebral Trauma ; Craniotomy ; Debridement ; Early Diagnosis ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Frontal Bone ; Frontal Lobe ; Glasgow Coma Scale ; Hematoma ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Orbit ; Skull ; Wounds and Injuries* ; Wounds, Penetrating

PURPOSE: Pyomyositis is a rare disease in temperature climate region. The diagnosis of pyomyositis is often delayed, and pyomyositis is often misdiagnosed in the emergency department. METHODS: The medical records of 11 patients who were diagnosed as having traumatic pyomyositis in the emergency department at Samsung Medical Center in Seoul, Korea, between 2000 and 2006 were reviewed. Their clinical features, such as history, symptoms, clinical findings, duration from onset of symptoms to diagnosis, medical history, laboratory data, results of imaging studies and clinical course were collected. RESULTS: The psoas muscles were most commonly involved. Computer tomography and magnetic resonance imaging aided in accurate diagnosis of the infection and of the extent of involvement. Incision, drainage, and antibiotics therapy eradicated the infectioin in all patients CONCLUSION: Pyomyositis should be a part of the differential diagnosis for patients with traumatic muscle pain. Radiologic evaluation, such as computer tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, must be considered in the diagnosis of traumatic pyomyositis.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Climate ; Diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Drainage ; Emergencies* ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Humans ; Korea ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Medical Records ; Myalgia ; Psoas Muscles ; Pyomyositis* ; Rare Diseases ; Seoul

PURPOSE: For prevention and suitable administration, the effect of age on the severity of injuries in traffic accidents should be considered when evaluating a patient, but there have not been enough epidemiological studies that evaluate the age factor in traffic accidents. For that reason, we investigated old-aged patients who were involved in traffic accidents (65 years old or more) and who were admitted to the emergency department of a college hospital in an urban city of Korea. METHODS: We collected data from traffic-accident patients who came to the emergency room of a university hospital in Seoul from Jan.1, 2004 to Dec.31, 2005. We compared their abilities to ambulate and the RTSs (Revised trauma scores) by using a LSD (least significant difference), linear regression. RESULTS: A total of 1460 patients were included. The mean RTS of all traffic-accident patients was 7.77+/-0.280. The scores for drivers and passengers, motor-cycle drivers and passengers, bicycle drivers and passengers, and pedestrians were 7.79+/-0.21, 7.78+/-0.22, 7.54+/-0.25, 7.77+/-0.20, and 7.80+/-0.21 respectively (p=0.000). There was no statistically significant difference between the RTS of patients over 65 years and that of other patients. In a regression analysis, the number of patients over 45 ages who were able to ambulate was lower than that of younger people, independently of other influencing factors (B=-0.330, R-square = 0.243, p=0.000). CONCLUSION: We expected that RTS of old age group more than 65 years old will significantly lower than that of others, but there was no statistically significant difference.
Accidents, Traffic* ; Age Factors ; Aged ; Emergencies* ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Emergency Treatment* ; Epidemiologic Studies ; Humans ; Korea ; Linear Models ; Lysergic Acid Diethylamide ; Motor Vehicles ; Seoul

PURPOSE: The arterial base deficit (BD) has proven to be useful in the evaluation and management of trauma patients. Indicators such as the Triage-Revised Trauma Score (t-RTS) and the systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) score have been used as triage tools for emergency trauma patients in Korea. The purpose of this study was to assess the usefulness of the initial BD in predicting injury severity and outcome in the trauma population. METHODS: The medical records of 308 consecutive trauma patients admitted to the Emergency Center of Masan Samsung Hospital from January 2004 to December 2004 were carefully examined prospectively and retrospectively, and 291 patients were selected as subjects for this research. The SIRS score and the t-RTS were calculated based on the records from the emergency department, and the BD was calculated based on the arterial blood gas analysis obtained within 30 minutes of admission. The efficiency of the three indicators as triage tools was evaluated by using cross tabulations in two - by - two matrices and by using a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. RESULTS: When the mortality was used as the outcome parameter, the sensitivity and the accuracy of the initial BD were higher than those of the SIRS score (p<0.05) and were same as those of the t-RTS. The areas under the ROC curves of the initial BD, the SIRS score, and the t-RTS were 0.740+/-0.087, 0.696+/-0.082, and 0.871+/-0.072, respectively (95% confidence interval). When emergency operation and blood transfusion requirements were used as outcome parameters, the comparisons of the sensitivities and the accuracies of the initial BD and the other two indicators showed the same pattern as mentioned above. The areas under the ROC curves of the initial BD were 0.7~0.8 and were larger than those of the SIRS score (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The ability of the initial BD to predict injury severity and outcome was similar to those of the t- RTS and the SIRS score. Therefore, the authors suggest that the initial BD may be used as an alternative to previous triage tools for trauma patients
Blood Gas Analysis ; Blood Transfusion ; Emergencies ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Humans ; Korea ; Medical Records ; Mortality ; Prospective Studies ; Retrospective Studies ; ROC Curve ; Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome ; Triage

PURPOSE: Acute liver failure after massive partial hepatectomy is critical condition with high mortality. To prevent postoperative liver failure from being induced by a massive partial hepatectomy, many doctors do a minimal resection on the single lobe of the liver that might cause postoperative bleeding from the remaining ruptured parenchyma. The objective of this study was to assess clinical experience with postoperative hepatic arterial embolization to control bleeding from the remaining ruptured liver during the postoperative period. METHODS: This retrospective 4-year study was conducted from May 2002 to April 2006 and included consecutive patients who had sustained massive hepatic injuries and who had undergone a laparotomy, followed by postoperative hepatic arterial angiographic embolization to control bleeding. Data on the injury characteristics, the operative treatment and embolization, and the amount of transfused packed red cells (PRBC) were gathered and analyzed. In addition, data on the overall complications and survival rate were collected and analyzed. RESULTS: Every case showed severe liver injury, higher liver injury scaling grade IV. Only ten cases involved a ruptured bilateral liver lobe. A lobectomy was done in 6 cases, a left lobectomy was done in 3 cases, and a primary suture closure of the liver was done in 2 cases. Suture closure was also done on the remaining ruptured liver parenchyma in cases of lobectomies. The postoperative hepatic arterial embolizations were done by using the super-selection technique. There were some cases of arterio-venous malformations and anomalous vessel branches. The average amount of transfused PRBC during 24 hours after embolization was 2.36+/-1.75, which statistically significantly lower than that before embolization. Among the 11 cases, 9 patients survived, and 2 died. There was no specific complications induced by the embolization. CONCLUSION: In cases of postoperative bleeding in severe hepatic injury, if there is still a large amount of bleeding, postoperative hepatic arterial embolization might be a good therapeutic option.
Hemorrhage* ; Hepatectomy ; Humans ; Laparotomy ; Liver ; Liver Failure ; Liver Failure, Acute ; Mortality ; Postoperative Period ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate ; Sutures

PURPOSE: The committee on trauma of the american college of surgeons, in its manual resources for optimal care of the injured patients involved in falls from less than 20 feet need not be taken to trauma centers. Because triage criteria dictate less urgency for low-level falls, this classification scheme has demerits for early detection and treatment of serious problems in the emergency room. METHODS: A prospective analysis was conducted of 182 patients treated for fall-related trauma from June 2003 to March 2004. Falls were classified as group A (<3 m), group B (> or =3 m, <6 m), and group C (> or =6 m). Collected data included the patient's age, gender, site and height of fall, surface fallen upon, body area of first impact, body regions of injuries, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), Revised Trauma Score (RTS), and Injury Severity Score (ISS). RESULTS: The 182 patients were classified as group A (105) 57.7%, group B (61) 33.5%, and group C (16) 8.8%. There was a weak positive correlation between the height of fall and the patients'ISS in the three groups (p<0.001). There were significant differences in GCS (p=0.017), RTS (p=0.034), and ISS (p=0.007) between group A and B. In cases that the head was the initial impact area of the body, the GCS (p<0.001) and the RTS (p=0.002) were lower, but the ISS (p<0.001) was higher than it was for other type of injuries. Hard surfaces as an impact surface type, had an influence on the GCS (p<0.001) and the ISS (p=0.025). CONCLUSION: To simply categorize patients who fall over 6 meters as severely injured patients doesn't have much meaning, and though patients may have fallen less than 6 meters, they should be categorized by using the dynamics (impact surface type, initial body-impact area) of their fall.
Body Regions ; Classification ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Foot ; Glasgow Coma Scale ; Head ; Humans ; Injury Severity Score ; Prospective Studies ; Trauma Centers ; Triage

PURPOSE: Recently, the American Heart Association recommended that routine cervical spine protection in submerged patients was not necessary, except in high-energy injury situations. However, until now, this recommendation has few supportive studies and literatures. This retrospective study was performed to demonstrate the risk of cervical spine injury in patients who had been submerged in a river. METHODS: Seventy-nine submerged patients who visited St. Mary's Hospital between January 2000 and December 2005 were included in this retrospective study. We investigated and analyzed the victim's age, sex, activity on submersion, mental status and level of severity at admission, prognosis at discharge, associated injuries, and risk group by using the medical records and cervical spine lateral images. According to the activity on submersion, victims were classified into three groups: high risk, low risk, and unknown risk. The reports of radiologic studies were classified into unstable fracture, stable fracture, sprain, degenerative change, and normal. RESULTS: The patients'mean age was 36.8 yrs, and 54% were males. Of the 79 patients, adult and adolescent populations (80%) were dominant. Jumping from a high bridge (48%) was the most common activity on submersion and accounted for 52% of the high-risk group. The Glasgow coma scale at admission and the cerebral performance scale at discharge showed bimodal patterns. The results of the radiologic studies showed one stable fracture, one suspicious stable fracture, and 18 sprains. The incidence of cervical spine fracture in submerged patients was 2.5% in our study. The incidence of cervical spine injury was higher in the high-risk group than it was in the low-risk group, especially in the jumping-from-high-bridge subgroup; however this observation was not statistically significant. No other factors had any significant effect on the incidence of cervical spine injury. CONCLUSION: Our study showed that even submerged patients in the high risk group had a low incidence of cervical spine fracture and that the prognosis of a patient did not seem to be influenced by the cervical spine fracture itself.
Adolescent ; Adult ; American Heart Association ; Cervical Vertebrae ; Female ; Glasgow Coma Scale ; Humans ; Immersion* ; Incidence ; Male ; Medical Records ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Rivers* ; Spine* ; Sprains and Strains

PURPOSE: Hypovolemia is not uncommon among trauma patients in the emergency department (ED). Successful resuscitation of a hypovolemic patient often requires rapid intravenous administration of massive amounts of fluid. A rapid fluid infuser is used in the ED for this purpose, there have been no studies of their clinical uses and effectiveness. We studied clinical experience with a rapid fluid infuser at an urban university hospital in Seoul, Korea. METHODS: We reviewed the medical records of 38 patients admitted to the ED with a history of application of a rapid fluid infuser from January 2004 to July 2005. Adult trauma patients older than 15 years of age were included in this study. Clinical data on the patients and the volume of fluid used to achieve a stable blood pressure were extracted from their medical records. RESULTS: The total number of adult trauma patients with a history of application of a rapid fluid infuser from January 2004 to July 2005 in the ED was 16. The mean systolic blood pressure for deciding to apply the rapid fluid infuser was 74.9+/-12.7 mmHg. The mean time and volume used to achieve a stable blood pressure were 40.4 min and 2947.3+/-1339.2 ml, respectively. In all patients, the amount of fluid infused before using the rapid fluid infuser was between 500 ml and 10,000 ml, compared to 1,000 ml and 6,200 ml with the rapid fluid infuser. The mean amount of fluid per min. via the rapid fluid infuser was 85.5 ml. Vital signs were stabilized in 11 patients, 6 of the 11 were discharged alive. CONCLUSION: The mean amount of fluid delivered per min. via the rapid fluid infuser was much less than expected; thus, there should be clinical guidelines on volume resuscitation with a rapid fluid infuser in the ED. In the future, prospective, multicenter, clinical-data collection is needed for a more sophisticated study.
Administration, Intravenous ; Adult ; Blood Pressure ; Emergencies* ; Emergency Service, Hospital* ; Humans ; Hypovolemia ; Infusion Pumps ; Korea ; Medical Records ; Resuscitation ; Seoul ; Shock ; Vital Signs

PURPOSE: Injuries are the third leading cause of death in Korea. Isolated chest injury is not uncommon and shows high mortality and morbidity. Several scoring systems are used for triage and stratification for trauma patients, but no standard system is accepted. We aimed to analyze the accuracy of identification of isolated chest injury by using several scoring systems. METHODS: We reviewed a total of 75 patients admitted with isolated chest injury between January 2005 and October 2005. Medical records were reviewed by using the Injury Severity Score (ISS), the Revised Trauma Score (RTS), and the Trauma and Injury Severity Score (TRISS). The scoring systems were compared by using statistics methods. RESULTS: The overall predictive accuracy of the TRISS was 12.5%, 12.0% greater than those of the RTS and the ISS. By using the area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curve, the TRISS showed an excellent discriminative power (AUROC 0.931) compared to the ISS (AUROC 0.926) and the RTS (AUROC 0.872). CONCLUSION: Compared with the RTS and the ISS, the TRISS is an easily applied tool with excellent prognostic abilities for isolated chest trauma patients. However, the TRISS, the ISS, and the RTS showed high specificity and low sensitivity, so another scoring system is required for triage and stratification of isolated chest injury patients.
Cause of Death ; Humans ; Injury Severity Score ; Korea ; Medical Records ; Mortality ; ROC Curve ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Thoracic Injuries* ; Thorax* ; Triage