OBJECTIVETo observe the effect of octyl-a-cyanoacrylate upon bone healing and its degradation in vitro after middle tibial transverse fracture in rabbitsì and to establish treatment of higher efficacy with the application of octyl-a-cyanoacrylate.

METHODSMiddle tibial transverse fracture model of New Zealand rabbits was established. In the experimental group, internal fixation with 2 mm Kirschner wires was performed and the broken ends were fixed with octyl-a-cyanoacrylate. In the control group, only internal fixation with 2 mm Kirschner wires was conducted. Animals were killed at preset time intervals of 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 weeks postoperatively and samples were harvested.

RESULTSTwo weeks after operation, clear fracture lines were observed in both the experimental and the control groups. Fibrous soft tissue connection was noted between the broken ends and there was soft tissue adhesion around the fracture site. There was no callus formation and the broken ends were surrounded by adhesive soft tissues. Obvious external callus formation was confirmed at 8 weeks after operation in both groups with partial disappearance of fracture lines. Ten and twelve weeks after the operation, fracture lines disappeared completely and there was obvious external callus formation and bone union. In the fourth week, fibrous cells and chondrocytes were found to grow into the colloid and surround it at the 6th week. The adhesive material was degraded and gradually absorbed at the 8th week. Chondrification was observed.

CONCLUSIONSTwo weeks after fixation for tibial fracture in rabbits, octyl-a-cyanoacrylate begins in vivo degradation. Chondrocytes and fibrocytes gradually grow into the degradation area and surround the adhesive material, which broke into pieces at 8 weeks. Complete degradation and disappearance of the adhesive material is present between 10 and 12 weeks. No barrier effect hampering fracture healing is noted.

Adhesives ; therapeutic use ; Animals ; Cyanoacrylates ; therapeutic use ; Rabbits ; Radiography ; Tibial Fractures ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; therapy

OBJECTIVETo establish an animal model of tractive spinal cord injury in rats in order to investigate its pathophysiological changes and clinical significance.

METHODST(12)-L(3) spines were tracted longitudinally with a special spinal retractor that was put on the proccessus transverses of T(12)-L(3) vertebrae of the rat after exposing T(13)-L(2) spinal cord via dual laminectomy. At the same tine, the spinal cord function was monitored by cortical somatosensory evoked potential (CSEP). Rats were randomly divided into four groups according to the amplitude of CSEP P(1)-N(1) wave, the amount of the decreasing P(1)-N(1) wave was 30% (the 30% group), 50% (the 50% group) and 70% (the 70% group), respectively. After traction, the changes of the neural behavioral function in rats were observed and the morphological structure of the spinal cord was analyzed quantitatively with image analysis system of computer.

RESULTSWith traction of spine, compared with the control group, the 30% group had no marked difference in combined behavioral score (CBS), neuron count, section area of neuron and Nissl body density, but the 50% and 70% groups had marked difference (P<0.01). Light microscope showed that the neuron volume was slightly small and the Nissl body was reduced lightly in the 30% group; the neuron space was enlarged and the neuron was degenerative, reductive, and dissolved, and the spinal cord structure was destroyed in the 50% and 70% groups.

CONCLUSIONSThe animal model of tractive spinal cord injury in rats is a reproducible, graded and clinic mimic. The model in this article provides a valuable assistance in further understanding etiopathology and screening effective measures of therapy and prophylaxis of the injury.

Animals ; Female ; Male ; Models, Animal ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Spinal Cord Injuries ; physiopathology ; Traction

OBJECTIVETo retrospectively analyze the medical treatment of 332 patients with lower leg fracture in Wenchuan earthquake admitted in West China Hospital.

METHODSFrom May 12, 2008 to June 15, 2008, 332 patients with lower leg fracture injured in Wenchuan earthquake were treated in our hospital. The data on trauma condition and clinical treatment were collected and analyzed.

RESULTSAmong the 332 cases of lower leg fracture, there were 179 cases of open fracture, accounting for 53.9%, in which 91% belonged to Gustilo II or III injury with serious pollution. Many patients had posttraumatic complications, vascular and nerve injury, wound infection or osteofascial compartment syndrome. After medical treatment, blood vessels were reconnected, wound surface was repaired and wound infection was under control.

CONCLUSIONFor the patients with lower leg fracture in earthquake, we followed the principle of "complete debridement - restoring the continuity of bone bracket-timely recovering blood supply of limbs and repairing nerve damage - repair the wound surface at stage I or II " so as to reduce the incidence of amputation and infection.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Child ; China ; Compartment Syndromes ; etiology ; Earthquakes ; Female ; Fracture Healing ; Fractures, Bone ; surgery ; Humans ; Leg ; blood supply ; innervation ; Leg Injuries ; surgery ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies

OBJECTIVETo develop a public health index related to the comprehensive assessment on the impact caused by floods.

METHODSA Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) theory was used to establish the initial evaluation system on the impact of floods. Modified-Delphi process was used to screen and determine the indicators and their weights while synthetical scored method was used to establish the comprehensive assessment model. Percentile was used to differentiate the degree of floods. Finally, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and correlation analysis were used to test the differentiability of the model for different degree of floods and the independence of these indicators.

RESULTSThe model of comprehensive assessment on the impact of floods was set up, including six first-ranking indicators and twenty-four sub-indicators. The values of comprehensive assessment were divided into five grades by the percentiles. Verified results indicated that there were significant difference among the five grades (F = 76.11, P < 0.01) and all indicators were independent.

CONCLUSIONAn index of comprehensive assessment on the impact of floods was established, which could be used to evaluate the impact of floods and to differentiate the degree of flood, which seemed to have the characteristic of reliability, comprehensiveness and practicability.

Analysis of Variance ; China ; Delphi Technique ; Disasters ; Health Status Indicators ; Humans ; Models, Theoretical ; Public Health ; standards ; statistics & numerical data ; Research ; statistics & numerical data ; Research Design

OBJECTIVETo investigate whether three biallelic polymorphisms at the position -592, -819 and -1082 in the promoter region of the IL-10 gene were associated with the incidence of autoimmune liver disease.

METHODSThe IL-10 -592 and IL-10-1082 polymorphisms were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphisms analysis (PCR-RFLP), while polymerase chain reaction- sequence specific primer (PCR-SSP) assay was used to detect IL-10 -819 polymorphisms.

RESULTSAmong 54 Chinese patients with AIH or 77 Chinese patients with PBC versus healthy controls, the frequency of AA, GA genotypes at IL-10 gene promoter -1082 position was 87.0% or 83.1% versus 90.0%, 13.0% or 16.9% versus 10.0%, respectively (P > 0.05), the GG genotype in Chinese populations is absent; the frequency of CC, CT, TT genotypes at IL-10 gene promoter -819 position was 11.11% or 9.1% versus 8.1%, 44.4% or 53.3% versus 45.0%, 44.4% or 37.7% versus 46.9%, respectively (P > 0.05); the frequency of CC, CA, AA genotypes at IL-10 gene promoter -592 position was 4.9% or 14.3% versus 10.0%, 51.2% or 53.3% versus 51.9%, 43.9% or 32.5% versus 38.1%, respectively (P > 0.05). No alleles differed significantly in each groups.

CONCLUSIONThere were no association between IL-10 gene polymorphisms and autoimmune liver disease

Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Hepatitis, Autoimmune ; genetics ; immunology ; Humans ; Interleukin-10 ; genetics ; Liver Cirrhosis, Biliary ; genetics ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; methods ; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length ; Promoter Regions, Genetic ; genetics

OBJECTIVE: To determine the damage of different types of floods on the residents health. METHODS: The methods of standard mortality rate (SMR) and years of potential life lost (YPLL) were used to analyze the death of sample residents from flood areas in Dongting Lake in Hunan province. RESULTS: The order of death causes in the soaked area, the collapsed area and the non-flood area was the same. But the mortality rates of residents injury, poisoning and malignant neoplasm diseases in the soaked area and the collapsed area were higher than those of non-flood area. The resident standard rates of years of potential life lost (SYPLL) in the soaked area and the collapsed area were higher than that of the controls, especially in the age group of 30 to 45. The flood-attributed SYPLL in the male was higher than that of the female. CONCLUSION Flood actually affected the health of residents. The more serious the flood is, the worse the effect is. It is very important to decrease the resident mortality rate of the injury, poisoning and malignant neoplasm, and to pay attention to protect people of 30 to 45 years old in flood areas.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; China ; epidemiology ; Disasters ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Life Tables ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mortality

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of health service and its influential factors in flood disaster areas. METHODS: Fifty-five towns were sampled randomly from Dongting Lake area suffering from flood in 1998. The health service level, effect, and its influence factors were investigated retrospectively. RESULTS: The incidence rate of notifiable infectious diseases was 11.7 per thousand, prevalence rate of chronic disease was 51.2 per thousand, infant mortality rate was 43.1 per thousand, neonatal mortality rate was 10.2 per thousand, and the total mortality rate was 554.3/100,000 in Dongting Lake area. The health investment level was significantly associated with the incidence rate of notifiable infectious diseases, the infant mortality rate, and total mortality rate. Duration of flood and income per capita were important factors for the effect of health investment. CONCLUSION Increasing health investment and residents' income in the flood disaster area, shortening the duration of flood would play positive role in residents' health in the flood disaster area.
China ; epidemiology ; Chronic Disease ; epidemiology ; Communicable Diseases ; epidemiology ; Floods ; Health Services ; supply & distribution ; Humans ; Incidence ; Prevalence

Objective To provide the theoretical basis for the application of cortical somatosensory evoked potential (CSEP) in monitoring the function of the spinal cord to prevent postoperative neurological dysfunction. Methods Thirty-three New Zealand rabbits were randomly divided into 6 groups: 8 were chosen as control group to eliminate the influence of anesthesia and surgery on the evoked potential; the other 25 were assigned to 5 sub-experimental groups (n=5) according to the artery number being ligatured in the left renal arteries and the spinal arteries. Baseline evoked potential in each group was noted immediately after anesthesia; the CSEP were recorded at different time points (before vascular ligation, 30 min and 2 d after vascular ligation). Motor functions were assessed after narcotic conscious and 2 d after vascular ligation. The specimens were taken for HE staining. Results The latency was not sensitive to spinal cord ischemia and no significant difference of that was found between the experimental groups and the control group (P>0.05); except that, the changes of theamplitudes were very complex and the specificity of motor function was decreased. The amplitude reduced and then gradually restored in the 2, 3 and 4 levels of ligation. The changes of amplitude could indicate the degree of pathological damage in the spinal cord and its motor function. Conclusion Complex amplitude of somatosensory evoked potential can be found in the acute phase of ischemia in the spinal cord. Specificity of motor function is poor resulting from its signal averaging process. Motor evoked potential monitoring in the operation should also be added in the detection of the spinal cord.

OBJECTIVETo study the immediate and long-term effects of disasters caused by floods on residents health status.

METHODSStratified sampling by ranks of flood disaster occurred in 1996 and 1998, flood disaster areas and control areas were carried out. A retrospective study was also carried out to study all diseases involved during 1996 - 1999.

RESULTSThe incident rates of acute infectious disease in flooding areas in 1996 and 1998 were both higher than those of non-flooding areas (863.181/100 000 and 736.591/100 000, respectively). But there was no different between the incident rate of the first years in flooding areas and that of non-flooding areas. The prevalence rates of 8 kinds of chronic diseases related to circulatory system, nervous system, digestive system, injury and poisonous diseases in flooding areas were also higher than that in the non-flooding areas. The highest incidence rates of most diseases were in the mountainous flooding areas, followed by areas collapsed by flooding, and the lowest were seen in soakedareas by floods. The incidence rates of intestinal infectious diseases and respiratory infectious diseases were lower in areas where prevention and control measures were weak.

CONCLUSIONFlood could lead to the increase of incidence rates both on acute infectious diseases and non-infectious diseases. Interventions on non-infectious diseases should also be enforced to stop the epidemics when preventing and controlling acute infectious disease.

Acute Disease ; China ; epidemiology ; Chronic Disease ; Communicable Diseases ; epidemiology ; Disasters ; Health Status ; Humans ; Residence Characteristics ; statistics & numerical data ; Retrospective Studies

OBJECTIVETo study the expenses of hospitalization among the population in the flood disaster areas of Dongting Lake in Hunan province in 1998.

METHODSDescriptive epidemiologic study were conducted to analyze hospitalization expenses of the residents of 55 villages in flood disaster areas in 1998; single factors analysis and logarithmic linear regression analysis were carried out to explore influencing factors about hospitalization expenses of the residents.

RESULTSThe hospitalization rate was 4.59% with an average hospitalization expenses of 667.42 Yuan in the flood disaster areas' residents of Dongting Lake in 1998. Compared with populations without suffering from flood, hospitalization rate and the average hospitalization expenses of flood disaster Areas' residents of Dongting Lake in 1998 were higher and had significant difference. The average hospitalization expenses in 1998 was affected by flood types, family income, gender, age, literacy, occupation, outcome after leaving the hospital and hospital ranks.

CONCLUSIONThese results implied that the flood disease aggravated inhabitants' burden of disease in Dongting Lake areas; the factors influencing the average hospitalization expenses were multiple, and synthetic measures should be taken in the prevention and control of flood disaster.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; China ; Cost of Illness ; Disasters ; Female ; Hospital Charges ; statistics & numerical data ; Hospitalization ; economics ; Humans ; Infant ; Linear Models ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Regression Analysis ; Rural Population