Background Arsenic, cobalt, barium, and other individual metal exposure have been confirmed to be associated with the incidence of kidney stones. However, there are few studies on the association between mixed metal exposure and kidney stones, especially in occupational groups. Objective To investigate the association between mixed metal exposure and kidney stones in an occupational population from a metal smelting plant. Methods A questionnaire survey was conducted to collect sociodemographic characteristics, medical history, and lifestyle information of 1158 mixed metal-exposed workers in a metal smelting plant in Guangdong Province from July 2021 to January 2022. Midstream morning urine samples were collected from the workers, the concentrations of 18 metals including lithium, vanadium, chromium, manganese, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, arsenic, selenium, strontium, molybdenum, cadmium, cesium, barium, tungsten, titanium, and lead were measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and the urinary mercury levels were measured by cold atomic absorption spectroscopy. Based on predetermined inclusion criteria, a total of 919 mixed metal-exposed workers were included in the study, including 117 workers in the kidney stone group and 802 workers in the non-kidney stone group. With a detection rate of urinary metals greater than 80% as entry criterion, 16 eligible metals were finally included for further analysis. Parametric or non-parametric methods were used to compare the differences between continuous or categorical variables of the non-kidney stone group and the kidney stone group. Logistic regression models were constructed to explore the association between individual metal exposures and kidney stones. Weighted quantile sum (WQS) regression models were used to evaluate the association between mixed metal exposure and kidney stones, as well as the weights of each metal on kidney stones. Then Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) models were used to explore the overall effect of mixed metal exposure on renal calculi and the potential interactions between metals. Results We found that there were significant differences in sex, age, length of service, and body mass Index (BMI) between the non-kidney stone group and the kidney stone group (P<0.05). The urinary concentrations of molybdenum and barium in the kidney stone group were higher than those in the non-kidney stone group, and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). The logistic regression models demonstrated that urinary cobalt, arsenic, molybdenum, and barium were positively correlated with the risk of kidney stones (P_trend<0.05). The WQS regression models showed that the mixed exposure to vanadium, cobalt, arsenic, molybdenum, and barium was positively associated with the risk of kidney stones (P<0.05). Among them, molybdenum, arsenic, and barium accounted for 0.391, 0.337, and 0.154, respectively. The BKMR results revealed a positive association between metal mixture exposure and the risk of kidney stones (P<0.05). When other metals were fixed at the 25th, 50th, or 75th percentile, arsenic, molybdenum, cobalt, and barium exhibited significant positive effects on the risk of kidney stones (P<0.05), while vanadium showed a significant negative effect (P<0.05). The interaction analysis demonstrated interactions between barium and cobalt, as well as between vanadium and cobalt (P<0.05). Conclusion In the occupational population of this smelter, occupational mixed metal exposure could increase the risk of kidney stones, and the main metals are molybdenum, arsenic, barium, and cobalt.

Objective:To assess the occurrence, prognosis and possible early risk factors of jaundice in polytrauma patients.Methods:This study was a single-center, prospective study. Polytrauma patients (age>18 years) admitted to Tongji Trauma Center from October 2020 to January 2023 were enrolled. The patients with liver, biliary tract or pancreatic traumatic injury, previously suffered from chronic liver disease were excluded. The clinical characteristics of patients, laboratory test results, imaging examination results, Injury Severity Score (ISS), Glasgow Coma Score and APACHEⅡ score were collected. The incidence of jaundice, the classification of jaundice or the severity of jaundice after multiple injuries, the mortality rate of polytrauma patients with jaundice, and the early independent risk factors of jaundice in polytrauma were analyzed. The differences between the groups were compared by Student’s t test or χ2 test. The independent risk factors of jaundice were analyzed by Logistic regression analyzed. Results:A total of 742 polytrauma patients were included, 34.09% polytrauma patients were accompanied by jaundice, and the ratio of both moderate and severe jaundice were as high as 32.41%. The main type of jaundice was intrahepatic cholestatic jaundice (47.03%). The mortality rate of polytrauma patients accompanied by jaundice was significantly higher than that of polytrauma patients without jaundice (12.25% vs. 3.47%, P<0.001). Logistic regression analysis showed that ISS score ( OR=3.405, 95% CI: 1.962-7.438, P=0.026), plasma lactate ( OR=2.216, 95% CI: 1.203-4.862, P=0.017), interleukin-6 levels ( OR=2.431, 95% CI: 1.424-3.793, P=0.007), the overall duration of parenteral nutrition ( OR=3.011, 95% CI: 1.624-5.041, P=0.022), and the total duration of mechanical ventilation ( OR=3.572, 95% CI: 1.497-4.601, P=0.031) were the early independent risk factors for jaundice in patients after polytrauma. Conclusions:Polytrauma patients are prone to developing jaundice after injury, which is more harmful, especially for intrahepatic cholestatic jaundice after injury. Early identification and early intervention of risk factors associated with jaundice after injury should be strengthened.

Objective:To investigate the early warning value of transcutaneous oxygen pressure and transcutaneous carbon dioxide pressure (TcPO 2/TcPCO 2) monitoring in patients with pressure injury in ICU. Methods:A prospective clinical observation study was conducted. Patients were selected in the department of critical care medicine of Shenzhen Hospital Affiliated to University of Chinese Academy of Sciences from December 2020 to June 2022. The general information of all patients were recorded. The data of TcPO 2 and TcPCO 2 were monitored respectively in left lying position, supine position and right lying position. According to the Braden score of patients, they were divided into low risk group and high risk group, and the monitoring results of TcPO 2/TcPCO 2 were analyzed. Results:The study included a total of 80 patients, with 46 patients in the low risk group and 34 patients in the high risk group. There were no significant differences in gender and age between the two groups (both P>0.05). There were significant differences in the Braden score and the incidence of pressure injury between the two groups (both P<0.05). There were statistically significant differences in TcPO 2 at various time points in the left lying position, supine position and right lying position between the low risk and the high risk groups (all P<0.001). Except for the 15th minute of the left lying position and right lying position, there were statistically significant differences in TcPCO2 at all other time points in the supine and right lying positions between two groups (all P<0.05). There were statistically significant differences in TcPO 2/TcPCO 2 values at various time points in different positions between two groups (all P<0.001). In supine position, TcPO 2 and TcPO 2/TcPCO 2 were positively correlated with the Braden score ( r=0.680, 0.741). TcPCO 2 was negatively correlated with the Braden score ( r=-0.771). The Braden score, TcPO 2, TcPCO 2 and TcPO 2/TcPCO 2 all have moderate diagnostic value. The cut-off values were 12.50, 41.48 mmHg, 52.29 mmHg and 0.91, respectively. And the AUC were 0.899, 0.727, 0.816 and 0.719, respectively. However, there were no significant differences in AUC between the TcPO 2, TcPCO 2, TcPO 2/TcPCO 2 and Braden score (all P>0.05). Conclusions:TcPO 2, TcPCO 2 and TcPO 2/TcPCO 2 values all have higher diagnostic value about pressure injury for patients in ICU. TcPO 2/TcPCO 2 monitoring has early risk warning value for the occurrence of pressure injury in ICU, which is worthy of clinical promotion.

Patients with severe trauma require an extremely timely treatment and transfusion plays an irreplaceable role in the emergency treatment of such patients. An increasing number of evidence-based medicinal evidences and clinical practices suggest that patients with severe traumatic bleeding benefit from early transfusion of low-titer group O whole blood or hemostatic resuscitation with red blood cells, plasma and platelet of a balanced ratio. However, the current domestic mode of blood supply cannot fully meet the requirements of timely and effective blood transfusion for emergency treatment of patients with severe trauma in clinical practice. In order to solve the key problems in blood supply and blood transfusion strategies for emergency treatment of severe trauma, Branch of Clinical Transfusion Medicine of Chinese Medical Association, Group for Trauma Emergency Care and Multiple Injuries of Trauma Branch of Chinese Medical Association, Young Scholar Group of Disaster Medicine Branch of Chinese Medical Association organized domestic experts of blood transfusion medicine and trauma treatment to jointly formulate Chinese expert consensus on blood support mode and blood transfusion strategies for emergency treatment of severe trauma patients ( version 2024). Based on the evidence-based medical evidence and Delphi method of expert consultation and voting, 10 recommendations were put forward from two aspects of blood support mode and transfusion strategies, aiming to provide a reference for transfusion resuscitation in the emergency treatment of severe trauma and further improve the success rate of treatment of patients with severe trauma.

Objective:To compare clinical characteristics of patients with atopic prurigo nodularis (APN) versus non-APN (NAPN), and to analyze differences in the therapeutic response to dupilumab.Methods:A retrospective study was conducted. Clinical data were collected from patients with atopic dermatitis and those with prurigo nodularis, who visited the Department of Dermatology, Southwest Hospital, Army Medical University from January 2017 to December 2022. These patients were divided into the APN group and NAPN group according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria (types of skin lesions and the presence or absence of history of atopic diseases). Clinical characteristics, laboratory examination results, and comorbidities were compared between the 2 groups, so were the eczema area and severity index (EASI) scores, investigator′s global assessment (IGA) scores and itch numeric rating scale (NRS) scores at 0, 4, 12 weeks after the treatment with dupilumab.Results:A total of 233 patients with NAPN and 177 with APN were enrolled, and their ages were 57 (48, 68) and 43 (20, 57) years, respectively. Before the treatment, the serum IgE levels and eosinophil counts were significantly higher in the APN patients than in the NAPN patients ( Z = -4.40, -3.92, respectively, both P < 0.001) ; compared with the NAPN patients, the APN patients more frequently presented with skin lesions on the trunk (71.64% [117/177] vs. 54.08% [126/233], P < 0.05), limbs (71.75% [127/177] vs. 61.37% [143/233], P < 0.05) and the whole body (28.36% [53/177] vs. 20.17% [47/233], P < 0.05) ; the incidence rates of xeroderma, erythema, papules and crusting were significantly higher in the APN patients than in the NAPN patients (all P < 0.05), and the APN patients more frequently presented with symmetrically distributed lesions; however, there were no significant differences in the incidence rates of secondary lesions such as scratches (38.98% [67/177] vs. 33.91% [79/233]) and ulcers (18.64% [33/177] vs. 18.03% [42/233]) between the two groups (both P > 0.05). The proportions of patients with chronic kidney diseases, cardiovascular diseases, liver diseases and diabetes were significantly higher in the NAPN group than in the APN group (all P < 0.05). There were 13 patients with APN and 5 with NAPN who received a 12-week dupilumab treatment and had complete follow-up results. No significant differences were observed in the EASI, IGA or NRS scores before the treatment between the 2 groups (all P < 0.05) ; after the 12-week treatment, the improvement of EASI score was significantly higher in the APN group than in the NAPN group ( P < 0.05), while there were no significant differences in the improvement of NRS and IGA scores between the 2 groups (both P > 0.05) . Conclusion:The clinical manifestations, laboratory examination results, and comorbidities differed between the NAPN and APN patients, however, they both showed good therapeutic response to dupilumab.

Objective:To explore and analyze the predictive value of EuroSCORE Ⅱ and SYNTAX Ⅱ scores for clinical outcomes in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery.Methods:A total of 500 coronary artery disease (CAD) patients who underwent CABG in Shanxi Cardiovascular Hospital from April 2014 to July 2023 were selected as the study subjects, all patients were given EuroSCORE Ⅱand SYNTAX Ⅱ scores to evaluate the predictive value of EuroSCOREⅡfor perioperative mortality and SYNTAX Ⅱ for 4-year mortality. Univariate and multivariate Logistic analysis were employed to analyze the independent risk factors for perioperative and 4-year mortality.Results:There were 3 deaths during the perioperative period, with a mortality rate of 0.60%, the predicted mortality rate of EuroSCOREⅡwas 1.71%; there were 21 deaths at 4 years after surgery, with a mortality rate of 4.23% and the predicted mortality rate of SYNTAX Ⅱwas 9.02%. Logistic regression analysis showed that left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was the only independent protective factor for perioperative mortality, and advanced age was the only independent risk factor for 4-year postoperative mortality in patients ( P<0.05). The analysis of the working characteristic curve of the subjects found that the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve ( ROC) of EuroSCORE Ⅱ for perioperative mortality was 0.782, and the area under ROC curve of SYNTAX Ⅱfor postoperative 4-year mortality was 0.743. Conclusion:Both EuroSCORE Ⅱand SYNTAX Ⅱhave certain predictive value for perioperative mortality and postoperative 4-year mortality in patients undergoing CABG, respectively, but the predicted mortality rate is relatively higher.

Background Occupational exposure to lead, cadmium, or arsenic is a potential risk factor for blood pressure elevation. Current studies mainly focus on the relationship between a single metal and blood pressure. However, mixed metal exposure often exists in the actual working environment, and the interactive effects of polymetallic interactions on blood pressure and the dose-effect relationship remain unclear yet. Objective To explore the influence proportion of occupational exposure to lead, cadmium, or arsenic on blood pressure and their interactive effects. Methods From January to December 2021, workers from a smelter in southern China were selected. Demographic characteristics, height, weight, and blood pressure of workers were collected through questionnaire and physical examination. At the same time, their urine samples were collected and the levels of urinary lead, urinary cadmium, and urinary arsenic were detected by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and corrected by urinary creatinine (Cr). Linear regression and logistic regression were used to analyze the relationship between urinary lead, cadmium, and arsenic and blood pressure. Weighted quantile sum (WQS) regression was applied to evaluate the dose-effect relationship between urinary lead, cadmium, and arsenic exposures and blood pressure and the effect weight of each metal on blood pressure. Generalized linear regression and additive/multiplicative scaling were used to identify interactive effects of the three metals on blood pressure. Results A total of 1075 workers were included in this study, with a mean age of (44.68±5.11) years and mean working seniority of (24.66±5.23) years. There were 891 males (88.9%) and 184 were females (17.1%); 24.7% workers were drinkers and 45.7% workers were smokers; 302 workers (28.1%) reported hypertension and 37 of them were taking antihypertensive drugs. The P₅₀ (P₂₅, P₇₅) levels of urinary lead, urinary cadmium, and urinary arsenic were 6.11 (3.71, 11.08), 3.88 (2.68, 5.44), and 26.04 (19.99, 35.11) μg·g⁻¹, respectively. After adjusting for gender, age, working seniority, body mass index, smoking, drinking, and the usage of antihypertensive drugs, systolic and diastolic blood pressure increased by 0.772 and 0.418 mmHg respectively for 10% increase in lead, cadmium, and arsenic mixed exposure. Urinary cadmium, among the three single exposures, had the greatest effect on systolic and diastolic blood pressure, weight (w)=0.523 and 0.551 respectively. The interaction of urinary lead and urinary cadmium was positively correlated with the occurrence of hypertension, multiplicative interaction OR (OR_int)=1.88 (95%CI: 1.09, 3.63), attributable proportion due to interaction (AP)=1.19 (95%CI: 0.40, 8.18). Conclusion This study shows that mixed exposure to lead, cadmium, and arsenic has a positive relationship with blood pressure, in which cadmium plays a major role. Co-exposure to lead and cadmium has a positive interactive effect on hypertension development and systolic blood pressure elevation.

Objective:To investigate the role of TiRobot combined with O-arm assisted closed reduction and percutaneous screw fixation in unstable pelvic fracture surgery.Methods:Twelve patients with unstable pelvic fractures, 7 males and 5 females, aged 39.41±12.56 years (range 25-60 years), admitted from January 2020 to January 2021, were retrospectively analyzed. The duration between injury and surgery was 9.67±5.81 d (range 4-24 d). The following are the causes of injury, namely traffic injury in 6 cases, fall from height injury in 4 cases, crush injury in 2 cases. Tile type of pelvic fractures were 3 cases of type B (2 cases of type B2, 1 case of type B3), 9 cases of type C (4 cases of type C1, 3 cases of type C2, 2 cases of type C3). Sacral fractures with Denis division were 5 cases of zone I, 7 cases of zone II. Seven patients were repositioned by intraoperative traction on the injured side of the limb and maintained by fixation with a Starr frame. Two cases were repositioned by intraoperative longitudinal bone traction on each lower limb for fracture displacement. The other 3 B-type fractures were repositioned by inserting Schanz nails into the anterior inferior iliac spine bilaterally. Then, the fractures were maintained with external pelvic fixators. The fractures were assessed by O-arm fluoroscopy. Hollow screws were placed with the aid of orthopedic robotic guidance, and the screw positions were verified by O-arm fluoroscopy again after the nail placement. The duration of each screw placement and operation were recorded. The quality of fracture repositioning, hip function and postoperative complications were observed at the follow-up.Results:All patients were followed up for 8.17±1.99 months (range, 6-12 months). There were 27 screws inserted in 12 patients, with a single screw insertion duration of 19.9±1.8 min (range, 9-31 min). In all patients, one O-arm fluoroscopy was performed in each row after closed reduction and after completion of nail placement. The operative duration was 257.78±80.63 min (range, 160-450 min). The O-arm fluoroscopy after nail placement verified that 23 screws were placed in a satisfactory position at one time, with satisfactory rate of 85% (23/27) for the first nail placement. Two patients with preoperative grade II sacral plexus nerve injury recovered to grade I in one case and grade II in one case. However, the numbness was reduced after operation. No further aggravation of nerve injury occurred after surgery. The quality of fracture repositioning was evaluated according to the Matta score, including excellent in 9 cases, good in 2 cases, and acceptable in 1 case, with an excellent rate of 92% (11/12). At the last follow-up, the Majeed pelvic fracture quantitative assessment system scored 85.75±5.82 (range, 74-96). There were 8 cases in excellent and 4 cases in good. Twelve patients had one-stage wound healing. No complications, such as incision infection, nerve injury, loosening and breaking of the internal fixation occurred during the follow-up.Conclusion:TiRobot combined with O-arm assisted closed reduction and percutaneous screw fixation for unstable pelvic fractures has some advantages, including safety, precision, convenient nail placement, and less fluoroscopic radiation.

Objective:To analyze the epidemiological characteristics of geriatric acetabular fractures in western China.Methods:A retrospective case series study was made on data of geriatric patients with acetabular fracture hospitalized in 4 grade A hospitals in western China from 2015 to 2020. The investigation content included gender, age, incidence rate, injury mechanism, combined injuries, comorbidities, fracture types and treatment plans.Results:A total of 299 geriatric patients with acetabular fractures were included, including 203 males and 96 females, aged 60-97 years [(68.6±7.6)years]. The mean age of the patients was increased from 67.5 years to 71.1 years. The incidence rate was increased from 36 cases per year to 64 cases per year. The injury mechanism was mainly traffic accidents (42.47%), followed by falls (30.44%). Thoracic injury was the most common type of combined injuries (39.81%). Hypertension was the main comorbidity (28.76%). The most common fracture type was anterior column posterior hemitransverse fracture (31.32%). Of 299 patients, 210 received surgical treatment, with the surgery rate of 70.23%.Conclusions:Geriatric acetabular fracture is characterized by gradually increased age and incidence rate, traffic accidents as the main cause of injury, thoracic injury as the main combined injury, hypertension as the main comorbidity, anterior column posterior hemitransverse fracture as the main fracture type and surgery as the main treatment option.

Objective:To investigate the diagnosis and treatment of posterolateral elbow dislocation in children.Methods:A total of 19 children with posterolateral elbow dislocation were diagnosed and treated at Department of Children's Orthopedics, Sichuan Orthopedic Hospital from April 2018 to April 2021. They were 12 boys and 7 girls, aged from 7 to 14 years (average, 10.9 years). Internal epicondyle avulsion fracture of the humerus was complicated in 11 cases, external epicondyle avulsion fracture of the humerus in 5 cases, capitulum avulsion fracture of the humerus in 3 cases, and fracture of the ulna coronoid process in 4 cases. After evaluation of the elbow stability, stable elbows were treated nonsurgically while the unstable ones complicated with fracture were treated with open reduction and internal fixation. After treatment, the injured limbs were fixated with elbow flexion 90° in forearm pronation position for 4 to 6 weeks.Results:In this group, 4 children received nonsurgical treatment and 15 ones were treated surgically. Internal epicondyle fractures of the humerus were treated by open reduction and internal fixation with Kirschner wire and hollow screws, and external epicondyle avulsion fractures or capitulum avulsion fractures of the humerus by suture fixation with Kirschner wire tension band or absorbable anchors. Three coronal process fractures were treated with plate internal fixation but one coronal process fracture was not treated with internal fixation. All the children were followed up for 6 to 30 months (average, 13.3 months). The last follow-up showed that fractures got united in all children, with no ectopic ossification, fine anatomical relationship of the elbow, and no recurrence of elbow dislocation or instability. The last follow-up showed that the Mayo elbow performance scores (MEPS) ranged from 75 to 100 points, averaging 93.2 points.Conclusions:In the treatment of posterolateral elbow dislocation in children, the key point is to rebuild the stability of the elbow. Non-surgical treatment is recommended for cases of a stable elbow with posterolateral rotation and dislocation while surgical treatment for cases of an unstable elbow because surgery leads to fine functional recovery and efficacy in children.