Display Settings:

Format

Send to:

Choose Destination

    World J Surg. 2003 Mar;27(3):365-9. Epub 2003 Feb 27.

    Effects of a femoral shaft fracture on multiply injured patients with a head injury.

    Nau T, Kutscha-Lissberg F, Muellner T, Koenig F, Vecsei V.

    Department of Trauma Surgery, University of Vienna Medical School, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, 1090, Vienna, Austria. thnau@hotmail.com

    To study the effects of a femoral shaft fracture and its early stabilization on the morbidity, mortality, and outcome of patients with multiple injuries and a concomitant head injury, we analyzed the clinical course of patients using a prospectively gathered database. A series of 42 patients with multiple injuries, including head injuries and femoral fractures, formed the study group. A series of 133 patients with multiple injuries and head injuries but without femoral fractures formed the control group. The parameters examined included injury severity, injury pattern, hemodynamics at admission, mortality, duration of ventilation, length of intensive care unit (ICU) stay, and outcome. There were no significant differences regarding the demographics, injury severity score (ISS), injury pattern except the extremity Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) between the study and control groups. No significant differences were found in terms of mortality, duration of ventilation/ICU stay, and outcome. Injury severity (ISS), severity of the head injury (AIS), and hemodynamics at admission were shown to have a significant effect on the examined parameters. The present study suggests that a femoral fracture and its early stabilization in a multitrauma patient with a concomitant head injury do not adversely affect mortality and outcome and supports aggressive surgical management for these patients.

    PMID: 12607067 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

    Supplemental Content

    Click here to read Click here to read

    Recent activity

    Your browsing activity is temporarily unavailable.

    Your browsing activity is empty.

    Activity recording is turned off.

    Turn recording back on

    » See more...