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Urethral injuries are commonly associated with pelvic fractures. The prompt recognition and appropriate management of these injuries may significantly impact subsequent morbidity, yet few studies have addressed the identification of the risk factors for urethral injury in men with pelvic fractures. We reviewed retrospectively the records of 405 men with pelvic fractures seen at our medical center, including 21 (5 per cent) with urethral injuries. Of the 21 men 14 (67 per cent) had fractures involving a pubic ramus and a sacroiliac joint, and 12 (57 per cent) had no physical signs (blood at the urethral meatus, perineal hematoma or a high-riding prostate) that would suggest a urethral injury. The likelihood for the presence of physical signs is directly related to the interval since injury. We believe that men with the combination of rami fractures and sacroiliac disruption should undergo retrograde urethrograms before urethral instrumentation, and that physical signs are unreliable indications for urethral injuries, especially soon after the injury.

The controversies that have surrounded the prehospital management of trauma stem not only from a lack of appropriate evaluation data, but also from a lack of medical accountability and "street-wise," academic physician involvement within emergency medical services (EMS) systems. As a result, the approach to EMS trauma care has often been over-generalized and debated in terms of simplistic, unidimensional concepts, such as "scoop and run" versus "field stabilization," without any regard for the type and anatomic location of injury involved, the efficiency and skill of rescuers, the proximity and actual capabilities of definitive care resources, and the logistics of the prehospital setting. The failure to understand and delineate these variables has led to conflicting studies and has confused the analysis of potential therapeutic modalities and management strategies. In view of this, a survey is provided of three major cities, each with intensive, academic physician involvement in their EMS systems, and the approach and rationale for their prehospital care strategies are summarized. In all three systems, patients generally are categorized according to three major injury types (penetrating, blunt, and thermal) and then further subcategorized with regard to anatomical involvement, specifically those involving potential (or known) internal truncal injuries versus those with isolated head trauma or isolated extremity injury. For all three, high-flow O2 delivery and aggressive, advanced airway management (by endotracheal intubation whenever feasible) are keystones of management. In cases of potential or known internal truncal injury, the priority is also expeditious transport to facilities with definitive surgical care with the establishment of IV access and rapid fluid infusions en route.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Since the implementation of a paramedic system in Seattle, yearly survival rates from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest due to ventricular fibrillation have averaged 25% without any significant increase over the years. Outcome for cardiac arrest associated with other rhythms has been poor: when asystole was the first rhythm recorded, only 1% of patients survived; when electromechanical dissociation was initially present, only 6% survived. For cases of electromechanical dissociation, neither the type of rhythm nor the rate appear to influence outcome. Survival from ventricular fibrillation can be improved by shortening the delay to initiation of CPR and to defibrillation. When outcome in 244 witnessed arrests was related to the times to beginning CPR and to initial defibrillation, mortality increased 3% each minute until CPR was begun and 4% a minute until the first shock was delivered. New strategies that minimize delays appear to have the greatest promise for improving survival after cardiac arrest.

The amplitude of ventricular fibrillation found initially in 394 patients was compared to clinical and logistical findings at the time of cardiac arrest. Peak-to-peak amplitude averaged 0.55 +/- 0.25 mV; a very low amplitude (0.2 mV or less) or "fine" fibrillation was present in 66 patients (17%). The amplitude was not found to be related to clinical histories, but depended on the length of the period from collapse until start of basic life support (p = 0.004) and the delay until assessment by paramedics (p = 0.001). Survival rates were strongly associated with amplitude: only 4 patients (6%) with fine ventricular fibrillation survived, compared to 117 or 328 patients (36%) in whom the initial amplitude was higher (p less than 0.001). Patient outcome related to amplitude even after adjusting for clinical history and logistical delays (p less than 0.005). We conclude that fine ventricular fibrillation is in part the result of delay in initiation of treatment, and that fibrillation amplitude is a powerful indicator of outcome after cardiac arrest.

The effectiveness of closed chest cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CCCPR) in maintaining cardiac output has been well studied in cardiac arrest. Trauma surgeons most often encounter shock secondary to hypovolemia or cardiac tamponade, and the effectiveness of CCCPR in that setting has not been established. To determine the hemodynamic effects of external massage in profound shock, hypotension was induced in baboons. Pressures obtained with external massage were compared to spontaneous intra-arterial pressures before compression. Although external massage increased systolic pressures in both tamponade and hypovolemia, diastolic pressures were consistently decreased. We conclude that CCCPR does not augment arterial pressure in the clinical situations associated with decreased LVEDV and is unlikely to provide organ perfusion for trauma victims.