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A heterogeneous group of 77 physicians on compulsory or reserve military service were exposed to a 5-day course in trauma management, specifically designed for military medical personnel. Cognitive knowledge of trauma care delivery of the medical officers was assessed by means of multiple-choice written tests, which were held before and upon completion of the course. The significantly improved (p less than 0.0001) scores of the post-course test demonstrate the value of a condensed trauma educational program. Analysis of the background variants (i.e., medical education, military, and residency training, and time since graduation) revealed that the relatively short but intensive course sufficed to surmount the difficulties inherent in instructing a student body composed of individuals with dissimilar professional experience. We advocate the institution of a compact course in trauma treatment, with the specific aim of enhancing the medical officer's knowledge in this critical field of medical care.

We present case reports of 2 patients who were admitted to our ward for complications of Morgagni hernias. Both patients were elderly. Morgagni hernia is a rare condition. Its unique and late presentation are presented and discussed.

A case of vaginal evisceration resulting from sliding on a water chute is described. The treatment and mechanism of this rare injury are discussed.

Bombings and explosion incidents directed against innocent civilians are the primary instrument of global terror. In the present review we highlight the major observations and lessons learned from these events. Five mechanisms of blast injury are outlined and the different type of injury that they cause is described. Indeed, the consequences of terror bombings differ from those of non-terrorism trauma in severity and complexity of injury, and constitute a new class of casualties that differ from those of conventional trauma. The clinical implications of terror bombing, in treatment dilemmas in the multidimensional injury, ancillary evaluation and handling of terror bombing mass casualty event are highlighted. All this leads to the conclusion that thorough medical preparedness to cope with this new epidemic is required, and that understanding of detonation and blast dynamics and how they correlate with the injury patterns is pivotal for revision of current mass casualty protocols.

We conducted a post-hoc analysis on the effect of recombinant factor VIIa (rFVIIa) on coagulopathic patients from two randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trials of rFVIIa as an adjunctive therapy for bleeding in patients with severe trauma. Blunt and penetrating trauma patients were randomly assigned to rFVIIa (200 + 100 + 100 μg/kg) at 0, 1, and 3 hours after transfusion of 8 units of red blood cells (RBCs) or to placebo. Subjects were monitored for 48 hours post-dosing and followed for 30 days. Coagulopathy was retrospectively defined as transfusion of fresh frozen plasma (FFP) (>1 unit of FFP per 4 units of RBCs), FFP in addition to whole blood, and transfusion of platelets and/or cryoprecipitate. Sixty rFVIIa-treated and 76 placebo subjects were retrospectively identified as being coagulopathic. No significant differences were noted in baseline characteristics. The rFVIIa-treated coagulopathic subgroup consumed significantly less blood product: RBC transfusion decreased by 2.6 units for the whole study population (P = 0.02) and by 3.5 units among patients surviving more than 48 hours (P < 0.001). Transfusion of FFP (1,400 versus 660 ml, P < 0.01), platelet (300 versus 100 ml, P = 0.01), and massive transfusions (29% versus 6%, P < 0.01) also dropped significantly. rFVIIa reduced multi-organ failure and/or acute respiratory distress syndrome in the coagulopathic patients (3% versus 20%, P = 0.004), whereas thromboembolic events were equally present in both groups (3% versus 4%, P = 1.00). Coagulopathic trauma patients appear to derive particular benefit from early adjunctive rFVIIa therapy.

Uncontrollable bleeding is a leading cause of death in trauma patients and a major cause of preventable morbidity and mortality. Recombinant activated factor VII (rFVIIa) has been shown to decrease the need for red blood cell transfusion among severely injured blunt trauma patients. A significant difference in the incidence of acute respiratory distress syndrome was also observed relative to standard care together with a nonsignificant difference in mortality. While safety and efficacy of rFVIIa in trauma patients has been demonstrated, little is known about its cost-effectiveness.

Introduction Recombinant activated factor VII (rFVIIa) has been used as adjunctive therapy in trauma patients with severe bleeding. However, its pharmacokinetics profile remains unknown.

Hypothesis The survival of severe trauma patients is affected by the implementation of a national trauma system, which brought about developments both at the hospital and prehospital levels during the past decade. Design A retrospective cohort study of all severely injured patients (Injury Severity Score >16) recorded in the Israeli National Trauma Registry at all level I trauma centers in Israel from January 1, 1997, to December 31, 2001. Inpatient death rates were examined overall and by subgroups. Setting The National Trauma Registry includes trauma (International Statistical Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modificationdiagnosis codes 800-959) hospitalizations, patients who were transferred to or from other hospitals, and those who died in the emergency department. It excludes patients who were dead on arrival, discharged following treatment in the emergency department, and patients who do not fall into the definition of trauma. Main Outcome Measure Inpatient death. Results Seven thousand four hundred twenty-three severe trauma patients were recorded. Inpatient death rates decreased significantly from 21.6% in 1997 to 14.7% in 2001. The odds ratios of mortality in 1998 through 2001 vs 1997, adjusted for year, age, sex, penetrating injury, and severity of injury (Injury Severity Score >25), were 0.92, 0.89, 0.70, and 0.65, respectively, confirming the downward trend. Conclusions A steady significant reduction in the inpatient death rate of severe trauma patients hospitalized at all level I trauma centers in Israel between 1997 and 2001 was observed. Although a single factor that explains the reduction was not identified, it is evident that the establishment of the trauma system brought about a significant decrease in mortality. We believe that integrated cooperation of various components of the national trauma system in Israel across the years may explain the reduction.

Rupture of the esophagus is a disease with grave clinical consequences if diagnosed late. Patients usually present with chest pain and signs of sepsis. A patient is described who presented, with tensi

Computed tomography is considered a reliable imaging technique when determining the extent of splenic injury. We present the case of a patient with a traumatic infarct of the spleen detected by computed tomographic scanning of the abdomen. During laparotomy there was an infarction of the spleen from a hilar injury in addition to bleeding from the splenic vein. We conclude that ongoing bleeding from the splenic hilar vessel can lead to a rim of enhancement around the spleen from contrast material. This should be taken into account when a decision is made for nonsurgical management.

We report a case of a 14-month-old boy with a primary intraventricular oligodendroglioma and obstructive hydrocephalus. The child underwent a bilateral ventriculoperitoneal shunt and developed a massive and fatal intratumoral hemorrhage initiated by a mild trauma when introducing the left ventricular catheter. To our knowledge, this is the first report in the literature of such a complication during a shunting procedure for obstructive hydrocephalus of tumoral origin.

The open abdomen (OA) procedure is a significant surgical advance, as part of damage control techniques in severe abdominal trauma. Its application can be adapted to the advantage of patients with severe abdominal sepsis, however its precise role in these patients is still not clear. In severe abdominal sepsis the OA may allow early identification and draining of any residual infection, control any persistent source of infection, and remove more effectively infected or cytokine-loaded peritoneal fluid, preventing abdominal compartment syndrome and deferring definitive intervention and anastomosis until the patient is appropriately resuscitated and hemodynamically stable and thus better able to heal. However, the OA may require multiple returns to the operating room and may be associated with significant complications, including enteroatmospheric fistulas, loss of abdominal wall domain and large hernias. Surgeons should be aware of the pathophysiology of severe intra-abdominal sepsis and always keep in mind the option of using open abdomen to be able to use it in the right patient at the right time.

Acute calculus cholecystitis is a very common disease with several area of uncertainty. The World Society of Emergency Surgery developed extensive guidelines in order to cover grey areas. The diagnostic criteria, the antimicrobial therapy, the evaluation of associated common bile duct stones, the identification of “high risk” patients, the surgical timing, the type of surgery, and the alternatives to surgery are discussed. Moreover the algorithm is proposed: as soon as diagnosis is made and after the evaluation of choledocholitiasis risk, laparoscopic cholecystectomy should be offered to all patients exception of those with high risk of morbidity or mortality. These Guidelines must be considered as an adjunctive tool for decision but they are not substitute of the clinical judgement for the individual patient.

The World Society of Emergency Surgery (WSES) was established in 2007. The objectives set forth by the society, as enumerated in the mission statement, is: “The overall goals include the promotion of the specialty of emergency surgery as part of the emerging discipline of acute care surgery via academic exchange in an effort to further training and education as well as translational research in the specialty’. The first WSES international assembly took place in Sardinia, Italy in 2011 and the second in Bergamo, Italy, in 2013. The 3rd international congress of WSES was held in Jerusalem, Israel, 5–8 July, 2015. As this was the first meeting outside of Italy, it represented an important worldwide extension of the society, with over 23 countries being represented by over 150 attendees. A pre- congress educational course on IAI (intra-abdominal infections) preceded the academic gathering, attended by 20 residents in training who enthusiastically participated and successfully completed the course. The residents were provided with a certificate of attendance by the WSES IAI course directors. An important and carefully planned objective of the meeting involved presentation of evidence based guidelines for common clinical challenges such as acute appendicitis, acute cholecystitis, and acute diverticulitis. These guidelines were reached after a detailed and methodical process with involvement of many contributing physicians and institutions and summaries of the suggested guidelines were presented for the approval of the assembly. The resultant guidelines from this process will be submitted for publication in the forthcoming issues of the World Journal of Emergency Surgery. Systematic reviews of the literature were presented in plenary sessions on a multitude of topics covering the entire spectrum of Emergency Surgery, A two and half day academic meeting followed the course and included 35 position lectures and 8 WSES guidelines reports. Eighty one clinical and research based abstracts were submitted from worldwide academic institutions, and 68 were presented in parallel sessions. Seven outstanding abstracts were chosen by the scientific committee and were presented in a plenary session. The assembly than nominated the three best abstract (1rd -3rd places) using an electronic voting system. The first authors of these abstracts were respected with a certificate signed by the congress chairmen. Besides discussions of the surgical approach to a many clinical challenges, state of the art strategies dealing with virtually all areas of surgical emergencies were comprehensively discussed. Thought-provoking case discussions presented during the meeting provided a great opportunity to share extensive knowledge and personal experiences from esteemed colleagues worldwide. Being a young society, the excitement generated by the meeting in Jerusalem reflected the dedication of its members to the specialty and generated new interest by a broader group of young surgeons and trainees. While the 2015 WSES meeting was termed “The Last of the Mohicans? - the General Surgeon of 2015?”, the keen support of many young surgeons suggests that indeed there is much enthusiasm and hope for the future of the specialty of Emergency Surgery. The executive board voted to host the next meeting, in 2017, in Brazil. We look forward to seeing everyone there as the congress moves to the American continent for the first time. Please join us at the new WSES web site (www.wses.org.uk) and in all the society activities (WSES registries, multi-center trails, courses and meetings). Your membership in the society is important.

Background EUS-guided FNA can help diagnose and differentiate between various pancreatic and other lesions. The aim of this study was to compare approaches among involved/relevant physicians to the controversies surrounding the use of FNA in EUS. Methods A five-case survey was developed, piloted, and validated. It was collected from a total of 101 physicians, who were all either gastroenterologists (GIs), surgeons or oncologists. The survey compared the management strategies chosen by members of these relevant disciplines regarding EUS-guided FNA. Results For CT operable T2NOM0 pancreatic tumors the research demonstrated variance as to whether to undertake EUS-guided FNA, at p < 0.05. For inoperable pancreatic tumors 66.7% of oncologists, 62.2% of surgeons and 79.1% of GIs opted for FNA (p < 0.05). For cystic pancreatic lesions, oncologists were more likely to send patients to surgery without FNA. For stable simple pancreatic cysts (23 mm), most physicians (66.67%) did not recommend FNA. For a submucosal gastric 19 mm lesion, 63.2% of surgeons recommended FNA, vs. 90.0% of oncologists (p < 0.05). Conclusions Controversies as to ideal application of EUS-FNA persist. Optimal guidelines should reflect the needs and concerns of the multidisciplinary team who treat patients who need EUS-FNA. Multi-specialty meetings assembled to manage patients with these disorders may be enlightening and may help develop consensus.

Background Although differences of opinion and controversies may arise, lessons learned from military conflicts often translate into improvements in triage, resuscitation strategies, and surgical technique. Our fully integrated national trauma system, providing care for both military and civilian casualties, necessitates close cooperation between all aspects of both sectors. We theorized that lessons learned from two regional conflicts over 8 years, with resultant improved triage, reduced hospital length of stay, and sustained low mortality would aid performance improvement and provide evidence of overall trauma system maturation. Methods We performed an 8 year, retrospective analysis of the Israeli National Trauma Registry prospective data base for all casualties presenting to level 1 and 2 trauma centers nationwide during an earlier conflict (W1) (7/12/06-8/14/06) and sought to compare results to those of a more recent war(W2), (7/08/14-08/26/14), as well as to compare our results to non-war civilian morbidity and mortality during the same time frame. Of particular interest were: casualty distributions, injuries/ISS, patterns of evacuation/triage, hospital length of stay, and mortality. Results Data on 919 war casualties was available for evaluation. Of 490 evacuated during W1, 341 (70%) were transferred to Level 1 centers, compared with 307 (72%) from the 429 casualties in W2. In W2, significantly more severe injuries (ISS ≥16) were evacuated directly to level 1 centers (42, 76% vs. 20, 43% respectively; p = 0.0007). W2 vs. W1 saw a significant increase in evacuations using helicopter (219,51% vs. 180,37%; p

Aminocaproic acid is a widely used antifibrinolytic agent. Serious adverse effects associated with its use are rare, but we report on a patient with liver disease and cirrhosis who experienced a grand mal seizure during the intravenous administration of aminocaproic acid. Clinicians should be alert to the occurrence of this adverse effect in patients with no previous neurological problems.