Application of artificial skin combined with external fixator in the treatment of severe open fractures of legs / 中国骨伤

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate therapeutic effects of external fixator combined with artificial skin for the treatment of lower limb open fractures.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>From January 2009 to February 2011,56 patients with lower limb open fractures were treated with external fixator and artificial skin following debridement. There were 42 males and 14 females, with a mean age of 43.6 years (ranged, 18 to 68 years). Wound surface or cavities were filled with artificial skin with embedded drainage tubes connected to vacuum bottle. The wounds were closed with secondary suturing, or free flap, or flap transfer at 5-7 days after primary operation. The therapeutic effects were evaluated by observing the wound healing, wound bacterial culture, healing time, recovery of limb function.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The wounds of 56 patients all healed. Fifty-three patients had bone primary union, and 3 patients had delayed union. The average union time was 5.8 months. There was pin-tract infection in 3 cases and superficial infection in 1 case. According to Ovadia evaluation criteria,45 patients got an excellent results, 9 good and 2 fair.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Artificial skin combined with external fixator is a simple and effective treatment method for Gustilo III type severe open fractures of legs, which is effective to provide rapid fixation, seal wounds, and shorten secondary healing time of wounds.</p>

Exploring a new mode of integrative medicine information service / 中国中西医结合杂志

With the significant and continuous growth of the research and application of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) all over the world, the demand for medical information services has been increasing correspondingly. However, the barriers of accessing and utilizing non-English literature, and the barrier of language have blocked English speaking clinicians and researchers of CAM from obtaining high quality and authoritative medical evidence from the non-English medical resources. This article, with introducing the UCLA Information Center for East-West Integrative Medicine, will demonstrate a new collaborative mode of integrative medicine information service between China and the US, and discuss the perceived challenges.