Establishment of different lung impact injury models in adult rats / 解放军医学杂志

Objective: To establish an adult rat model of lung blast injury in laboratory for providing a reliable rat model for the diagnosis and treatment of lung blast injury. Methods: According to the different injury driving pressure of BST-I biological shock tube, 40 adult SD male rats aged 7 to 8 weeks were randomly divided into 4 groups (10 each): 4.5 MPa group, 4.8 MPa group, 5.0 MPa group and 5.5 MPa group. The general physiological and 24-hour survival status of rats in each group were recorded before and after modeling. The survived rats 24 h after modeling were anesthetized and then killed, and the chest anatomy was performed. The characteristics of lung injury were observed, the degree of lung tissue injury was graded using organ injury scaling (OIS) and abbreviated injury scale (AIS). Furthermore, the left lower part of lung tissue was taken for routine pathological section, and the degree of lung tissue injury was observed under light microscope. Results: All rats were successfully modeled and survived 24 h after injury, and showed shortness of breath and accelerated heart rate without hematuria and blood stool. There were significant differences among the four groups in bleeding rate of external auditory canal, anal temperature and pulmonary bleeding area (P5.0 MPa>4.8 MPa>4.5MPa. Under light microscope, rats in the four groups showed varying degrees of pulmonary hemorrhage, edema and atelectasis, and the lung tissue was ruptured. Conclusion: The stable adult SD rat models of mild, moderate, severe and extremely severe lung blast injury have been established.

Comparative analysis of characteristics and risk factors of traffic injury in aged people from urban and rural areas in Chongqing / 中华创伤杂志(英文版)

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the epidemiologic characteristics of traffic injuries among people over 60 years old in the Nan'an district (urban) and Jiangjin district (rural) of Chongqing, and to discuss the corresponding strategies for its prevention and cure.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Records of traffic injuries in people over 60 years old registered by the traffic police between 2000 and 2006 in Nan'an district and Jiangjin district were collected in the Database of Road Traffic Accidents and Traffic Injuries. Epidemiologic characteristics of traffic injuries among the aged people were analyzed and compared.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Between the year 2000 and 2006, the average annual incidence of traffic injuries and mortality rate in the aged people in Nan'an district were 124.62/100 000 and 13.85/ 100 000 respectively, higher than that in Jiangjin district (27.49/ 100 000, 7.13/100 000, P less than 0.01). However, the mortality rate for the aged people who were involved in traffic injuries in Jiangjin district was 20.60%, higher than that in Nan'an district (10.00%, P less than 0.01). Head injury was the primary cause of death. Totally 76.58% of casualties were pede-strians. Over 90% of the traffic accidents occurred in the areas with no traffic signal or traffic control system.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The traffic environment is unfavorable to the aged people. It is important to enhance traffic safety consciousness of drivers and the elderly and to strengthen traffic safety system and traffic law, so as to provide a safe road traffic environment for the aged people.</p>

Analysis of injuries and treatment of 3,401 inpatients in 2008 Wenchuan earthquake--based on Chinese Trauma Databank / 中华创伤杂志(英文版)

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>A catastrophic earthquake struck Wenchuan region of West China on May 12, 2008 and caused more than 69 225 deaths. This study was to analyze injury characteristics and treatment of the seismic patients based on Chinese Trauma Databank, which will be helpful for improvement of future medical rescue in potential disasters.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Based on inpatients'medical records of seismic patients admitted into 11 hospitals, data were registered with Trauma Database System Version 3.0. Patients'general information, causes, clinical characteristics and treatment of injuries were studied.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Main causes for seismic injuries were blunt strike (68.2%), crush/burying (18.7%) and slip/falling (11.5%). Slip/falling was the main cause for spinal injuries and accounted for 19.1%, which was higher than the percentage for other body part. Extremity injuries accounted for 54.8% of all injuries. Fractures accounted for 53.1%. Lower extremity fracture accounted for 70.1% of lower extremity injury and spinal fracture accounted for 85.9% of spinal injury. The proportion of spinal injuries with AIS larger than or equal to 4 was higher than that of other injured locations except for the abdomen. Debridement and suturation for single injury and multiple injury patients accounted for 64.7% and 42.9% of their operations respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Blunt strike, crush/burying and slip/falling are the main causes for seismic injuries. The most frequently injured site is extremity. The main injury type is fracture, especially for the lower extremities and the spine. Multiple injury patients were mainly treated by operation, including debridement and suturation, closed reduction and external fixation, etc.</p>