Delay to Surgical Treatment in Geriatric Hip Fracture Patients.

Background: Hip fractures in the geriatric population are frequently encountered. There is increasing focus on minimizing the delay to surgery in these patients. This study was designed to evaluate factors responsible for a delay to surgery in a geriatric hip fracture population and how time to surgery affects mortality. Methods: A retrospective cohort of patients sustaining low energy geriatric hip fractures in either an American College of Surgeons (ACS) verified Level 1 trauma center or a local university affiliated community teaching hospital were reviewed. The following variables were evaluated as independent risk factors for delay to surgery: demographic data, surgical details, use of cardiology resources, treatment center, and comorbidities. As a secondary objective, the effect of time to surgery on 1 year mortality was analyzed. Results: 1157 patients met inclusion criteria. The following factors increased the risk of delay to surgery greater than 48 hours: male sex, treatment in a community hospital (versus trauma center), older age, multiple comorbidities (eg, cardiovascular-related conditions or other fractures), cardiology consultation, and an American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status score of 3 or 4. Cardiology consultation was the strongest independent predictor of risk for delay to surgery of >48 hours (odds ratio, 6.68; 95% confidence interval, 4.40 to 10.14; P < .001). The 1-year mortality of patients did not differ when surgical treatment occurred before 48 hours or after 48 hours (Log-rank test P = .109). Conclusion: The presence of cardiovascular comorbidities and cardiology consultations can delay surgical treatments for hip fractures in patients greater than 65 years old, but the delay did not influence 1-year all-cause mortality. Level of Evidence: Level IV.

Bullet Fragment Retrieval During Intramedullary Nailing: A Report of 2 Cases.

CASE: Two young adult patients, 22 and 27 years, who sustained ballistic long bone fractures, presented for incarcerated, retained metallic fragments in the medullary canal, which blocked fixation. Owing to the presence and location of the fragments, each case required a bullectomy (removal of the metallic fragment) before intramedullary nail fixation because the projectile impeded the appropriate insertion of the intramedullary rod and, in one case, induced fracture malalignment. Attempts at removal using conventional tools did not provide adequate length or grasp of the retained projectile, necessitating the use of the novel technique. The Babcock Laparoscopic Endopath is an easy-to-use, ubiquitous tool that facilitates the removal of content within the intramedullary canal, including metallic or bony fragments. CONCLUSION: There is limited literature describing accessible, cost-effective techniques for the removal of intramedullary retained metallic foreign fragments when it is unremovable through conventional means. This article reports on a novel, minimally invasive technique for bullet removal from the intramedullary canal of the femur and tibia using the Babcock Laparoscopic Endopath, a tool typically used by urologists. Both patients were followed for at least 8 weeks postoperatively with no complications secondary to the procedure. The article describes the technique and advantages of using this readily available tool that is both flexible enough to navigate through the intramedullary canals as well as rigid enough to obtain and manipulate metallic objects.

Psychotic Depression: Diagnosis, Differential Diagnosis, and Treatment.

Psychotic depression was initially considered to be at one end of a continuum of severity of major depression. Subsequent experience demonstrated that psychosis is an independent trait that may accompany mood disorders of varying severity. While much has been learned about the impact of severe mood congruent delusions and hallucinations on the course and treatment response of depression, less is known about fleeting or mild psychosis, mood incongruent features, or psychotic symptoms that reflect traumatic experiences. Acute treatment of psychotic unipolar depression generally involves the combination of an antidepressant and an antipsychotic drug or electroconvulsive therapy. There is inadequate information about maintenance treatment of unipolar psychotic depression and acute and chronic treatment of psychotic bipolar disorder. Decision-making therefore still must rely in part on clinical experience.

Levetiracetam, Calcium Antagonism, and Bipolar Disorder.

Hyperactive intracellular calcium ion (Ca) signaling in peripheral cells has been a reliable finding in bipolar disorder. Some established mood stabilizing medications, such as lithium and carbamazepine, have been found to normalize elevated intracellular Ca concentrations ([Ca]i) in platelets and lymphocytes from bipolar disorder patients, and some medications the primary effect of which is to attenuate increased [Ca]i have been reported to have mood stabilizing properties.Hyperactive intracellular Ca signaling has also been implicated in epilepsy, and some anticonvulsants have calcium antagonist properties. This study demonstrated that levetiracetam, an anticonvulsant that has been shown to block N and P/Q-type calcium channels in animal studies does not alter elevated [Ca]i in blood platelets of patients with bipolar disorder. Review of published clinical trials revealed no controlled evidence of efficacy as a mood stabilizer.This study underscores the possibility that pharmacologic actions of a medication in animals and normal subjects may not necessarily predict its pharmacologic or clinical effects in actual patients. Effects of treatments on pathophysiology that is demonstrated in clinical subtypes may be more likely to predict effectiveness in those subtypes than choosing medications based on structural similarities to established treatments.