PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

G D Reiber

Publications and source records attributed to G D Reiber.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

Suicide by pipe bomb: a case report.

While lying down, a 23-year-old man detonated an improvised explosive device placed behind his head. The posterior neck and shoulders were singed, and much of the brain was avulsed. Death was due to laceration and partial avulsion of the cerebrum, midbrain, and brain stem. The injuries had a directional nature. Facts derived from the scene investigation and gross dissection, including nature, distribution, and extent of the wounds, in conjunction with preceding medical and social history, allowed for a reasonable reconstruction of the circumstances.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Prosthesis evaluation questionnaire for persons with lower limb amputations: assessing prosthesis-related quality of life.

OBJECTIVE: To develop a self-report questionnaire for persons with lower limb amputations who use a prosthesis. The resulting scales were intended to be suitable to evaluate the prosthesis and life with the prosthesis. The conceptual framework was health-related quality of life. DESIGN: Multiple steps of scale development, terminating with test-retest of the Prosthesis Evaluation Questionnaire (PEQ) by mail. SOURCE OF SAMPLE: Records from two Seattle hospitals. PATIENTS: Ninety-two patients with lower limb amputations who varied by age, reason for amputation, years since amputation, and amputation level. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The 10 scales used were 4 prosthesis function scales (Usefulness, Residual Limb Health, Appearance, and Sounds), 2 mobility scales (Ambulation and Transfers), 3 psychosocial scales (Perceived Responses, Frustration, and Social Burden), and 1 Well-being scale. Validation measures were the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36, the Social Interaction subscale from the Sickness Impact Profile, and the Profile of Mood States-short form. RESULTS: Nine PEQ scales demonstrated high internal consistency. All met test-retest criteria for comparing group results. Validity was described based on methods used to gather original items, distribution of scores, and comparison of scores with criterion variables. CONCLUSIONS: The PEQ scales displayed good psychometric properties. Future work will assess responsiveness of PEQ scales to changes in prosthetic components. We conclude that they will be useful in evaluation of prosthetic care.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1993

Fatal falls in childhood. How far must children fall to sustain fatal head injury? Report of cases and review of the literature.

The question of whether fatal head injuries may occur from short-distance falls is one that continues to cause controversy. The records of the Sacramento County Coroner's Office from 1983 to 1991 were reviewed for cases of fatal head injury in children aged < or = 5 years, where a history of a fall was initially given. During this 9-year period, three cases of witnessed falls from heights of > 10 ft (3 m) were found. At autopsy, all children had multiple complex calvarial skull fractures, basal fractures, or both; subdural and subarachnoid hemorrhage was found in all cases, and two showed severe cerebral contusion. None had retinal hemorrhage or axonal injury. These are compared with 19 fatalities initially alleged to have occurred from short falls of < or = 5-6 ft (1.5-1.8 m). As others have found, most of these "minor fall" fatalities occurred under circumstances where there were no unrelated witnesses to corroborate the initial history. Autopsy findings in these cases tended to be of unexpected severity for the initially proposed mechanism of injury, and a number of cases showed evidence of accelerative injury (retinal hemorrhage and/or diffuse axonal injury) where no such mechanism was accounted for by initial history. After sufficient investigation, most of these cases (74%) have ultimately been proven to represent inflicted trauma. A thorough literature review on the subject identifies two major viewpoints. One is that short falls have a significant potential for fatality. The other, more widely espoused view is that short falls rarely, if ever, cause serious injury or death.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Accidental Falls↗