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Biomedical subjects

M Swiontkowski

Publications and source records attributed to M Swiontkowski.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1995

The Sickness Impact Profile as a tool to evaluate functional outcome in trauma patients.

Because the ultimate goal of trauma care is to restore injured patients to their former functional status, reliable evaluation of functional status is needed to assess fully the effectiveness of trauma care. We hypothesized that the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP), a widely used measure of general health status, would be a useful tool to evaluate the long-term functional outcome of trauma patients and that the SIP would identify unexpected problems in the recovery process and groups of patients at high risk for long-term disability. A prospective cohort of 329 patients with lower extremity fractures admitted to three level I trauma centers were interviewed using SIP at 6 and 12 months postinjury. Patients with major neurologic injuries were excluded. Overall SIP scores and each of the component subscores may range from 0 (no disability) to 100. In this series, the mean overall SIP was 9.5 at 6 months and 6.8 at 12 months, compared with a preinjury baseline of 2.5. At 12 months, 52% of patients had no disability (SIP 0 to 3), 23% mild disability (4 to 9), 16% moderate disability (10 to 19), and 9% severe disability ( > or = 20). Disability was widely distributed across the spectrum of activities of daily living, including physical functioning (mean score of 5.5), psychosocial health (mean score of 5.5), sleeping (mean score of 10.0), and work (mean score of 21.0). The SIP scores did not correlate with Injury Severity Score.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1994

Documentation.

In the period from 1. January to 31. December 1992, the new pinless external fixator was applied in eight European and North American clinics as part of a prospective multicentric study run by the AO/ASIF Documentation Centre. The aim of this study was to determine the indications, handling, and clinical results with the new fixator. The new pinless fixator was used 77 times on a total of 75 patients. The main indications were fresh tibial shaft fractures for which immediate definitive treatment was impossible. The majority of cases were secondarily stabilized with an unreamed tibial nail once the local and/or general condition of the patient had improved. In the remaining cases the pinless fixator was used for calcaneal and tibial head traction, segment transport and temporary stabilization in cases of tibial infection. Only after long-term application of the fixator was local infection at the pin site observed. There were no other complications. The new pinless fixator is a valuable addition in the treatment of fresh tibial fractures, in particular, in those cases which cannot be primarily treated due to contributing factors whether local or general.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Bilateral femoral neck fractures following a grand mal seizure.

Fractures of the hip following seizure are uncommon but may have devastating consequences if allowed to go unrecognized. The presence of groin pain suggests hip pathology, but the ability to ambulate does not necessarily rule out fracture. Sprains around joints are common; hip sprains are not. Given the powerful contractions that occur with convulsions, musculoskeletal pain following seizure should not be dismissed until fractures or dislocations have been ruled out. We report the case of a young man with bilateral hip fractures following seizure, illustrating the violent muscular forces possible.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Biomechanical evaluation of the Pinless external fixator.

In open fractures especially in those with severe soft tissue damage, fracture stabilisation is best achieved by using external fixators. There are some intrinsic complications which occur during classical external pin fixation. To overcome the problem of pin track infection and vascular damage from drilling, the Pinless external fixator was developed. It is based on the idea of a forceps with trocar points, which only penetrate the bone cortex superficially. The function of the device was tested in two mechanical trials and two in vitro tests in which one pinless clamp was put under a controlled load of 50 N, 150 cycles/day and studied over a 5 week period in sheep. The loads and time range of the experiment were chosen to simulate a temporary fracture stabilisation in a patient not bearing weight. The main question to be answered was whether the Pinless external fixator would be able to maintain stable fixation. Furthermore, it was to determine the changes at the trocar-to-bone interface. The clamp was found to maintain 72% of the initially applied clamping force after 5 weeks of in vivo application and it was found to be tight at removal. Some decrease of clamping force was found during the first 20 days and then the force tended to level off. There was no slippage nor did the clamp penetrate the cortex. There were no obvious signs of infection around the trocar-holes and in the bacterial tests no pathological cultures were grown. Histology revealed very localised bone reactions, the indentation caused by the trocar tips being only 1.2 mm deep. The study concludes, as far as could be ascertained from these tests, that it is safe to use pinless external fixation for temporary fracture fixation.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Double-plating of comminuted, unstable fractures of the distal part of the femur.

The cases of nine patients who had a complex fracture of the distal part of the femur and a deficient medial-cortical buttress were reviewed. Stable fixation was not achieved with the lateral condylar buttress plate alone. Collapse of the distal fragment into varus angulation was noted intraoperatively, with the axis of rotation being the junction of the distal screws and the plate. Additional stabilization with a medial plate and a bone graft from the iliac crest was applied in all nine patients: in six, at the time of the index operation and in the remaining three, after the open wound and open fracture were considered clean. At an average duration of follow-up of twenty-six months (range, twenty-one to thirty-four months), all of the fractures had healed. Evaluation of the functional outcome revealed five good and four fair results. In three patients, less than 90 degrees of flexion of the knee was present and in six, the arc of flexion was limited to between 90 and 100 degrees. Additionally, four patients had an extensor lag of 5 degrees.

Adult↗