PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

U Knapp

Publications and source records attributed to U Knapp.

16 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1988

[Postoperative wound infection in trauma surgery].

Our knowledge of the morphology and biochemistry of wound infection is still incomplete. Above all, the time and causal connections of the individual inflammatory phenomena are by no means satisfactorily clear. It is, however, an undeniable fact that the course of a wound infection depends most significantly on the time it was discovered. Transition between a beginning, impending, gradually creeping or overtly manifest wound infection is flowing and cannot be safely differentiated on the basis of the possibilities we have at our disposal today even in a hospital with fully update equipment. In our search for objectifiable early criteria of a wound infection we found that to date the determination of the lysozyme content in the wound secretion is a reliable and facile method. In fact, the composition and condition of the suctioned-off or drained-off wound secretion would deserve much closer attention in future postoperative wound control. If there is only the slightest suspicion of disturbance of physiological wound healing we should not show the slightest hesitation to make full use of the entire spectrum of therapeutic possibilities at our disposal to reduce the occurrence of septic wound complications to the barest minimum.

Abscess↗
PubMed1984

[Clinical experiences with a new gel-like wound dressing after skin transplantation].

Free split skin grafting is now widely practised on a routine basis in accident surgery. All conventional wound dressing methods have considerable drawbacks, and this is one of the reasons why successful skin grafting is still an unsafe procedure even under the very best of conditions and quite often resembles an experiment more than a scientific procedure, with an unpredictable outcome. Today, however, we can command over a wound dressing, using the polyacrylamide agar hydrogel developed by the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology at Freiburg and which is being marketed under the trade name of Geliperm. This dressing can maintain the physiological wound environment during the first few critical days following grafting; it enables conditioning of the wound; it protects the wound against bacterial invasion and prevents drying-out of the graft and the base of the wound; and it is capable of absorbing wound secretion to a certain degree. Healing chances of the graft can be considerably improved by the use of Geliperm. Thanks to its high measure of elasticity it can adapt itself to the wound surface without sticking to it. The transparent nature of the material enables to observe and assess the healing processes at any time and to recognize possible complications during healing. Failures are almost always due to prolonged deposition of the gel plates, but this can be safely avoided by regularly changing the deposit. Deposits inadvertently left for too long, so that they have started drying at the wound surface, can be detached without any trouble and painlessly without any risk of damaging the graft.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Acrylamides↗
PubMed1979

[Soft tissue injuries in compound fractures (author's transl)].

Problems in the management of soft tissue injuries in compound fractures are presented. They usually originate from the initial traumatic force, but may be the result of pitfalls of the primary treatment as well. The management of open fractures--as it is performed in this clinic--is presented in detail. After primary stabilization of the fracture attention is directed to the associated soft tissue injuries, which require utmost care in the further course of treatment. Primary wound closure should never be forcefully obtained, since closure under tension will result in severe secondary tissue damage. In our experience temporary open wound treatment and delayed closure is the method of choice in the initial management of open fractures. For temporary cover we successfully use the synthetic skin substitute Epigard. Since we adopted this policy, the rate of infection declined drastically, and anaerobic infections as well as generalized sepsis could be totally avoided.

Debridement↗
PubMed1979

[Valgus osteotomy in treatment of osteoarthrosis of hip (author's transl)].

The article reports on Bombelli's theory on the genesis of arthrosis of the hip. Clinical experience has shown that valgus and extension osteotomy is indicated in dysplasia arthrosis, in cystic changes and formation of osteophytes. Although the good clinical results cannot be accepted as a proof of the biomechanical deliberations, they do extend the range of indications pointing to surgery of the diseased hip joint performed for the purpose of preserving the femoral head.

Bone Plates↗
PubMed1975

[Bacteriological study of redon drains in accident surgery (author's transl)].

After 'clean' operations, 121 Redon drains from 80 patients were cultured. 17.4% of Redon tips were contaminated, but microorganisms were found in only 7.4% of wound secretions aspirated from them before they were removed. Only Gram-positive cocci, most of them of questionable pathogenicity, were found. Although drains or wound secretions were found to be contaminated in 21 patients, clinical evidence of disturbed healing occurred in only two patients. The presence of microorganisms provided no pointer to later healing difficulties. Culturing Redon tips is, therefore not a reliable method for early recognition of wound infections. Antibiotics should not be used merely on evidence of bacterial contamination of Redon tips without any clinical signs of infection.

Aged↗