Background and Objectives: Road traffic accident (RTA) is one of the major public health problems. Inequality in this problem and its trend has not been yet investigated in Iran. A better understanding of different contributing factors to RTA like inequalities can be helpful to reduce the negative influence of road crashes. Hence, this study aimed at examining geographical inequality in mortality from RTAs over the previous decades. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, all people who died from RTAs from March 2006 to February 2015 were selected. The data were taken from Legal Medicine Organization in Iran. The Theil index was used to estimate geographical inequality in mortality from RTA. Data were then analyzed using the Stata software. Results: During the 10-year period of this study, 210,582 people in Iran died due to RTA. The mortality rate that caused by RTAs has decreased during the study. We found a larger reduction in a mortality rate in suburban RTAs. In spite of the reduction in RTAs death, geographical inequality increased during the 10-year study. Conclusions: The findings of this study indicate that there is a geographical inequality in mortality from RTAs in Iran. This implies that effective interventions in reducing the RTAs should be distributed equally among regions of the country. Further research can be performed to investigate the causes of this inequality.

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Background: Trauma surgery has an interdisciplinary nature among the surgical specialties, and trauma surgeons are required to identify its related scientific fields to acquire the needed skills in controlling the injuries. This study was conducted to investigate the science mapping of trauma surgery based on the bibliographic data of MEDLINE. Methodology: Based on the bibliographic data from the MEDLINE database, the visualizing techniques of bibliometric networks and all the scientific products of the trauma surgery realm indexed at MEDLINE from 2008 to 2017 were investigated. Data analysis was performed using co-word analysis and cluster analysis using the VOSviewer. Results: The growth trend of scientific productions in the field of trauma surgery has been on the rise in the past 10 years. The keyword “trauma,” followed by “osteoporosis,” “fracture outcome,” “trauma surgery,” and “mortality” had respectively the highest frequency. The results of cluster analysis identified the most important basic research subjects of trauma surgery published in MEDLINE in the past 10 years and categorized them into five clusters. Trauma surgery field had a close relationship with the field of orthopedics, basic studies, and laboratory research in comparison with its clinical domains. Conclusion: We attempted to identify the vastness of the knowledge subjects of trauma surgery and to conduct educational research, and technological planning so that the managers and stakeholders can trace the path of future scientific activities in the field of trauma surgery. The identification of this important realm and provision of the required information on the core issues for the users can be facilitated by drawing up a science map and visualizing the main traumatic sciences.

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Background: Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear is one of the most common types of knee injuries. Delay in diagnosis and treatment of ACL injuries can lead to further damage of the meniscus and cartilage. In this study, we tried to show the distribution of injuries over time and types. Methods: This retrospective study was performed on 336 patients with the diagnosis of primary ACL tear without other ligament injuries. The data including site and grade of the meniscal tear and cartilage damage, based on the International Cartilage Repair Society Classification, the time between diagnosis and surgical procedure, and the treatment method were collected. In this study, we divided patients into four groups according to injury to surgery time. Groups were 3 months, 3–6 months, 6–12 months, and over 12 months to surgery. Results: The results showed that a rate of cartilage damage had no significant correlation with a time interval between injury and surgery (P = 0.54). Furthermore, no significant correlation was found between the site of cartilage damage and the interval time after injury to surgery. The results indicated that the meniscal tear increases in case of a delay to perform surgery (P = 0.004). However, no significant relation was found between the site and pattern of meniscal injury and time. Moreover, patients with a complete ACL tear had a significantly higher rate of meniscus injury compared to those with a partial ACL tear (0.048). Conclusion: The findings of this study show that there is no significant relationship between the time of surgery and the risk of chondral damage after the ACL tear over time. ACL-ruptured patients should undergo the ACL reconstruction surgery up to 3 months from knee trauma to prevent further meniscal injuries.

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Background: Knee dislocations are uncommon (<0.5% of all dislocations); however, they may result in catastrophic outcomes secondary to their high-energy nature and neurovascular injuries. Objectives: The objective of this study was to evaluate the clinical outcome of knee dislocation management. Subjects and Methods: A total of 20 consecutive adult patients with knee dislocation were enrolled in this cross-sectional study between 2011 and 2014. A single knee surgeon examined all the patients for knee instability for subjective evaluation of knee function using the Lysholm Knee Questionnaire, Knee Society Score (KSS), and Short Form-36 (SF-36). Results: The average Lysholm Knee Scores and KSS were 68 (range: 18–100) and 65 (range: 15–97), respectively. All domains of SF-36 among the studied patients were lower than that of the normal population. We could not find any correlation between age, body mass index, and interval between initial trauma and operation with outcome variables (Lysholm Knee Score, KSS, and SF-36 Physical Component Score, and SF-36 Mental Component Score). Conclusions: The knee function after proper management of dislocation is reasonable, but prolonged course of management and multiple operations may decrease the patients' quality of life.

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Background: Traumatic long-bone fracture is a common cause of referring to the emergency department (ED). The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of nebulized ketamine and morphine and intravenous (IV) morphine in reducing pain in these patients. Materials and Methods: In this clinical trial study, 88 patients with traumatic long-bone fractures referred to the ED were randomly selected and divided into two groups of nebulized ketamine and morphine and IV morphine using block randomization. Changes in pain intensity according to visual analog scale (VAS), patient satisfaction, and clinical features, including oxygen saturation (O₂ sat), systolic blood pressure (SBP), respiratory rate, and pulse rate (PR) were assessed at baseline and 15 and 30 min after the intervention and finally, data were analyzed using the SPSS software. Results: Demographic characteristics including sex, age, and site of fracture were similar in the two groups (P > 0.05). In the IV morphine group, O₂ sat (P < 0.001), SBP (P = 0.005), and PR (P < 0.001) significantly decreased, but in the nebulized group, SBP (P < 0.001) and PR (P < 0.001) significantly increased, but O₂ sat did not significantly decrease (P > 0.05). The VAS results in the IV group were better at 15 min (P < 0.001), but after 30 min, both methods were equally effective in pain reduction (P = 0.508). Conclusion: According to the results of this study, the pain reduction was similar in both groups after 30 min, but regarding other parameters such as patients' satisfaction and fewer side effects, it can be concluded that the long-term effect of nebulized morphine and ketamine would be more beneficial.

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Thoracoabdominal penetrating trauma management is challenging when diaphragm injuries are involved. Thorax tube is golden standard for penetrating thoracoabdominal injuries. It has some complications. A 27-year-old male had stabbed thoracoabdominal penetrating trauma thorax tube inserted at another hospital. We decided to explore abdomen laparoscopy when he has symptoms at abdomen. We saw thorax tube ruptured diaphragm. We saturated diaphragm intracorporeally with laparoscopic protege. The clinician should not insert tube from penetrating trauma area. Tube must be inserted from its usual anatomical intercostal space.

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Background: Exsanguination is the main cause of death in trauma patients. Early determination that a patient requires an emergency operation is crucial for saving of life. We challenge the defining predictors that guide the intervention or emergency operation for hemorrhage control in severe trauma patients. Aims: The aim of this study was to define the predictors that guide the intervention or emergency operation to resuscitate severe trauma patients. Methods: This study was a retrospective study in trauma patients from Songklanagarind hospital. Data were retrospectively collected from a prospective collection registry that included 131 trauma patients who met the trauma activation criteria at Songklanagarind Hospital from January 2014 to December 2014. Emergency operation or intervention was defined as the procedures needed to improve hemostasis within 4 h. Categorical data were compared. Logistic regression was used to measure the relationship between dependent and one or more independent variables. Results: The study population was 81.7% male. The age range was 31–35 years. The most frequent mechanism was blunt injury (78%). The emergency hemostasis patients had 27 patients (20.6%). The factors relate to an emergency operation or intervention to improve the hemostasis within 4 h were focused assessment with sonography for trauma (FAST)-positive (P < 0.001), male (P = 0.02), Injury Severity Score (ISS) ≥25 (P = 0.013), and penetrating injury (P = 0.016). The preventive factors to an emergency hemostasis were platelet ≥100,000 (P = 0.039) and age ≥50 (P = 0.005). Conclusion: The palate count, FAST, male, age, ISS, and penetrating injury are factors that relate to an emergency operation or intervention within the first 4 h.

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Background: The ability to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is among the most important professional skills for physicians and nurses. There is a wide difference among different countries respecting resuscitation success rate. Studies show weaknesses in performing resuscitation. Objectives: This study aimed at assessing the effects of clinical audit of CPR in the emergency room based on the Situation Stabilization Model (SSM). Materials and Methods: This quasi-experimental study was done in 2017 in the emergency room of Baqiyatallah Hospital, Tehran, Iran. Using the Adib checklist, 35 resuscitations were assessed based on the steps of clinical audit. Then, a 1-month educational program was held for the resuscitation staffs in the study setting. Then, 35 new resuscitations were assessed using the same checklist. Finally, the results of the two measurements were compared. Results: There were significant differences between two measurement time points regarding the mean scores of different resuscitation skills (P < 0.001). Primary resuscitation success rate increased from 6 (17.1%) cases at baseline to 8 (22.9%) of the cases after the intervention. This increase was not statistically significant (P = 0.47). Conclusions: Clinical audit in the emergency room based on the SSM improves the quality and the success rate of CPR. The success rate is in our study increased. Furthermore, the reported data were not statistically significant for improving the success rate; it is clinically important. Because primary resuscitation success rate increased from 6 (17.1%) cases at baseline to 8 (22.9%) cases after the intervention. These findings highlight the necessity and the importance of the clinical audit of care services as well as the implementation of educational interventions based on the existing weaknesses. Given the great importance and sensitivity of resuscitation, health-care staffs need to receive regular theoretical and practical in-service resuscitation-related training.

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