Burden Of Trauma Research Articles

Social Policy Implications Relating to Road Trauma in a Rapidly Motorizing World: The Example of China

The World Health Organization (WHO) identifies road trauma as a major public health issue in all countries, though most notably among low‐to‐middle income countries and particularly those experiencing rapid motorization, such as China. As China transitions from a nation of bicycle riders and pedestrians to one where car ownership is increasingly desired, there is a need to address the accompanying social policy challenges. With this increased motorization has come an increased road trauma burden, shouldered disproportionately among the population. Vulnerable road users (i.e. pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists) are of primary concern because they are most frequently killed in road crashes, representing approximately 70% of all Chinese road‐related fatalities. The aim of this paper is to summarize the scale of the road trauma burden, highlight the disparity of this burden across the Chinese population, and discuss the related social policy implications in dealing with the impact of deaths and of otherwise healthy lives diminished by injury and disability. Future research priorities are also discussed and include the need to strive to provide detailed information on the level of inequity in the road trauma burden across the population and identify appropriate social support and healthcare services required, both preventative and post‐crash, so these can be developed and implemented throughout China.

Trauma International – Truly New, Truly International

Trauma is one of the most basic faculty of medicine and treatment of injured is the oldest known speciality. The burden of trauma in immense and with current technological developments road traffic accidents and industrial accidents present with varied patient profiles. There is always a need for personalised care which also depends on the expertise of the surgeon involved. The infrastructure and facilities for trauma care also vary across the world and many practices are modified according to local needs. Care of the injured involves orthopaedic surgeon, general surgeon, plastic surgeon and occasionally vascular surgeon, neurosurgeon and other allied faculties. Multispecialty collaboration is needed for successful treatment of any trauma scenario. The entire point of the first paragraph is that trauma surgery is a very multifaceted speciality and involves complex decision making and requires equally complex specialities to be symbiotic. The same should reflect in the Trauma literature and this is the basic aim of starting the new journal. Trauma International is primarily a journal of Orthopaedic trauma and surgery, but it will also provide platform for all specialities involved in trauma care. Many a times while reading a journal we feel that many articles are almost irrelevant as far as practical patient care is concerned. There are many articles that wouldd focus on statistical or analytic part more than the actual clinical relevance of the study. Trauma International will focus on publishing most clinically relevant articles that will be useful in day to day clinical practice. The format of the articles will be easy to read with clinical relevance highlighted separately. Editors will be frequently commenting on the articles and will be clarifying any difficult issues that they feel require simplification . Readers will be allowed to comment online as well as through letter to editor channel. On other hand we will be including formats like technique videos, tips and tricks, innovations, most memorable patient etc where surgeons would be encouraged to share their experience and also help other learn from their experiences. The whole exercise is to provide the reader something that they can interact with and not something dead and unresponsive. Only participation from the readers and surgeon community can help us realise this dream There exists a lot of resistance especially from the surgeons from publications. This resistance is mostly because they are not familiar with the format of articles and submission process. Trauma international will be providing few solutions to overcome this resistance and encourage surgeons to publish. Firstly, as mentioned earlier we will be keeping simple formats of article submission which will be easy for beginners to write. Secondly, we have a collaboration with the orthopaedic research group and they have taken up the responsibility to guide the authors in terms of writing manuscript. This will be helpful, especially to authors who do not have English as their first language. The process will involve review and revision of primary draft and also help in formatting article as per journal guidelines. Thirdly along with Trauma International we are also launching a dedicated Journal of Trauma and Injury Case Reports. This journal will focus on providing platform to first time authors . This will be done through a special peer review process we call as ‘assistive peer review’. Here the along with providing the review, the reviewers will also suggest and correct the manuscript at most places. This will help the authors understand their errors and also help them learn methods used to correct the errors. This Assistive Peer Review will also be provided for Trauma International. We believe these initiatives will help trauma surgeons to publish more and participate in creating a global literature. Trauma International has received great support especially from the international community and we are proud to say that members of more than 40 countries have joined the Editorial board of Trauma International. This makes the journal a truly international journal. Since trauma is one of the most widespread practiced branch, we will be including more members till we have at least one member form each country in the world. This will help us collaborate and learn from each other in much better ways. We would like to thank all our contributors of the first issue. Special thanks to Dr DD Tanna for sharing his life experiences with us and letting us know about his journey as a trauma surgeon. I think we have promised a lot in this opening editorial but then we are equally passionate about holding ourselves to every promise that we made here. We invite suggestions and also invite you all to participate actively with the journal. With this we leave you to enjoy the issue. Dr Ashok Shyam Editor – Trauma International

An epidemiological study of the burden of trauma in Makurdi, Nigeria.

Background:Trauma leads to considerable morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study is to elucidate the pattern and characteristics of trauma at Benue State University Teaching Hospital (BSUTH), Makurdi, Nigeria.Materials and Methods:Case records of all patients who presented to the Accident and Emergency (A and E) Department with trauma between January and December 2013 were analyzed for demographic data, types of injuries sustained, causes and circumstances of injuries, as well as outcome of treatment were extracted from the case files and entered onto a computerized questionnaire. Data were analyzed using the software Statistical Package for Social Sciences for Windows version 15.0 (SPSS Inc; Chicago, Illinois).Results:A total of 250 traumatized patients were studied consisting of 203 (81.2%) males and 47 (18.8%) females with a modal age group of 21–30 years. Unintentional injuries were the most predominant form of trauma (n = 209, 83.6%) with road traffic accidents being the leading cause (n = 180, 72.0%). Open wounds (n = 95, 28.2%) were the most common form of injury sustained and the extremities (n = 148, 43.5%), the most frequently injured body region. Most patients (n = 133, 53.2%) were treated and discharged home without permanent disabilities, while death occurred in 15.2%.Conclusion:Trauma in Makurdi is a predominantly young adult male occurrence with road traffic accidents being the leading etiological factor. Reducing road traffic accidents will likely reduce mortality and morbidity due to trauma.

Young, male, road traffic victims: a systematic review of the published trauma registry literature from low and middle income countries.

Background: Trauma contributes significantly to the global burden of disease. We analysed published trauma registries to assess the demographics of those most affected in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). Methods: We performed a systematic review of published trauma registry studies according to PRISMA guidelines. We included published full-text articles from trauma registries in low and middle-income countries describing the demographics of trauma registry patients. Articles from military trauma registries, articles using data not principally derived from trauma registry data, articles describing patients of only one demographic (e.g. only paediatric patients), or only one mechanism of injury, trauma registry implementation papers without demographic data, review papers and conference proceedings were excluded. Results: The initial search retrieved 1868 abstracts of which 1324 remained after duplicate removal. After screening the abstracts, 78 full-text articles were scrutinised for their suitability for inclusion. Twenty three papers from 14 countries, including 103,327 patients, were deemed eligible and included for analysis. The median age of trauma victims in these articles was 27 years (IQR 25–29). The median percentage of trauma victims who were male was 75 (IQR 66–84). The median percentage of road traffic injuries (RTIs) as a percentage of total injuries caused by trauma was 46 (IQR 21–71). Conclusions: Young, male, road traffic victims represent a large proportion of the LMIC trauma burden. This information can inform and be used by local and national governments to implement road safety measures and other strategies aimed at reducing the injury rate in young males.

Interobserver Variability in Injury Severity Scoring After Combat Trauma: Different Perspectives, Different Values?

Anatomic measures of injury burden provide key information for studies of prehospital and in-hospital trauma care. The military version of the Abbreviated Injury Scale [AIS(M)] is used to score injuries in deployed military hospitals. Estimates of total trauma burden are derived from this. These scores are used for categorization of patients, assessment of care quality, and research studies. Scoring is normally performed retrospectively from chart review. We compared data recorded in the UK Joint Theatre Trauma Registry (JTTR) and scores calculated independently at the time of surgery by the operating surgeons to assess the concordance between surgeons and trauma nurse coordinators in assigning injury severity scores. Trauma casualties treated at a deployed Role 3 hospital were assigned AIS(M) scores by surgeons between 24 September 2012 and 16 October 2012. JTTR records from the same period were retrieved. The AIS(M), Injury Severity Score (ISS), and New Injury Severity Score (NISS) were compared between datasets. Among 32 matched casualties, 214 injuries were recorded in the JTTR, whereas surgeons noted 212. Percentage agreement for number of injuries was 19%. Surgeons scored 75 injuries as "serious" or greater compared with 68 in the JTTR. Percentage agreement for the maximum AIS(M), ISS, and NISS assigned to cases was 66%, 34%, and 28%, respectively, although the distributions of scores were not statistically different (median ISS: surgeons: 20 [interquartile range (IQR), 9-28] versus JTTR: 17.5 [IQR, 9-31.5], p = .7; median NISS: surgeons: 27 [IQR, 12-42] versus JTTR: 25.5 [IQR, 11.5-41], p = .7). There are discrepancies in the recording of AIS(M) between surgeons directly involved in the care of trauma casualties and trauma nurse coordinators working by retrospective chart review. Increased accuracy might be achieved by actively collaborating in this process.

Saving lives, limbs and livelihoods: considerations in restructuring a national trauma service.

Level 1 trauma centers reduce mortality and improve functional outcomes in major trauma. Despite this, many countries, including Ireland, do not have officially designated major trauma centers (MTC). This study aimed to examine international trauma systems, and determine how to "best fit" trauma care in a small country (Ireland) to international models. The literature was reviewed to examine international models of trauma systems. An estimate of Irish trauma burden and distribution was made using data from the Road Safety Authority (RSA) on serious or fatal RTAs. Models of a restructured trauma service were constructed and compared with international best practice. Internationally, a major trauma center surrounded by a regional trauma network has emerged as the gold standard in trauma care. In Ireland, there are no nationally coordinated trauma networks and care is provided by 26 acute hospitals with a mean distance to hospital from RTAs of 20.6 km ± 15.6. Based on our population, Ireland needs two Level 1 MTCs (in the two areas of major population density in the east and south), with robust surrounding trauma networks including Level 2 or 3 trauma centers. With this model, the estimated mean number of cases per Level 1 MTC per year would be 628, with a mean distance to MTC of 80.5 ± 59.2 km, (maximum distance 263.5 km). Clearly designated and adequately resourced MTCs with trauma networks are needed to improve trauma outcomes, with concomitant investment in pre-hospital infrastructure.

Disability-adjusted life-year burden of abusive head trauma at ages 0-4.

We estimated the disability-adjusted life-year (DALY) burden of abusive head trauma (AHT) at ages 0 to 4 years in the United States. DALYs are computed by summing years of productive life that survivors lost to disability plus life-years lost to premature death. Surveying a convenience sample of 170 caregivers and pediatricians yielded health-related disability over time according to severity of AHT (measured with the Health Utilities Index, Mark 2). Incidence estimates for 2009 came from Vital Statistics for Mortality, Healthcare Cost and Utilization Program Kids' Inpatient Database for hospitalized survivors, and published ratios of 0.894 case treated and released and 0.340 case not diagnosed/treated while in the acute phase per survivor admitted. Survival probability over time after discharge came from published sources. An estimated 4824 AHT cases in 2009 included 334 fatalities within 30 days. DALYs per surviving child averaged 0.555 annually for severe AHT (95% confidence interval: 0.512-0.598) and 0.155 (95% confidence interval: 0.120-0.190) for other cases. Including life-years lost to premature mortality, estimated lifetime burden averaged 4.7 DALYs for mild AHT, 5.4 for moderate AHT, 24.1 for severe AHT, and 29.8 for deaths. On average, DALY loss per 30-day survivor included 7.6 years of lost life expectancy and 5.7 years lived with disability. Estimated burden of AHT incidents in 2009 was 69 925 DALYs or 0.017 DALYs per US live birth. AHT is extremely serious, often resulting in severe physical damage or death. The annual DALY burden several years after mild AHT exceeds the DALY burden of a severe burn.

The Transforming Face of Fracture Epidemiology: Our Concern.

Dear Editor, We read with interest the Editorial published recently, entitled “The transforming face of fracture epidemiology” (1). The author has rightly pointed out the facts regarding the nonfatal patterns of skeletal fractures, which include the fractures induced by the restraint system like air bags and frontal motor vehicle collisions (2, 3). The various modification in designing of such light motor vehicles is needed to save people from catastrophic events. An input from the trauma centers to these manufacturers can help them in properly designing these motor vehicles. A general campaign among the masses can send a good message to the concerned people. Regarding the second part, children and women are more active than before and are now participating in high-energy recreational and athletic activities. This might be partly influenced by the social factors as well. Children usually indulge in indoor games and are often unattended during play hours (4). Osteoporosis is one of the global burdens in the state economy (5, 6). Proper screening by bone mineral density scan and proper management thereafter can decrease the fracture rate. A coordinated approach is needed to plan a proper strategy for the wellbeing of nation. Having an orthopedic trauma registry can show the actual burden of trauma. Then a plan can be made to prevent or decrease these events.

Disability-Adjusted Life-Year Burden of Abusive Head Trauma at Ages 0-4

Disability-Adjusted Life-Year Burden of Abusive Head Trauma at Ages 0-4

Restructuring Irish trauma services: An analysis of trauma burden and options for reconfiguration

Restructuring Irish trauma services: An analysis of trauma burden and options for reconfiguration

Kinship Care

Kinship Care

The burden of trauma in four rural district hospitals in Malawi: A retrospective review of medical records

BackgroundFew injury surveillance systems collect data in sub-Saharan Africa. This medical record review of four rural hospitals provides baseline data on the burden of trauma in Malawi. MethodsWe reviewed all outpatient, inpatient, and mortuary records for one full year at four of the 28 district hospitals in Malawi: Dedza in central Malawi, Mangochi in the east, Nkhata Bay in the north, and Thyolo in the south. We used descriptive and comparative statistics to examine characteristics of patients and the data file. ResultsDuring 2012, 18,735 trauma patients were treated at the four district hospitals. Trauma cases accounted for 3.5% of the 541,170 patient visits. In total, 60.8% of trauma patients were male; 39.1% were 0–14 years old and 50.4% were 15–49 years old. The logbooks were missing information about the primary type of injury for 44.9% of patients and about injury cause for 82.7%. Of the recorded trauma diagnoses, the most common injuries were soft tissue injuries, fractures, and sprains. The most commonly reported causes of injuries were animal bites (mostly dog bites), road traffic injuries, assaults, burns, and falls. ConclusionsThe development and implementation of improved methods for acquiring more complete, accurate, and useful trauma data in Malawi and other low-income countries requires addressing difficulties that might result in missing data. Increased injury surveillance is critical for improving trauma care and meeting the emerging global demand for burden of disease data.

Patterns of injury, outcomes, and predictors of in-hospital and 1-year mortality in nonagenarian and centenarian trauma patients.

With the dramatic growth in the very old population and their concomitant heightened exposure to traumatic injury, the trauma burden among this patient population is estimated to be exponentially increasing. To determine the clinical outcomes and predictors of in-hospital and 1-year mortality in nonagenarian and centenarian trauma patients (NCTPs). All patients 90 years or older admitted to a level 1 academic trauma center between January 1, 2006, and December 31, 2010, with a primary diagnosis of trauma were included. Standard trauma registry data variables were supplemented by systematic medical record review. Cumulative mortality rates at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after discharge were investigated using the Social Security Death Index. Univariate and multivariable analyses were performed to identify the predictors of in-hospital and 1-year postdischarge cumulative mortalities. Length of hospital stay, in-hospital mortality, and cumulative mortalities at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after discharge. Four hundred seventy-four NCTPs were included; 71.7% were female, and a fall was the predominant mechanism of injury (96.4%). The mean patient age was 93 years, the mean Injury Severity Score was 12, and the mean number of comorbidities per patient was 4.4. The in-hospital mortality was 9.5% but cumulatively escalated at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after discharge to 18.5%, 26.4%, 31.3%, and 40.5%, respectively. Independent predictors of in-hospital mortality were the Injury Severity Score (odds ratio [OR], 1.09; 95% CI, 1.02-1.16; P = .01), mechanical ventilation (OR, 6.23; 95% CI, 1.42-27.27; P = .02), and cervical spine injury (OR, 4.37; 95% CI, 1.41-13.50; P = .01). Independent predictors of cumulative 1-year mortality were head injury (OR, 2.65; 95% CI, 1.24-5.67; P = .03) and length of hospital stay (OR, 1.06; 95% CI, 1.02-1.11; P = .005). Cumulative 1-year mortality in NCTPs with a head injury was 51.1% and increased to 73.2% if the Injury Severity Score was 25 or higher and to 78.7% if mechanical ventilation was required. Most NCTPs required rehabilitation; only 8.9% were discharged to home. Despite low in-hospital mortality, the cumulative mortality rate among NCTPs at 1 year after discharge is significant, particularly in the presence of head injury, spine injury, mechanical ventilation, high injury severity, or prolonged length of hospital stay. These considerations can help guide clinical decisions and family discussions.

Impacting the global trauma burden—Training laypersons in basic resuscitation in Mozambique

Welcome to Annals of Global Health,Annals of Global Health is a peer-reviewed, fully open access, online journal dedicated to publishing high quality articles dedicated to all aspects of global health. The journal's mission is to advance global health, promote research, and foster the prevention and treatment of disease worldwide. Its goals are to improve the health and well-being of all people, advance health equity, and promote wise stewardship of the earth's environment.Annals of Global Health is supported by the Program for Global Public Health and the Common Good at Boston College. It was founded in 1934 by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai as the Mount Sinai Journal of Medicine. It is a partner journal of the Consortium of Universities for Global Health.Authors of articles accepted for publication in Annals of Global Health will be asked to pay an Article Publication Charge (APC) to cover publication costs. This charge can normally be sourced from your funder or institution. We are committed to supporting authors from all countries to publish their work in Annals of Global Health regardless of national income level, and to achieve this goal, we waive the Article Publication Charge for manuscripts where all authors are from low-income or lower-middle-income countries (as defined by the World Bank). From time to time, Annals of Global Health publishes Special Collections, a series of articles organized around a common theme in global health. Recent Special Collections have included "Human Health and Ocean Pollution", "Building Health Research Capacity in Rwanda; A Multi-Year Journey", and "2020 Year of the Nurse". Global health workers interested in developing a Special Collection are strongly encouraged to contact the Managing Editor in advance to discuss the project.

Typologies of posttraumatic stress disorder in treatment-seeking older adults.

While it is well known that posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is characterized by heterogeneous symptom clusters, little is known about predominant typologies of PTSD symptoms in older adults. Latent profile analyses (LPAs) were employed to evaluate predominant typologies of PTSD symptoms in a sample of 164 treatment-seeking older adults with childhood war-related trauma. Multinomial logistic regressions were conducted to evaluate predictors of class membership. LPAs revealed that a 3-class solution best fit the data. These included an Intermediate Disturbance class (50.0%) and two Pervasive Disturbance classes, which differed with respect to severity of avoidance symptoms (Pervasive Disturbance-Low Avoidance: 33.5%, Pervasive Disturbance-High Avoidance: 16.5%). A greater number of traumatic events predicted membership in the Pervasive Disturbance classes. The Pervasive Disturbance-Low Avoidance class had a higher level of education than the Pervasive Disturbance-High Avoidance class. Compared to the Intermediate Disturbance class, the Pervasive Disturbance classes had the highest levels of depression, anxiety and somatization symptoms. These results suggest that PTSD in treatment-seeking older adults may be characterized by three predominant typologies, which are differentiated by overall severity and avoidance symptoms, lifetime trauma burden, education level, and comorbid depression, anxiety, and somatization symptoms. These results underscore the importance of considering heterogeneity in the phenotypic presentation of PTSD in assessment and treatment approaches for this disorder in older adults.

Trauma, posttraumatic stress disorder, and depression among sexual minority and heterosexual women veterans.

This study examined the impact of various traumas across the life span on screening positive for current posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression among heterosexual and sexual minority women veterans. Women veterans were recruited over the Internet (N = 706, 37% lesbian or bisexual) to participate in an anonymous, online survey. We assessed childhood trauma; adult sexual assault and adult physical victimization before, during, and after the military; combat exposure; perceived sexist discrimination during military service; sexual minority military stressors; past-year sexist events; and whether participants screened positive for PTSD or depression. Binary logistic regressions were used to generate odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for PTSD and depression, stratified by sexual orientation and controlling for demographic characteristics. Lesbian and bisexual women reported higher rates of trauma across the life span, although in some instances (e.g., sexual assault during and after military service, combat exposure), they did not differ from their heterosexual counterparts. Childhood trauma and traumas that occurred during military service added the most variance to both PTSD and depression models. Sexual assault during military service appeared to be especially harmful with respect to screening positive for PTSD for both sexual orientation groups. Results revealed a number of other predictors of mental health status for women veterans, some of which differed by sexual orientation. Findings indicate a significant burden of interpersonal trauma for both heterosexual and lesbian/bisexual women veterans and provide information on the distinct association of various traumas with current PTSD and depression by sexual orientation.

Trauma capacity in the central plateau department of Haiti

BackgroundSurgical burden is a large and neglected global health problem in low- and middle-income countries. With the increasing trauma burden, the goal of this study was to evaluate the trauma capacity of hospitals in the central plateau of Haiti. Materials and methodsThe World Health Organization Emergency and Essential Surgical Care survey was adapted with a focus on trauma capacity. Interviewers along with translators administered the survey to key hospital staff. ResultsSeven hospitals in the region were surveyed. Of the hospitals surveyed, 3/7 had functioning surgical facilities. None of the hospitals had trauma registries. 71% of the hospitals had no formal trauma guidelines. 2/7 hospitals had a general surgeon available 100% of the time. All surgical facilities had oxygen cylinders available 100% of the time, but three of the primary level hospitals only had it available 51%–90% of the time. Intubation equipment was available at 57% of the facilities. Ventilators were only available in the operating room. Only the largest hospital had a computed tomography scanner. Other hospitals (66%) had a functioning x-ray machine 76%–90% of the time. Hospitals (57%) had an ultrasound machine. The most common reasons for referral were lack of appropriate facilities and supplies at the primary level care centers or lack of trained personnel at higher-level facilities. ConclusionsTrauma capacity in the central plateau of Haiti is limited. There is a great need for more personnel, trauma training at all staff levels, emergency care guidelines, trauma registries, and imaging equipment and training, specifically in ultrasonography. To accomplish this, coordination is needed between the Haitian government and local and international nongovernmental organizations.

Burden of maxillofacial trauma at level 1 trauma center.

There is an upward trend in facial injuries following changes in population pattern, increasing industrialization and urbanization, hence maxillofacial trauma is becoming a burden and a leading medical problem in emergency rooms worldwide. This study was performed to evaluate the pattern of maxillofacial fractures, associated injuries, and treatment used at Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Center (JPNATC), All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, India, between January 2007 and June 2010. The study provides basis for establishment of trauma as major etiology of maxillofacial injuries and planning for preventive strategies. A retrospective study of patients seen and treated at JPNATC, AIIMS, New Delhi, between January 2007 and June 2010 was performed. Data extracted from patient records included etiology, age, sex, types and sites of fractures, treatment modality, and concomitant injuries. There were 795 fractures of the maxillofacial skeleton and 86 concomitant injuries from 542 patients. Road traffic accident (RTA) (56.8%) was the most common etiologic factor, followed by falls (22.3%) and fights (18.5%). The age range was from 3 to 75 years (mean, 34.7 years) with a peak incidence in the third decade with a male-to-female ratio of 3.7:1. The most common location of maxillofacial fractures was the mandible 615 (77%) and middle third 180 (23%). With regard to mandibular fractures, the body (29.6%) was the most common site, followed by the angle (24.4%), ramus (19.5%), dentoalveolar (14.6%), symphysis (11.0%), condyle (0.8%) while in the middle third, the nasal bone (36.7%) was the most common, followed by zygomatic bone (27.8), Lefort II (14.4), Lefort I (7.8%), dentoalveolar (10.0%), and Lefort III (3.3%). Majority of the patients were treated by open reduction and internal fixation (70.6). Concomitant injuries were 84 (10.8%) with orthopedic injuries accounting for the majority (63.9%). Head injury was associated in 16.3% of cases. RTA was the major etiologic factor of maxillofacial injuries in our setting and the young adult males were the main victims. Henceforth, establishment of regionalized, efficient, and focused trauma centers in various parts of the country particularly for acute trauma should be emphasized. Also, the laws regarding the precautions such as seat belts, speed limits, and traffic rules must be observed strictly to reduce the incidence of RTA.

Roads in India: safety and knowledge cross-sectional evaluation.

The World Health Organization estimates that more than 15% of the global burden of road traffic trauma is in India. We performed an image-based survey of 3 major roadways in New Delhi, India, to evaluate collision-prone vehicle and pedestrian behaviors. We used a cross-sectional survey design with photograph- and video-based data collection. The study was performed at 3 purposively sampled high traffic volume roadways in New Delhi, India. The authors reviewed preliminary photographs and came to a consensus pertaining to the definition and criteria for dangerous and collision-prone behaviors. Analysis was descriptive and was based on frequency data. A total of 11,214 subjects were evaluated. Eighty-six percent were vehicles (n = 9624), whereas the remaining 14% were pedestrians (n = 1572). In 99% of the frames, 1 or more predefined behavioral infraction was identified, with a total of 21% (n = 2392) of subjects committing these infractions. Specifically, 15% of all vehicles (n = 1468) and 59% of all pedestrians (n = 924) displayed a risk-taking infraction. Road users in New Delhi, India, engage in unacceptably high rates of collision-prone behavior. There is a need for interventions that will improve the behaviors of road users.

A flap course for orthopaedic surgeons in low-income countries: addressing a global health-care disparity

Abstract Background The burden of complex orthopaedic trauma in low-income countries is compounded by insufficient plastic surgeons to assist in management of soft tissue injuries. To address this global health-care disparity, we created a soft tissue management course to train orthopaedic surgeons from low-income countries in flap reconstruction. Methods The Institute for Global Orthopedics & Traumatology hosts a 3-day course to teach orthopaedic surgeons from low-income and middle-income countries flaps using cadaver dissection and didactic lectures. Precourse and postcourse assessments were used to evaluate the course's effect. Findings In 4 years, 156 surgeons have attended the course from more than 25 different countries. Of 48 participants from the 2010 course, 90% indicated that soft tissue management training would be useful for upper extremity trauma cases and 96% for lower extremity trauma cases. A 1-year postcourse use survey was sent to all the surgeons attending the 2012 course, with 32 of 44 surgeons completing the survey. The respondents collectively undertook 594 flaps with 554 reported as successful (93•3%). Of the successful flaps, 116 flaps were believed to have prevented a subsequent amputation. 31 (97%) of 32 surgeons disseminated information to either colleagues or residents, and through dissemination of information a further 28 surgeons are now undertaking flaps. Interpretation The skills and knowledge gained at this course by orthopaedic surgeons from low-income countries were recorded to be quickly and extensively used in their countries by our 1-year postcourse survey. This course represents a unique collaboration with physicians in low-income countries that might have the ability to provide a sustainable effect in addressing global health care disparities. Funding None.