Active clinical trials for "Wounds and Injuries"

The poster is effective in improving the level of knowledge regarding dental trauma of primary and secondary schools teachers in Hong Kong. A cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted in mid May 2011,to test the level of knowledge regarding dental trauma with two groups, the intervention group with posters and control group without posters. A questionnaire is used to test the level of knowledge.

This study looks at advanced airway management in critically ill or injured patients treated by physician manned emergency medical services, comparing early (on-scene) intubation to late (emergency department) intubation.

The investigators have a new technique of looking at urine to see whether it contains protein fragments that are released by damaged kidneys. These fragments seem to be more accurate than the current blood tests that the investigators use to diagnose renal failure. This technique needs to be validated with a group of patients that have a relatively high incidence of renal failure, cardiopulmonary bypass. The investigators hypothesise that using novel markers of renal dysfunction will identify patients who go on to develop renal failure earlier, and in a higher number than the standard blood tests. The investigators aim to collect urine from patients before going onto bypass, and then at Day 1 and Day 2 after bypass. This urine will be analysed for protein fragments, as well as other new markers of renal dysfunction. The investigators will also take blood at baseline and for the first two days in Cardiac Intensive Care, and compare the accuracy of the new tests with the 'gold standard' that is creatinine.

There is a large number of young women who sustain serious knee injuries from playing soccer. Female athletes are at high risk of knee injuries from soccer than males. We will conduct a research project to assess the effect of a warm-up on changing some of the movement patterns thought to contribute to these serious knee injuries. It is hypothesized that a core position and control movement strategy (Core-PAC) group reduce biomechanical risk factors at the knee compared to a control after the training program.

Corsets are often used in the management of patients with a spinal cord injury. They may help to rigidify the patients' trunk which might help some patients to sit upright; their use may also reduce the sensation of dyspnea some patients have while sitting upright. Due to spinal cord injury, abdominal muscles are weakened which can contribute to alter the respiratory function of the patients. But the corset by rigidifying the abdominal wall can improve the efficiency of the respiratory muscles in some patients and reduce dyspnea in the sitting position for some patients. However, when patients with spinal cord injury are followed over time, one can observe that some patients discontinue corset use. The investigators observed that the patients who pursue the corset use still have a significant improvement of their respiratory function with the corset while the patients who have discontinued the use have improved their respiratory function in the upright position (without the corset). As of now, the investigators do not know whether the use of the corset is discontinued because of a spontaneous improvement of the respiratory function or whether discontinuing the use of the corset may help to develop abdominal spasticity and therefore to improve respiratory function. The investigators seek to investigate this issue in order to optimize the management of patients who present spinal cord injury.

Osmotic therapy is a mainstay in the treatment of intracranial hypertension after traumatic brain injury.This study proposes to compare two hypertonic saline agents in patients with traumatic brain injury.

The purpose of this pilot study is to begin the examination of the feasibility of using Gradual Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy and D-Cycloserine (DCS) in the management of posttraumatic psychological symptoms in burned OIF/OEF military combatants. The purpose of a feasibility study is to determine if there is clinical utility in this proposed treatment and to establish effective and safe treatment procedures. Given current literature, the following hypotheses are generated: Hypothesis 1: Virtual Reality Exposure and D-Cycloserine medication (VRE + DCS learning pill) will result in clinically meaningful PTSD symptom reduction. SMs will attain scores that are lower than initial measures for symptoms of PTSD By the completion of VRE, Ss will attain scores in the sub-clinical range for measures of clinical depression Hypothesis 2: SMs will report greater life satisfaction following completion of VR+DCS treatment, as measured by scores on the Quality of Life Inventory (QOLI) when compared to pre-treatment scores

Animal studies have shown that preconditioning with hyperbaric oxygen can induce central nervous system and heart ischemic tolerance. This study was designed to determine the protective effect of hyperbaric oxygen preconditioning on brain and myocardium ischemia-reperfusion injury during coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether the gentamicin-collagen sponge is safe and effective in preventing sternal wound infections in patients undergoing cardiac surgery who are at a greater risk of developing sternal wound infections.

Cutaneous cancer-related pain is difficult to treat. These patients are often prescribed high systemic dosages of opioids. Yet, many patients continue to report pain while experiencing dose-limiting side effects. An alternative approach to systemic administration is to apply topical medications. The advantage of topical application is the potential of achieving good analgesia using low dosages with few, if any, systemic side effects. Current clinical data indicates, that topically applied morphine has an analgesic effect in patients with severe pain and that it may even improve wound healing. The clinical reports so far have been either case studies or double blind randomly controlled trials with a very small sample size of patients. There is still a great deal of information which is lacking about this modality of treatment regarding on the one hand, the mechanism of action and on the other, clinical issues. For example, is the mechanism of the effect actually peripheral? What is the adequate dose of analgesic medication for different types of skin conditions? Wound healing has not been quantified. We will apply morphine topically to skin wounds of cancer and evaluate the effect of the treatment on pain, side effects, quantify wound healing, quantify morphine and its metabolites in blood and urine. Should well controlled studies, demonstrate all or any of the peripheral effects of topical morphine, clinical application of this treatment modality would be possible. This could contribute towards better treatment of these patients, who have pain which is difficult to treat and can, at times, be intractable.