To investigate the method of using vacuum seal ing drainage (VSD) technique to repair the wound of the injured in Wenchuan earthquake and its therapeutic effect. Methods From May 12, 2008 to June 12, 2008, 52 injured persons (83 wounds) were treated, including 27 males and 25 females aged 11-83 years old (average 42 years old). There were 22 cases of crush injury, 9 cases of contusion and laceration injury, 17 cases of compression injury receiving incision decompression of fascia compartment and 4 cases of open amputation. And 37 wounds were on the leg, 13 woundson the thigh, 17 wounds on the forearm, 11 wounds on the upper arm and 5 wounds on the trunk. The wound ranged from3 cm × 2 cm to 30 cm × 15 cm, and the time from injury to undergoing VSD treatment was 12 hours-18 days. After complete debridement, the wound was covered by VSD dressing, and antibiotics were given according to the result of drug sensitive test. When wound infection was under control and granulation tissues grew well, the method of either direct suture or skin grafting or flap transposition was used to repair the wounds. Results In 21 cases (40.4%), wound secretion smear was positive, and multiple species of bacteria were detected, such as staphylococcus aureus, escherichia col i, proteus and klebsiella pneumoniae. After initial operation, 7 injured persons were transferred to the hospital outside of Sichuan province for further treatment. VSD treatment was performed on 33 cases (45 wounds) once, 6 cases (10 wounds) twice, 2 cases (3 wounds) three times and 1 case (1 wound) four times, resulting in the control of wound infection and the growth of granulation tissue. Then the wounds were repaired by either direct suture or skin grafting or flap transposition. Three cases (4 wounds) underwent VSD treatment ten times, leading to the control of infection and the stabil ity of condition. Conclusion VSD treatment can cover the wound promptly, el iminate contamination, prevent secondary infection and benefit late-stage wound repair. During the process of treatment, no medical necessity for frequent change of dressing can rel ieve the pain suffered by the injured and decrease theworkload of medical stuff, thus facil itating the rescue work.
Objective To evaluate the psychological trauma incurred by the people in wenxian after the Wenchuan earthquake so as to provide relevant information for psychological and medical interventions. Methods Thepsychological state of the people after the earthquake was investigated using a mental health self-assessment questionnaire, self-rating anxiety scale, and self-rating depression scale. Results We found: 56.0% of the respondents were not happy, 39.6% often cried bitterly, 56.7% felt pain, 40.7% lost interest, 69.2% felt uneasy, nervous, or worried, and 27.0% would like to end their lives; the SDS scores (56.48±110.43) and SAS scores (39.88±11.38) of the people were significantly higher than those of the national norms (Plt;0.001). The following symptons appeared: 59.3% had headache, 50.5% poor appetite, poor sleeping 56.0%, 58.2% were easily frightened, tremors 29.7%, 50.5% dyspepsia, 42.9% thoughts fuzzy, 60.4% stomach discomfort, fatigue 85.7%. Conclusion The earthquake disaster brought about serious psychological harm to people. It is necessary to strengthen post-earthquake psychological relief and strengthen interventions in order to reduce the psychological suffering of victims.
Objective To explore the structure and influencing factors of overall medical treatment expenses of 1 635 inpatients of Wenchuan earthquake in West China Hospital and to provide references for setting up the criteria of medical expenses and for assess the cost-effect of medical rescue and treatment. Methods The data of earthquake casualties were collected to analyze the constitution and influencing factors of the overall medical expense by SPSS 13.0 software. The data were described by X±SD. Comparison of data categories was tested by rank sum and influencing factors were analyzed by multi ple l inear regression analysis. Results A total of 1 635 casualties including 1 413 (86.04%) earthquake wounded and 222 (13.96%) patients from the disaster area were identified. The average expense per capita was 9 165.05±12 426.11 yuan. The overall cost was made up of operation expenses (71.75%) including material cost, examination fee and treatment fee, drug cost (18.41%) as well as bed fee and others (less than 10%). The cost of patients from the disaster area was higher than that of the earthquake wounded (Z= –4.109, P=0.000). The operation, compl ications, multiple-site damages, injures induced by the secondary disaster of the earthquake such as burn and corrosion were the direct reason leading to the high overall expense. The influencing factors included operation (r=0.386), ICU (r=0.336) and the day of hospital ization (r=0.246). Conclusion The earthquake wounded occupy the predominant percentage of the earthquake inpatients in West China Hospital. The operation, compl ications, multiple-site damages and injures induced by the secondary disaster of the earthquake lead to a high overall expense. The influencing factors include operation, ICU and the day of hospital ization. The relationship between the expense and the disease category largely depends on the classification criteria. The relationship between the expense and the age as well as the prognosis needs further study. But no correlation between the expense and the gender is found.
Objective To retrospectively analyze data of 4 377 victims during 2 weeks after Min-Zhang earthquake (Richter scale: 6.6), to provide references for decision-making of earthquake medical rescue. Methods We collected data of the wounded during two weeks after the earthquake, analyzed injuries and general rescue in hospital, input the data into Excel, and analyzed the data using SPSS 11.0. Descriptive analysis was conducted. Results As of 14 days after the earthquake, a total of 4 377 victims had been treated, including 858 hospitalized and 194 seriously-injured. The victims were from Min county, Zhang county, Dangchang county, and Li county. 145 injured people had been transferred to 10 municipal hospitals in Gansu province. Mental health centre of Gansu province had conducted psychological intervention among more than thousands of person-times. Disease control and prevention institutions in Dingxi city started severe natural disaster contingency planning 2 hours after earthquake, stipulated and improved the post-quake disease control technology plan, and dispatched quickly anti-epidemic emergency teams to complete tasks that included disposal of carcasses, monitoring water quality and epidemics, disinfecting environmental ruins, epidemic control in resettled areas, and large-scale health education. Conclusion The headquarter, in charge of medical relief and anti-epidemic work in the stricken areas of Min county and Zhang county, integrated resources, made overall command and quick response, and accomplished the phased tasks including anti-quake work, medical relief and anti-epidemic work, which replenished valuable data and experience.
Objective To retrospectively analyze and classify 23 open fractures that resulted in severe infection, in order to provide evidence that can be used in future disaster scenarios. Methods Based on medical records of 23 cases of open fracture and subsequent bacterial infection, we analyzed the clinical diagnosis, treatment, laboratory tests, bacterial smear of wound secretion, and the bacterial culture of the wound secretion. We then analyzed which antimicrobial agents were used and how they were applied, and the subsequent effect on controlling the serious infection.? Results All cases were related to seismic injury and belonged to class VI open fracture. Eight cases were male and 15 were female. All cases had similar symptoms such as chills, fever, large scale muscle necrosis, and severe infection. A direct smear of the wound showed that the number of cases with one bacterial infection was 6 (26.09%), the number that had double bacterial infections was 12 (52.18%), and the number with multiple bacterial infections was 5 (21.74%).There were 18 strains of 11 types of bacteria recovered from wound samples. Conclusion Early treatment with the joint application of multiple antibacterial agents, early debridement, and adequate drainage all helped to control the infection and avoid nosocomial infection. Employing these strategies in the future will control infection in disaster situations.
Objective To analyze retrospectively the 875 procedures of earthquake related patient in West China Hospital of Sichuan University after the Wenchuan earthquake, so as to provide reference for the improvement of medical rescue for the disaster of earthquake and the establishment of state-level regional medical centers. Methods The analysis was based on the data provided by the Department of Information of the Hospital up until July 11. The software of Microsoft EXCEL was used for data input and statistical analysis. Results Up to July 11, 1 265 operations in earthquake injuries have been performed in the hospital, of which 875 were done in operating rooms. Initial peak of admission to hospital was positively correlated to peak of surgery performed, which the type of the operation was all emergency operation and most of which were amputation (43%). Second peak of surgery was 2 days delayed following admission to hospital. The type of operation mainly was elective surgeries. Most patients received second stage procedure-open reduction and internal fixation (61%). Conclusion Our hospital played a key part in rescue effort following such huge natural disaster. Our prompt response and effective leadership demonstrated our hospital’s flexibility and capability in the state-level hospital near the epicenter.
After Wenchuan earthquake on May 12, West China Medical School/ West China Hospital of Sichuan University organized a youth volunteer team for earthquake rescue and relief. A volunteer network was formed and relevant service regulations were formulated immediately. Volunteers have played an important role in post-earthquake evacuation of patients, emergency reception, ward care, on-call service, a service to help people find family members, telecommunications and some other major tasks.
Objective To investigate the psychological state of college students in the areas affected by the Wenchuan earthquake. Methods A total of 562 college students were selected by stratified random cluster sampling. A self-designed questionnaire as well as Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) and Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS) were used for survey. Results The SDS scores (46.16±11.95) and SAS scores (34.60±6.50) of the college students were significantly higher than those of the national norms (Plt;0.001), while the SSRS scores (40.46±8.76) were lower than those of the national norms (Plt;0.001). The scores of SSRS and its three dimensions were positively correlated with the SAS scores and were negatively correlated with the SDS scores. Conclusion The college students in the areas affected by the Wenchuan earthquake suffer from anxiety and depression disorders. Good social support is one of the important measures to maintain their mental health.
The injuries caused by earthquake were characterized as complicated injuries, multiple injuries, crush injury, commonly accompanied by the impairment of the organs, open wound with susceptibility to contamination, difficulties in the implementation of in-time treatment, and resource-limited settings. Considering the specialty of early treatment of earthquake victims and existing misconduct, we propose recommendations according to general principles of early rationale use of antibiotics, in order to treat the earthquake victims safely, effectively and feasibly, and to decrease wound infection rates after surgery.
Objective To investigate the construction and services of the community health service system in Shifang, as well as the satisfaction of community residents with the community health services and the post-disaster emergency response capability of the community hospital, so as to provide decision-making suggestions on better reconstruction of the community health service system and improvement of its post-disaster emergency response capability. Methods There were 4‰ of community residents in Fangting town were selected by convenience sampling for a face-to-face interview using a questionnaire. Logistic regression was used to identify the influencing factors of residents’ satisfaction with community health services. Results A total of 250 questionnaires were conducted for face-to-face interviews, and 246 ones were retrieved (response rate 98.4%). Residents’ understanding and satisfactory degree of the community health service were 41.1% and 36.6%, respectively. Health education, medical expenses and medical insurance were the main factors influencing the residents’ satisfactory degree of community health services (P=0.050, 0.001, and 0.001). The proportions of disaster / disaster prevention education, exercises of post-disaster contingency plans, and psychological intervention as well as rehabilitation for residents were 37.4%, 10.6%, and 12.6%, respectively. Conclusion Community health services have not been widely accepted by community residents, and the satisfactory degree is low. The residents’ understanding and adaptation can be improved by strengthening the community health service propaganda. Strengthening health education, improving the quality of services, controlling costs, and introducing medical insurance reimbursement mechanism can increase the residents’ satisfactory degree. Including disaster emergencies into basic tasks can strengthen the emergency response capability and then provide guarantee for the residents’ health.