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Background This study aimed to evaluate the current overall preventable trauma death rate (PTDR) in Korea and identify factors associated with preventable trauma death (PTD). Methods The target sample size for review was designed to be 1,131 deaths in 60 emergency medical institutions nationwide. The panels for the review comprised trauma specialists working at the regional trauma centers (RTCs); a total of 10 teams were formed. The PTDR and factors associated with PTD were analyzed statistically. Results Of the target cases, 943 were able to undergo panel review and be analyzed statistically. The PTDR was 30.5% (6.1% preventable and 24.4% possibly preventable). Those treated at a RTC showed a significantly lower PTDR than did those who were not (21.9% vs. 33.9%; P = 0.002). The PTDR was higher when patients were transferred from other hospitals than when they directly visited the last hospital (58.9% vs. 28.4%; P = 0.058; borderline significant). The PTDR increased gradually as the time from accident to death increased; a time of more than one day had a PTDR 14.99 times higher than when transferred within one hour (95% confidence interval, 4.68 to 47.98). Conclusion Although the PTDR in Korea is still high compared to that in developed countries, it was lower when the time spent from the accident to the death was shorter and the final destined institution was the RTC. To reduce PTDR, it is necessary to make an effort to transfer trauma patients to RTCs directly within an appropriate time.

We demonstrated that sending educational video clips via SMM could result in better bowel preparation, especially in the younger age group.

AIMTo evaluate the prognostic value of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC).METHODSBetween April 1996 and December 2010, medical records from a total of 1868 patients with CRC were retrospectively reviewed. The values of simple inflammatory markers including NLR and PLR in predicting the long-term outcomes of these patients were evaluated using Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox regression models.RESULTSThe median follow-up duration was 46 mo (interquartile range, 22-73). The estimation of NLR and PLR was based on the time of diagnosis. In multivariate Cox regression analysis, high NLR (≥ 3.0) and high PLR (≥ 160) were independent risk factors predicting poor long-term outcomes in patients with stage III and IV CRC. However, high NLR and high PLR were not prognostic factors in patients with stage I and II CRC.CONCLUSIONIn this study, we identified that high NLR (≥ 3.0) and high PLR (≥ 160) are useful prognostic factors to predict long-term outcomes in patients with stage III and IV CRC.