Although success rates and perioperative analgesic requirements were not significantly different, the different exposure to anaesthetic agents suggests that the two techniques may not be equivalent.

The medical records of all cats with tarsocrural joint instability that were treated between June 2002 and December 2008 at the Royal Veterinary College were retrospectively reviewed. A total of 32 cats were identified. Information gathered included signalment, type of injury (subluxation or luxation), concurrent fractures, presence of soft tissue wounds, transarticular external skeletal fixation (TESF) type, configuration of TESF (number of pins proximal and distal to the joint), duration of hospitalisation, duration of TESF prior to removal, complications and cost. A significant association was identified between the length of hospitalisation and the presence of wounds. Similarly a significant association was present between wounds and final cost of treatment. Additionally, the authors found that a high number of implant related complications were present when only two pins were used proximal and distal to the tarsocrural joint, but this association was not significant.

The subject was a 21-year-old male who fell from a motorcycle, and injured his epigastrium on the handlebar. He visited a doctor in his neighborhood, and was given blood tests, abdominal x-rays, and an abdominal CT. He was diagnosed with abdominal bruising and kept under observation. On the 2nd day after the injury, he started to experience tarry stools; on the 13th day, he started to experience dizziness particularly when he stood up. Therefore he visited our hospital. During the examination, he exhibited significant anemia. Gastroscopy revealed that there was a submucosal tumor in the anterior and posterior walls of stomach. In addition, in the mucous of the tumor, punctuate petechiae were observed. According to these results, the patient was diagnosed as having gastric intramural hematoma caused by blunt injury and anemia due to bleeding from the mucous rupture. Iron dosing gradually improved anemia, and further bleeding from the mucous rupture was prevented by fasting. With gastroscopy conducted on the 53rd day after the injury, the gastric hematoma was confirmed to have disappeared. Gastric intramural hematoma seems to require treatment for delayed complications. It is important to keep patients under observation anticipating that they might develop delayed complications. The details of the examination for this case are given for future reference. (JJAAM 2004; 15: 569-72)

Twenty-five years after a blunt chest trauma, sudden expansion of a traumatic aortic aneurysm induced a dysphagia and chest pain in a 57-year-old man. Resection of the aneurysm and patch repair of the rupture site utilizing a thoracoabdominal temporary bypass was successful. The location of aortic laceration at the thoracoabdominal junction was most unusual as compared with traumatic aneurysms usually seen in the thoracic aorta.