The majority of ED physicians had low knowledge regarding the diagnosis and treatment of dentofacial traumatic injuries. There is a need for education during and after medical training for ED physicians to provide appropriate primary management of dentofacial trauma.

Introduction The role of whole blood count parameters in the diagnosis of diseases in which inflammatory processes play a role is one of the more frequently mentioned topics in the literature in recent years. Studies of acute appendicitis have also been carried out in this regard, but studies focused on platelet parameters are few and contradictory. We aimed to investigate the role of mean platelet volume (MPV) and platelet distribution width (PDW) in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis. Materials and methods We retrospectively screened the medical records of patients older than 15 years who had an appendectomy from January 2012 to January 2015 at a training hospital in Kocaeli, Turkey. Patients were divided into three groups according to their pathology results: non-appendicitis (Group 1), uncomplicated appendicitis (Group 2), and complicated appendicitis (Group 3). We calculated the sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, the likelihood ratios in the diagnosis of appendicitis for white blood cell (WBC), neutrophil count, c-reactive protein (CRP), MPV, and PDW values were calculated. Results There were no significant differences in the MPV between Group 1 (n = 39; 7.89 ± 1.32 fL), Group 2 (n = 119; 7.80 ± 1.19 fL), and Group 3 (n = 89; 7.70 ± 0.80 fL; p = 0.141). Also, we found no significant differences in PDW between Group 1 (117.38% ± 1.17), Group 2 (17.17% ± 1.04), and Group 3 (17.12% ± 0.64; p = 0.228). Conclusions Only nine of the 208 patients whose pathology reports confirmed appendicitis had healthy values for both CRP and WBC. Many factors affect MPV and PDW. Therefore, platelet indices are not useful markers in diagnosing acute appendicitis.

CT decreases significantly in diabetic patients when diabetic nephropathy accompanies diabetes mellitus.

SUMMARYObjectiveThe aim of this study was to investigate and analyze incidental CT findings of traffic injury patients discharged from the ER, and to determine overall notification rates.MethodsAll traffic injury-related patient records between 01.06.2013–01.03.2013 were obtained from Derince Training and Research Hospital Emergency Service using patient files and the hospital database. Brain, thorax and/or abdominal CT images of 340 patients aged between 0 to 84 years were included in the study. ER observation forms were investigated for the patients who had incidental findings on CT scanning and overall notification rates were recorded.ResultsMean age of the 363 cases was 31.2 (SD 17.9, min 0, max 84) and 35.5% of patients were female (n=129) and 64.5% were male (n=234). A total of 537 CT scans were performed on 363 patients. 147, 319 and 71 CT scans were performed on the thorax, brain and abdominal, respectively. 27.3% (n=99) of scan results showed the presence of a coincidental pathology. The most common disease on scans were bone lesions (8%, n=29), followed by sinus abnormalities (7.7%, n=28). Incidental findings ratio in patients aged over 60 was 60.8%, while under 60 was 24.8%. It was found that seven patients (7.1%) were informed about the imaging results.ConclusionMost of the incidental findings were found to be benign; however, 16.5% of them were considered to require in-depth investigation. Further investigations are needed to understand the clinical relevance of these findings and their effects on patients.