Background: Societal restrictions and lockdown during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic have had a significant impact on the volume and nature of trauma admissions. We assessed the impact of COVID-19 related societal restrictions and lockdown on trauma admissions to single level 1 trauma centre in Westmead, Australia. We hypothesized that the number of trauma admissions would decrease and number of admissions due to selfharm and assault (specifically domestic violence) would increase. Methods: Data was collected from the prospectively maintained Westmead Hospital Trauma Registry. The primary outcome compared was the average number of trauma admissions during March and April during years 2016 to 2020. Analysis of variance was used to analyse means. Pairwise differences among group means were evaluated with Tukey's honestly significant difference test. Secondary outcomes compared were in-hospital interventions and patient outcomes. Results: There was a 23-34% decrease (P = 0.018) in the mean monthly average trauma admissions during March/April 2020 compared with previous years 2016-2019. In addition, there was a 40-52% decrease (P = 0.025) and 13-29% decrease (P = 0.020) in admissions due to road traffic collisions and falls respectively. Conclusion: There was a significant decrease in the overall number of trauma-related admissions during the COVID-19-related period of societal restrictions and lockdown. This was due to a decrease in minor traumas, falls and road traffic collisions. There was no difference in the number of admissions secondary to major traumas, self-harm or assault.
Background: Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) has been pivotal for pathological assessment of nodal status in cutaneous melanoma (CM) and oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OCSCC) thus crucial for staging. An ideal agent for lymphatic mapping should have a standardized preparation, appropriate accumulation in first-echelon nodes and no side effects. Tilmanocept, a CD206-receptor targeted novel radiotracer fulfils these properties. This study investigated Tilmanocept for lymphoscintigraphy and intraoperative identification of sentinel lymph nodes (SLN) in CM and OCSCC. Methods: This prospective cross sectional study examined patients who presented to Crown Princess Mary Cancer Centre, Westmead Hospital, Sydney. Patients had biopsy proven tumours with clinically and radiologically negative regional lymph nodes. Tilmanocept guided lymphoscintigraphy was followed by intraoperative SLNs identification via handheld gamma probe. Primary endpoints were detection and retrieval rate of SLNs while secondary endpoints included pathological status of SLNs. Results: Thirty-five patients were included (26 with CM and 9 with OCSCC) with the most common primary tumour site for CM on the extremities (33.3%). Lymphoscintigraphy with Tilmanocept identified at least 1 SLN (sensitivity 100%) in all patients. SLNs were retrieved in all of patients intraoperatively (100% retrieval rate) with positive nodes found in 20% of patients. Tilmanocept also demonstrated 100% tissue specificity, with lymph nodal tissue confirmed histologically, with no false positives. Conclusion: Tilmanocept is a reliable radiotracer for assessing the nodal status in patients with CM and OCSCC. Our group is the first to evaluate the use of Tilmanocept in the Australian setting, adding to the limited studies worldwide.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.