Objectives: To analyze the concept of "case series" in the medical literature compared with case reports. Methods: A PubMed search for articles published during 2009 which had "case series" in their title was performed. A total number of 621 articles were retrieved. 586 papers were included in the analysis and 35 were excluded (18 were commentary letters, 5 were not in English, and twelve could not be retrieved by our Library). The number of patients and category of these articles were analyzed. Results: The median (range) of the number of cases of articles having "case series" in their title was 7 (1-6432) cases. 186/ 586 articles had less than 5 cases (31.7%, 95% CI (28.3-35.1%)). The median (range) of the number of cases of articles having "case report" as their publication type was 4 (1-178) cases. Out of the 219 articles categorized as case reports 114 (52.1%, 95% CI (45.6-58.6%)) had less than five cases. Conclusions: The concept of "case series" is not well defined in the literature and does not reflect a specific research design. We suggest that a case series should have more than four patients while four paitents or less should be reported individually as case reports.
Background: Human pancreatico-duodenal injuries caused by camels are extremely rare. Objective: We report three patients who sustained camel-related pancreatico-duodenal injuries and review the literature on this topic. Results: A 32-year camel caregiver was kicked by a camel which then stepped on his abdomen trying to kill him. The patient's abdomen was soft and lax. CT scan of the abdomen showed free retroperitoneal air. Laparotomy revealed a complete tear of the anterior wall of the second part of duodenum which was primarily repaired. A 40-year camel caregiver was directly kicked into his abdomen by a camel. He developed traumatic pancreatitis which was treated conservatively. A 31-year-old male fell down on his abdomen while riding a camel. Abdominal examination revealed tenderness and guarding. Abdominal CT Scan showed complete transection of the neck of the pancreas which was confirmed by laparotomy. The patient had distal pancreatectomy with preservation of the spleen. All patients were discharged home in good condition.Conclusion: These cases demonstrate the misleading presentation of the camel-realted pancreatico-duodenal injuries and their unique mechanism of injury.
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