1. A consecutive series of 59 patients undergoing laparotomy as a result of blunt abdominal trauma is reported.
2. Road‐traffic accidents were the most common cause of blunt abdominal trauma and frequently produced a complex pattern of associated injuries.
3. There were 8 deaths, giving a mortality‐rate of 14 per cent.
4. The number of associated injuries was the most important single factor influencing the mortality‐rate.
5. Delay in diagnosis occurred in 14 patients, and this may contribute to the high mortality‐rate of blunt abdominal injury.
6. A high index of suspicion, thorough and repeated clinical assessment, and willingness to resort to laparotomy are the main principles in the diagnosis of blunt abdominal injury.
1. Gravity-fed intravenous infusions were studied in patients by using continuous flow recording and a new resistance-measuring method. 2. A common, though preventable, cause of reduced flow was the gradual deformation of the plastic tubing under the regulator clamp. 3. In many cases there was some constriction of the cannulated vein and in a few this constriction was severe enough to seriously impair the infusion. The severity of the constriction varied periodically. 4. There was no evidence of troble due to a generally raised pressure in the arm veins nor was clotting in the cannula a serious problem. 5. A simple test is described which may be found useful clinically for assessing the difficult infusion.
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