This paper is only available as a PDF. To read, Please Download here.
Abstract
There were 83 survivors of the M1 aircrash admitted to hospital; of these, 28 patients
sustained a total of 40 open fractures. These open fractures were classified as 19
grade 3, 16 grade 2 and five grade 1. There were six upper limb fractures and 34 lower
limb fractures. A high proportion of grade 3 open fractures were identified in this
series (47 per cent) and one-half of these occurred at or below the ankle. This reflected
the high energy and direction of the forces involved in the aircrash.
The early results in terms of the incidence of wound infection (15 per cent), delayed
wound healing (7.5 per cent) and skin flap necrosis (7.5 per cent) were similar to
other series.
The controversy over whether to leave grade 3 wounds open or closed was not clarified
by this study, but the closure of grade 3 wounds after internal fixation is to be
avoided.
This study emphasizes the need for provision of adequate specialist manpower, equipment
and resources to manage the unexpected major disaster successfully.
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to InjuryAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- The Injury Severity Score: A method of describing patients with multiple injuries and evaluating emergency care.J. Trauma. 1974; 14: 187
- Prevention of infection in the treatment of one thousand and twenty five open fractures of long bones.J. Bone Joint Surg. 1976; 58A: 453
- The Nottingham Leicester, Derby aircraft accident study: preliminary report three weeks after the accident.Br. Med. J. 1989; 298: 503
- Open fractures: long term results in 200 consecutive cases.Clin. Orthop. 1979; 138: 132
- Rockwood Jr., C.A. Green D.P. Fractures in Adults. 2nd Ed. Lippincott, Philadelphia1984: 169
- An analysis of civil aircrash statistics 1977–1986 for the purposes of planning disaster exercises.Injury. 1988; 19: 884
- Coping with the early stages of the M1 disaster: at the scene and on arrival at hospital.Br. Med. J. 1989; 298: 651
Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
July 2,
1990
the Nottingham, Leicester, Derby and Belfast (NLDB) Study GroupIdentification
Copyright
© 1991 Published by Elsevier Inc.
