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Paper| Volume 26, ISSUE 3, P151-153, April 1995

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Sucking wounds of the limbs

  • J. Stevenson
    Correspondence
    Requests for reprints should be addressed to: Mr J. Stevenson frcs, Consultant in Accident and Emergency Medicine. Accident and Emergency Department, Crosshouse Hospital, Kilmarnock, Ayrshire KA2 0BE, Scotland, UK.
    Affiliations
    Accident and Emergency Department, Newcastle General Hospital, Newcastle, UK
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      Abstract

      Subcutaneous emphysema affecting a limb in isolation is rare. Three cases of subcutaneous emphysema caused by a sucking wound of the limb are presented. Differentiation from infection with a gas-forming organism is imperative. This distinction can be made if a number of factors are taken into consideration. These include, concise knowledge of the history and mechanism of injury, and in particular, full appreciation of the amount of energy transfer causing the wound, the macroscopic appearance of the wound, the presence or absence of systemic symptoms, the time from injury to the development of subcutaneous emphysema, and the radiographic appearance of the soft tissues.
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