Humanitarian aid provision and early medical response missions to areas ravaged by natural disasters are as essential nowadays as in the past, and medical personnel play a pivotal role in these delegations. In November 2013, tropical cyclone Haiyan (Yolanda) slammed the Philippines archipelago, leaving more than an estimated 6000 dead in its wake while demolishing vital infrastructure and affecting the life of an estimated 25 million locals. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) rapidly constructed and sent a humanitarian aid delegation which included a field hospital deployment with medical capabilities from diverse specialty fields. The purpose of this article is to summarize our experience in the preparation process of medical personnel before and during deployment. We offer a simple, practical and structured checklist that will assist the medical specialist in preparation for his mission. Preparation of medical personnel for humanitarian aid medical missions is a complex and vital task that might be better accomplished with thorough briefing and structured checklists which begin with addressing of personal safety and other daily needs of the staff.

Purpose: The incidence of paediatric fractures is known to peak during the summer as a consequence of unsupervised physical activity. A more sedentary lifestyle is a potential cause for changes in paediatric seasonal fracture frequency and severity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the current seasonal variations of paediatric fractures in order to determine resource allocation in hospitals, community clinics and prevention programs. Methods: A single institutional review of historical data of all patients aged 0 to 16 years that were diagnosed with fractures between April 2014 and July 2017 in the emergency department of a level 3 orthopaedic trauma centre was conducted. In all, 3484 fractures were reviewed, of which 2991 were included. We stratified fractures according to patients’ variants and the hour, day and month with respect to holidays, weekends and weather. Results: While the fracture rate on school days was 6.62 per day, the fracture rate during the summer vacation was 4.45 (p < 0.01). Hot weather was correlated with low fracture rates. The peak hours of admission were 12:00 to 13:00 and 18:00 to 22:00, with more moderate differences during non-school periods. Conclusion: The local seasonal variation of paediatric fractures has a bimodal distribution, with similar nadirs during both summer and winter. These rates might reflect a shift to a more sedentary lifestyle during the summer vacation. The presented data can assist in improving the value of injury prevention measures and medical resources allocation. Level of evidence: II

Background: It has been our impression in recent years that there is a significant delay in diagnosis (DID) of patients in Israel harboring intradural spinal cord tumors (IDSCTs). DID can lead to irreversible deficits and unnecessary suffering. Our goal was to identify the incidence and the specific reasons for DID of IDSCTs in patients operated upon at our institution. Methods: A retrospective record review, with additional telephone survey, of 101 patients operated upon at our institute between the years 1996 and 2009 was conducted. The patients who were not diagnosed locally and those who were diagnosed during routine spinal imaging studies as part of their basic disease check-up were excluded. Accordingly, neurofibromatosis and medical tourist patients were excluded. Results: The clinical presentation of IDSCTs in our study was similar to the descriptions given in previous reports. The average age was 41.9 ± 23.3 years. Most tumors were ependymomas, astrocytomas, and schwannomas. The most common symptoms were motor or sensory disturbance, back pain, walking disturbance, and sphincter control deficit. The median time to diagnosis was 12.0 ± 37.0 months (range 3 days to 20 years). We found DID in 82.2% of the cases. 62.4% of the cases were defined as "unreasonable delay." The most common reasons for DID were "classical symptoms with a wrong diagnosis" and "delayed imaging." Conclusions: Based on the results of this study, the incidence of unreasonable delays in diagnosis of primary IDSCTs in Israel is very high. In order to shorten the time to diagnosis, primary and secondary care physicians need to increase their awareness of symptoms that may be associated with these lesions. We hereby offer feedback for care providers, relevant to the diagnostic workup of these patients. Such a feedback must be delivered by neurosurgeons to the community they are serving.

Supracondylar humeral fractures in older children have different biomechanical characteristics and surgical outcomes when compared to the same fractures in younger children. We aimed to analyze the fracture’s architecture in a large group of older children and investigate the correlation between patients’ variables, fracture patterns, fixation techniques and the rate of loss of reduction (LOR). A retrospective review study was conducted. We collected the records of 240 consecutive patients aged 8–14 years that sustained Gartland type 2/3 supracondylar humeral fractures between 2004 and 2014 and were operated at our hospital. We excluded patients with intra-articular or pathological fractures. Following the radiographical analysis and chart review, we conducted a multivariable regression analysis. Fracture obliquity on the sagittal plane ( > 20°) occurred in 33% of the cases and was found to be the only factor related to LOR (P = 0.01). Gartland type 3 fractures and more than two lateral pin configuration did not correlate to fixation failure (P = 0.69 and 0.14, respectively). The incidence of flexion-type fractures (5.8%) was found to be higher than in the total pediatric population. The sagittal oblique supracondylar humeral fracture is common and is related to fixation instability and LOR. This pattern needs to be considered when investigating different pin configurations, complication rates, and biomechanical properties. Subclassifying Gartland type 2/3 supracondylar humeral fractures as ‘oblique’ or ‘transverse’ might offer more comprehensive information about the anticipated operative results, lead to applying more stable pin constructs to these fractures and allow improved outcomes following surgical fixation.