The incidence and epidemiological causes of maxillofacial (MF) trauma varies widely. The objective of this study is to point out maxillofacial trauma patients’ epidemiological properties and trauma patterns with simultaneous injuries in different areas of the body that may help emergency physicians to deliver more accurate diagnosis and decisions.

The aim of the study was to compare the New Orleans Criteria and the New Orleans Criteria according to their diagnostic performance in patients with mild head injury. The study was designed and conducted prospectively after obtaining ethics committee approval. Data was collected prospectively for patients presenting to the ED with Minor Head Injury. After clinical assessment, a standard CT scan of the head was performed in patients having at least one of the risk factors stated in one of the two clinical decision rules. Patients with positive traumatic head injury according to BT results defined as Group 1 and those who had no intracranial injury defined as Group 2. Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS 11.00 for Windows. ROC analyze was performed to determine the effectiveness of detecting intracranial injury with both decision rules. p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. 175 patients enrolled the study. Male to female ratio was 1.5. The mean age of the patients was 45 ± 21,3 in group 1 and 49 ± 20,6 in group 2. The most common mechanism of trauma was falling. The sensitivity and specificity of CCHR were respectively 76.4% and 41.7%, whereas sensitivity and specificity of NOC were 88.2% and 6.9%. The CCHR has higher specificity, PPV and NPV for important clinical outcomes than does the NOC.

Introduction. Acute appendicitis is the leading cause of abdominal pain in children requiring emergency surgical intervention. The aim of this study is to investigate the diagnostic value of MPV in early diagnosis of acute appendicitis cases in pediatric age group.Methods. This study was performed retrospectively. Three hundred five patients operated on with the diagnosis of appendicitis and pathologically found to be acute appendicitis were classified as Group 1 and 305 healthy children were classified as control Group 2.Results. One hundred ninety-seven of 305 cases in Group 1 are males (64.6%), in Group 2, 151 of 305 cases are males (49.5%). The mean MPV in Group 1 was7.9±0.9(fL), and whereas in Group 2 was7.7±0.8(fL). There was no statistically significant difference regarding MPV values (P>0.05).Conclusion. In our study we detected that mean platelet volume has no diagnostic value in pediatric acute appendicitis cases.

Background and Purpose. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the relationship between pneumonia and meteorological parameters (temperature, humidity, precipitation, airborne particles, sulfur dioxide (SO₂), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), nitrite oxide (NO), and nitric oxide (NOX)) in patients with the diagnosis of pneumonia in the emergency department. Methods. Our study was performed retrospectively with patients over 65 years of age who were diagnosed with pneumonia. The meteorological variables in the days of diagnosing pneumonia were compared with the meteorological variables in the days without diagnosis of pneumonia. The sociodemographic characteristics, complete blood count of the patients, and meteorological parameters (temperature, humidity, precipitation, airborne particles, SO2, CO, NO2, NO, and NOX) were investigated. Results. When the temperature was high and low, the number of days consulted due to pneumonia was related to low air temperature (p<0.05). During the periods when PM 10, NO, NO2, NOX, and CO levels were high, the number of days referred for pneumonia was increased (p<0.05). Conclusion. As a result, climatic (temperature, humidity, pressure levels, rain, etc.) and environmental factors (airborne particles, CO, NO, and NOX) were found to be effective in the number of patients admitted to the hospital due to pneumonia.

Each year, a significant number of people die or become handicapped due to preventable occupational accidents or occupational diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate socio-demographic features, mechanism, causes, injury area, and sectoral features of occupational accidents in patients presented to our department. The study was carried out retrospectively after local ethics committee approval. Age and sex of the patients, mechanism of injury, type and exact location of injuries were all evaluated. The groups were compared using Chi-Square test, Student's T test and Kruskall-Wallis test. p value <0.05 was accepted as statistically significant. Totally 654 patients were included in the study. 93.4% of patients were male, and mean age was 32.96 ± 5.97 (18-73) years. Sectoral distribution of accidents was statistically significant and mostly occurred in industrial and construction workers (p < 0.05, respectively). There is a statistically significant relationship between educational level and sector of the worker (p < 0.05). While the most frequent cause of admission to emergency department was penetrating injuries (36.4%), the least was due to multiple traumas (0.5%). Distribution of occupational accidents according to injury type was statistically significant (p < 0.05). The mean Injury Severity Score (ISS) was 9.79 ± 8.1. The mean cost of occupational injury was $1729.57 ± 8178.3. There was statistically significant difference between the sectors with respect to cost. Seventy-one patients (10.9%) recovered with permanent sequel and two (0.3%) died in hospital. Occupational accidents are most commonly seen in young males, especially in primary school graduated workers, and during daytime period.

Scorpion sting resulting in envenomation is a life-threatening emergency and causes serious health problems in tropical and subtropical regions. The aim of this study was to present the epidemiologic and clinical features of 123 cases presenting with symptoms of scorpion poisoning, a cause of preventable mortality and morbidity. This study retrospectively analyzed the epidemiologic and demographic features of a total of 123 patients who presented to Diyarbakır State Hospital Emergency Service with scorpion sting between January 2008 and December 2009. Among 123 patients who presented to Diyarbakır State Hospital Emergency Service with scorpion sting between January 2008 and January 2009, 62.6% (n=77) were female and 37.4% (n=46) were male. The mean age of the patients was 33.5±17.3 years (2-80), and 27 (22%) patients were younger than 18 years. The place of residence was rural region in 98 (79.7%) patients and the city center in 25 (20.3%). The majority of victims were stung by scorpions while they were at active work (42.3%) or asleep (19.5%) in bed. Eleven (8.95%) patients were stung by a scorpion while putting on their own clothes. This simple descriptive study will hopefully help healthcare providers take measures to prevent scorpion stings, which should take into consideration local epidemiological features.