Faculty Bibliography

BACKGROUND:There are >150,000 patient visits per year to emergency rooms for facial trauma. The reliability of a computed tomography (CT) scan has made it the primary modality for diagnosing facial skeletal injury, with the physical examination playing more a cursory role. Knowing the predictive value of physical findings in facial skeletal injuries may enable more appropriate use of imaging and health care resources. OBJECTIVE:A blinded prospective study was undertaken to assess the predictive value of physical examination findings in detecting maxillofacial fracture in trauma patients, and in determining whether a patient will require surgical intervention. METHODS:Over a four-month period, the authors' team examined patients admitted with facial trauma to the emergency department of their hospital. The evaluating physician completed a standardized physical examination evaluation form indicating the physical findings. Corresponding CT scans and surgical records were then reviewed, and the results recorded by a plastic surgeon who was blinded to the results of the physical examination. RESULTS:A total of 57 patients met the inclusion criteria; there were 44 male and 13 female patients. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of grouped physical examination findings were determined in major areas. In further analysis, specific examination findings with n≥9 (15%) were also reported. CONCLUSIONS:The data demonstrated a high negative predictive value of at least 90% for orbital floor, zygomatic, mandibular and nasal bone fractures compared with CT scan. Furthermore, none of the patients who did not have a physical examination finding for a particular facial fracture required surgery for that fracture. Thus, the instrument performed well at ruling out fractures in these areas when there were none. Ultimately, these results may help reduce unnecessary radiation and costly imaging in patients with facial trauma without facial fractures.

BACKGROUND:In light of the scarce literature published regarding seroma formation following abdominoplasty when performed with or without liposuction, the objective of this study was to determine whether abdominoplasty performed in conjunction with flank liposuction confers an increased risk for seroma formation compared with abdominoplasty alone. METHODS:This was a retrospective cohort study of 200 patients who underwent abdominoplasty with or without liposuction from 2004 to 2007. Medical records were reviewed to collect data regarding patient demographics, length of drain use, operative technique, seroma formation, and other complications. Seroma formation was determined by physical examination 1 week after closed-suction drain removal. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine independent predictors of seroma formation. Results were considered significant for values of p < 0.05. RESULTS:One hundred twenty-five patients underwent abdominoplasty with flank liposuction and 75 patients underwent abdominoplasty alone. The incidence of seroma formation was 16.0 percent in the abdominoplasty-alone group and 31.2 percent in the abdominoplasty with liposuction group (p < 0.05). The mean age was 43.1 ± 10.2 years and the mean body mass index was 27.3 ± 5.4 kg/m2. Increasing body mass index (odds ratio, 1.1; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.02 to 1.17) and liposuction of the flanks (odds ratio, 3.3; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.37 to 7.97) were independent and significant predictors of seroma formation in abdominoplasty patients. CONCLUSIONS:Patients should be counseled regarding an increased risk of seroma formation following abdominoplasty when combined with liposuction of the flanks. In addition, patients who are overweight are at increased risk for developing a postoperative seroma compared with patients with normal body mass indices.