Pneumatically powered nail guns have been used in construction since 1959. Penetrating injuries to the heart with nail guns have a wide range of presentations from asymptomatic to cardiac tamponade and exsanguination. Mortality related to cardiac nail gun injuries is similar to knife injuries, estimated at 25%. Surgical exploration is the treatment of choice. We describe a case of self-inflicte...

Open A1 pulley release is a standard surgical procedure for treatment of trigger finger. The disadvantages of the open technique include injury to the soft tissue, developing a painful palmar scar and patients requiring an extended recovery timethesince the procedure is more complex. Another technique used for treatment of trigger finger is percutaneous release. This technique offers the benefi...

A simple procedure of using a Smillie knife to release the lateral patellar retinaculum and the capsule in the unstable patella syndrome is described. The syndrome includes recurrent dislocation, recurrent subluxation and acute dislocation of the patella. Arthroscopy, to exclude any other pathology such as chondromalacia patellae, is performed before proceeding to closed lateral release. The re...

BACKGROUND Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) is an effective but time-consuming treatment for early neoplasia that requires a high level of expertise. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to assess the efficacy and learning curve of gastric ESD with a hybrid knife with high pressure water jet and to compare with standard ESD. MATERIAL AND METHODS We performed a prospective non sur...

Fair division algorithms, especially the ones that require continuous observation, tend to assume synchronicity in decision making and knife movements in theory. However, in practice, it is not always possible to give an exact solution to a fair division algorithm without making some assumptions or error bounds. As such, we would like implement both an exact and discrete solution to given algor...

PURPOSE Gamma Knife radiosurgery is a highly precise and accurate treatment technique for treating brain diseases with low risk of serious error that nevertheless could potentially be reduced. We applied the AAPM Task Group 100 recommended failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) tool to develop a risk-based quality management program for Gamma Knife radiosurgery. METHODS A team consisting o...

The author describes a cricothyrotomy system that consists of two devices that, packaged together, are labeled the Control-Cric™ system. The Cric-Key™ was invented to verify tracheal location during surgical airway procedures?without the need for visualization, aspiration of air, or reliance on clinicians? fine motor skills. The Cric-Knife™ combines a scalpel with an overlying sliding hook to f...

A 41-year-old male presented with penetrating carotid artery injury after being stabbed in the left neck with a knife. He had profuse bleeding from the wound and was in hemorrhagic shock. No neuroimaging evaluation was possible, so emergent surgery was begun with continuous manual compression of the left neck. Graft reconstruction of the injured carotid artery was performed. He recovered well w...