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Transplant Patient Outcomes After Trauma Better Than Expected

In the largest study of its kind, Baltimore researchers find that traumatic injury outcomes in patients with organ transplants are not worse than for non-transplanted patients, despite common presumptions among physicians. Additionally, transplanted organs are rarely injured in traumatic events.

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Treating Sexual Violence in War-Torn Countries

In conflict-ridden countries around the world, rape and other forms of sexual violence are being used as weapons of war. In these settings, treatment services for victims are limited. A trial found an evidence-based group psychotherapy treatment for sexual violence survivors in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). According to the study, this group therapy achieved more dramatic results in reducing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and anxiety compared to individual support services.

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Drug Prevents Post-Traumatic Stress-Like Symptoms in Mice

When injected into mice immediately following a traumatic event, a new drug prevents the animals from developing memory problems and increased anxiety that are indicative of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Howard Hughes Medical Institute scientists utilized mouse studies to suggest that a receptor called Oprl1 is altered in mice with PTSD-like symptoms. They then worked with a group at the Scripps Research Institute who had previously developed the Oprl1-targeted drug to examine its effects on fear memory modulation.

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Poor Sleep Linked to PTSD After Heart Attack

The more heart attack-induced PTSD symptoms a patient has, the worse their sleep likely was in the month following their heart attack. New findings from a research team at Columbia University Medical Center’s Center for Behavioral Cardiovascular Health, published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine.

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Meditation, Stretching Ease PTSD Symptoms in Nurses

Practicing a form of meditation and stretching can help relieve symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and normalize stress hormone levels, according to a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).

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Stem Cell Injections Improve Spinal Injuries in Rats

An international team led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine reports that a single injection of human neural stem cells produced neuronal regeneration and improvement of function and mobility in rats impaired by an acute spinal cord injury (SCI).

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Physicians Describe Challenges Encountered in Surgical Management of Spine Trauma in Morbidly Obese Patients

Case series reveals logistic, medical and societal challenges faced in treating spine trauma in morbidly obese patients.

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Study Looks at Risk Factors for Rupture or Bleeding of Arachnoid Cysts in Children

Arachnoid cysts are a common type of brain lesion that is usually harmless, but with a risk of rupture or bleeding. A new study identifies risk factors for rupture or bleeding in children with "incidentally" detected arachnoid cysts, reports the May issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

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Women with Severe Injuries Are Less Likely than Men to Be Treated in a Trauma Center

Women are less likely than men to receive care in a trauma center after severe injury, according to a new study of almost 100,000 Canadian patients.

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