title: Secondary definitive surgery for multiple injuries from Wenchuan earthquake in China.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the opportune time of secondary definitive surgery for patients with multiple injuries from earthquakes based on the acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II (APACHE II) score and the principles of damage control.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-one patients with critical earthquake injuries were treated with damage control strategies, followed by medical support and surgical intervention to restore their physical potential in the intensive care unit (ICU). Successive APACHE II scoring was adopted to evaluate the patients'physiological status, and then, internal fixation of fractures and other definitive operations were performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All the patients were effectively treated with few complications, low deformity rate and no death.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Appropriate evaluation of patients?physiological potential, right decision on surgical time and proper operative method can reduce the rates of complications, disability and death for patients with critical earthquake injuries.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Jinling Hospital, Clinical College of Medicine, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210002, China. zhaojianning.0207@163.com
authors.forename: Jian-Ning
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Bei-Yue
authors.initials: BY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Guang-Ping
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.forename: Ni-Rong
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Bao
authors.forename: Hong-Bo
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cong
mesh_terms: D018806:APACHE; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002681:China; D004190:Disasters; D055866:Earthquakes; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009104:Multiple Trauma / Q000601:surgery*