Blunt injury of the neck resulting in life-threatening compromise of the airway

Large Sternocleidomastoid Haematoma after Minor Trauma in a Postradiation Neck

Sternocleidomastoid (SCM) muscle haematoma after minor blunt injury is rare. Radiation therapy as a treatment for head and neck tumours e.g. nasopharyngeal cancer can result in complications, including fibrosis, scarring, and atrophy. We report a 51-year-old man suffering from massive haematoma of SCM muscle after minor blunt injury to a postradiation neck. Signs of haematoma were absent during his first visit to the emergency department. Emergency physicians need to be aware that bleeding from a postradiation neck, even after minor trauma, may be life threatening.

A review of trauma and trauma-related papers published in the British Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in 2010-2011

This review summarises all trauma and related papers published in the British Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (BJOMS) from January 2010 to December 2011. In total 45 articles were published, of which 42% (19) were full-length articles. These articles primarily focused on the management of mandibular condyle and orbital fractures, with several papers discussing maxillofacial surgery by the British military. There were no articles discussing midfacial fractures or massive facial trauma. The remaining papers included short communications, technical notes, and letters; and provided discussion of interesting cases, new surgical techniques and fracture classifications. The number of trauma papers published in BJOMS appears to be less than other sub-specialties such as head and neck oncology. The number of prospective and randomised studies remains low, highlighting a need to foster further research within maxillofacial trauma.

Short communications published online in the British Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery during 2010-2011

The British Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (BJOMS) publishes many types of papers including original articles, review articles, and short communications. Many of the latter are isolated case reports of rare or interesting diseases or of difficult or unexpected complications. While case reports are sometimes considered to be of little educational or clinical value, and as such do little to advance medical knowledge, they do have an important role, and many trainees begin their publishing careers writing such papers. There is increasing pressure for space in paper medical journals and, for this reason, some journals either limit or do not publish short publications in print copy but instead put them online. Using established criteria, we previously evaluated all 142 short communications published in the BJOMS during 2008-2009 and found that 48% of them had little or no educational value. As a result, the editorial board of BJOMS took the decision to publish most short communications online only. We have now analysed 48 short communications that were published online only during 2010-2011. Most (80%) were single case reports that covered virtually the whole remit of the specialty, and over half (56%) were published by authors based in the UK. While many of these papers did not add important new information to existing knowledge, these types of article are clearly of value both for trainees and for experienced surgeons. We think that these should continue to be supported as, in addition to their educational value, they are an excellent way for trainees to start to write.