Alexander Blankstein, MD, Ilan Cohen, MD, Zehava Heiman, MD, Moshe Salai, MD, Lydia Diamant, RT, Michael Heim, MD and Aharon Chechick, MD
Background: Foreign bodies are sometimes overlooked in the initial evaluation of soft tissue wounds in the emergency room setting. The physical examination identifies foreign bodies that are superficial enough to be seen or palpated, while radiographs reveal those that are radio-opaque. If these two criteria are not met, however, the foreign body may remain undetected. These patients present later with long-standing pain in the area of penetration sometimes associated with localized tenderness.
Objectives: To assess the role of ultrasonography in the diagnosis and management of patients with a suspected retained foreign body.
Methods: Ultrasound was used in 21 patients with suspected retained foreign bodies and the diagnosis was positive in 19. Fifteen underwent a surgical exploration in which the ultrasound was used as an adjunctive modality either pre- or intraoperatively to assist in the localization of the foreign body.
Results: All procedures were successful. No postoperative complications were recorded at an average follow-up of 2 years. Three patients gradually became asymptomatic and were left untreated. One patient was lost to follow-up.
Conclusion: Sonography is an extremely effective tool for the late diagnosis of retained foreign bodies in the soft tissues. We suggest that its availability in the emergency room may decrease the rate of misdiagnosis and avoid these unfortunate cases, although this remains tc be proven.
Haim Reuveni, MD, Shifra Shvarts, PhD, Joachim Meyer, PhD, Asher Elhayany, MD, MPA and Dan Greenberg, MSc
Background: On 1 January 1995 a new mandatory National Health Insurance Law was enacted in Israel, The new law fostered competition among the four major Israeli healthcare providers (HMO5 or sick funds) already operating in the market due to the possibility that an unlimited number of patients and the relative budget share would shift among the HMOs. This led them to launch advertising campaigns to attract new members.
Objectives: To examine newspaper advertising activities during the early stages of healthcare market reform in Israel.
Methods: Advertising efforts were reviewed during a study period of 24 months (July 1994 to June 1996). Advertisements were analyzed in terms of marketing strategy, costs and quality of information.
Results: During the study period 412 newspaper advertisements were collected. The total advertising costs by all HMOs was approximately US$4 million in 1996 prices. Differences were found in marketing strategy, relative advertising costs, contents and priorities among the HMOs.
Conclusions: The content of HMO5 newspaper advertising was consistent with their marketing strategy. The messages met the criteria of persuasive advertising in that they cultivated interest in the HMOs but did not provide meaningful information about them. Future developments in this area should include consensus guidelines for advertising activities of HMOs in Israel, instruction concerning the content of messages, and standardization of criteria to report on HMO performance.
Jacob Gilad, MD, Abraham Borer, MD, Dafna Hallel-Halevy, MD, Klaris Riesenberg, MD, Michael Alkan, MD and Francisc Schlaeffer, MD
Anna Basok, MD, Alla Shnaider, MD, David Tovbin, MD and Boris Rogachev