Last Issue of 2020: Hope 2021 will be a Great Year

Sandro Rizoli

Trauma Section, Department of Surgery, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar

Corresponding Author: Sandro Rizoli, Trauma Section, Department of Surgery, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar, Phone: +974 6662 0521, e-mail: srizoli@hamad.qa

How to cite this article Rizoli S. Last Issue of 2020: Hope 2021 will be a Great Year. Panam J Trauma Crit Care Emerg Surg 2020;9(3):165–166.

Source of support: Nil

Conflict of interest: None

Keywords: Critical care, Emergency, Trauma.

This is the last issue of the Journal for 2020, arguably one of the most difficult years the inhabitants of the planet have ever faced. It was a year of major losses for the trauma community with the losses of Drs Jose Felix Patino, Gerry Gomez, and Ricardo Herrera. Their lives and accomplishments were celebrated in memorials published by the Journal.

At the end of 2020, the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to ravage the planet while we wait for a vaccine. This disease has changed our lifestyles more than anything in recent memory. One of the 4 “Perspectives” manuscripts in the December issue of the Journal reports on the “Creation and Expansion of the Virtual Communication in a Brazilian University Telemedicine Network” (by Dr Felipe Fraga et al. from Campinas, Brazil). It is a perfect illustration of how the virtual revolution is now a reality. From daily ward rounds to the XXXIII Panamerican Congress of Trauma, Critical Care and Emergency Surgery encounters now happen in virtual spaces instead of conference rooms. One of the benefits is attendance. Nearly 10,000 professionals attended the XXXIII Congress held last October 20 to 23. The present issue of the Journal is proud to publish the abstracts selected for oral and poster presentations at the Congress, based in Mexico.

The Mexico Congress marked the end of Dr Felipe Vega’s presidency tenure and started Dr Antonio Marttos. While the Journal looks forward to publishing Dr Vega’s speech, we warmly welcome Dr Marttos, his new ideas and “blood”, which are already invigorating the Panamerican Trauma Society. Editorials in the last two issues of the Journal were written by the past and present Presidents.

In the present issue, an Editorial by Ms Cristiane Domingues is on Nursing while three other publications focus on COVID, under the Section “Perspectives”. This new section of the Journal was created to expedite the peer-reviewed process, now done within 2 weeks, and publication online first. The Perspective manuscripts are on “Civil Liberties and Surveillance during COVID” (Dr Patrizio Petrone et al. from Mineola, New York), “PPE and Surgeries in Spain” (Dr Carlos Yañez et al., Zaragoza, Spain), and “Experience of Being a Health Professional COVID Positive” (Dr Agarwal and Chughtai, Doha, Qatar).

The opening manuscript by Dr Teeter, Scalea, Kozar, and colleagues from Baltimore, USA focuses on the evolving technology of endovascular occlusion of the aorta (REBOA). The same technology was among the highlights of the XXXIII Congress, particularly the advances on using REBOA for penetrating chest trauma put forward by Dr Ordonez and colleagues from Cali, Colombia. Dr Teeter’s study explores the association between inflation time and organ damage. Using a swine model reports, the authors report on organ damage susceptibility during prolonged REBOA inflation times.

The Journal contains many other solid publications that deserve your attention. We invite you to consider publishing your next manuscript in the Panam Journal.

On behalf of the entire Editorial Board of the Panam Journal, we wish you a great New Year and look forward to publishing your work.

Sandro Rizoli, MD PhD FRCSC FACS

Editor-in-Chief

Panamerican Journal of Trauma, Critical Care and Emergency Surgery

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