OBJETIVO: demonstrar uma técnica cirúrgica para o tratamento das fraturas do colo do quinto metacarpo por meio de redução por manipulação intrafocal e fixação percutânea com fios de Kirschner, visando a facilitar a obtenção e manutenção da redução no intraoperatório e possibilitar a redução dessas fraturas, ainda que com calo fibroso formado.MÉTODOS: dez pacientes portadores de fratura do colo do quinto metacarpo com angulação palmar superior a 30◦ foram submetidos, como exemplos, à técnica cirúrgica descrita. Os resultados foram avaliados por meio de radiografias e exame clínico pós-operatório.RESULTADOS: todos os pacientes obtiveram redução próxima da anatômica e evoluíram para consolidação da fratura na posição obtida.CONCLUSÃO: a técnica cirúrgica descrita é eficaz, de simples execução, minimamente invasiva, de baixo custo e permite redução clínica e radiográfica adequadas, mesmo em fraturas subagudas com calo fibroso formado.

OBJECTIVE: to demonstrate a surgical technique for treating neck fractures of the fifth metacarpal, by means of reduction through intra-focal manipulation and percutaneous fixation using Kirschner wires, with the aims of making it easier to achieve and maintain the reduction during the operation and enabling reduction of these fractures even if a fibrous callus has formed.METHODS: a series of ten patients with neck fractures of the fifth metacarpal presenting palmar angles greater than 30◦ underwent the surgical technique described, as examples, and their results were evaluated through postoperative radiographs and clinical examinations.RESULTS: all the patients achieved reductions that were close to anatomical and evolved to consolidation of the fracture in the position obtained.CONCLUSION: the surgical technique described is effective, easy to carry out, minimally invasive and low-cost, thereby enabling adequate clinical and radiographic reduction, even in subacute fractures already presenting a fibrous callus.

Little is known about the epidemiology of severe rotavirus-associated gastroenteritis in Brazil. Given the morbidity associated with this condition and the importance of having detailed knowledge about the impact of rotavirus infection on the epidemiology of acute diarrhea in children, especially those with the most severe diarrheal conditions, we retrospectively reviewed the medical records of all pediatric patients admitted to a tertiary hospital in Salvador, Brazil, due to rotavirus-associated gastroenteritis during one year. It was observed that rotavirus was responsible for 15.6% of the hospitalizations caused by diarrhea and/or vomiting during the period of the study and that 87 of 218 (39.1%) patients seen at the emergency room with rotavirus-associated gastroenteritis needed to be hospitalized, comprising the population of our study. Most patients presented signs of dehydration, and 41% of them had metabolic acidosis. Most patients (79%) were between six months and four years of age and 72% of the cases occurred in June and July. Gastrointestinal symptoms were rarely present at the beginning of the clinical presentation, and they normally did not last for more than one week.