International journal of surgery
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Given the current exceptional burden of injury in Thailand, the proven efficacy of quality improvement programs, and the current scarcity of national-level information on trauma quality improvement program (TQIP) implementation in Thailand, we aimed to examine the use of TQIPs and barriers to TQIP adoption in Thai public trauma centers. ⋯ Just under half of responding Thai public trauma centers reported implementation of all four elements of the WHO recommended TQIPs. Priority strategies to facilitate TQIP maturation in Thailand should address staff motivation, provision of staff time for TQIP development, and optimization of audit filter use to monitor quality of care.
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The advent of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) revolutionized the care of patients with cardiac arrest, now allowing survival of up to 30% after out-of-hospital arrest due to arrhythmia; however, outcomes for cardiac arrest after trauma remain dismal, with less than 10% survival despite the most aggressive modern resuscitation techniques. The short time interval between cardiac arrest and brain ischemia, the reduced efficacy of CPR in the patient with profound hypovolemia due to hemorrhage, and the speed of exsanguination from major vascular injury all conspire to limit the effectiveness of standard CPR in the critically injured patient. Beginning in the 1980s, researchers began to harness the effects of profound hypothermia in order to extend the window of survivability after traumatic arrest, allowing the critical time needed to obtain surgical hemostasis in otherwise lethal exsanguinating injuries. ⋯ Rapid central arterial access is obtained and profound (<10 °C) hypothermia induced with aortic infusion of cold saline. During this window of up to 1 h, damage control surgical techniques are applied to control hemorrhage and repair injuries, followed by controlled rewarming and reperfusion using cardiopulmonary bypass. In this review, we trace these techniques from their early theoretical development, through refinement in clinically relevant animal models, and into their present application in a currently-enrolling human clinical trial of EPR for cardiac arrest from trauma (EPR-CAT), as well as examine current topics, ongoing challenges, and future directions for emergency preservation and resuscitation research.
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Conventional treatment for hemorrhagic shock includes the infusion of intravenous (IV) fluid and blood products in order to restore intravascular volume. However, even after normal heart rate and blood pressure are restored, the visceral organs often remain ischemic. This leads to organ dysfunction and also releases numerous cytokines and inflammatory mediators which activate the body's inflammatory response. ⋯ Subsequent human studies have shown that DPR after damage control surgery for hemorrhage or sepsis leads to faster abdominal closure, higher rate of primary fascial closure, and reduced abdominal complications. Peritoneal resuscitation has also shown benefits in the resuscitation after acute brain death, including reduced inflammatory mediators and organ edema. Use of DPR in potential organ donors leads to an increase in the number of organs procured per donor, most frequently by increasing the number of lungs procured.
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The appropriate resuscitation of patients in hemorrhagic shock is critical to improving survival. Current strategies for massive transfusions utilize fixed ratio protocols to rapidly deliver plasma and platelets to the patient. ⋯ Efforts are ongoing to provide patient-specific transfusion therapy in order to avoid excess transfusions. Thromboelastography (TEG) or Rotational Thromboelastometry (ROTEM) are two viscoelastic analyzers capable of providing Viscoelastic testing.
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Significant pelvic ring fractures are usually secondary to high-energy trauma, and when associated with other life-threatening injuries and hemodynamic instability, result in high mortality rates ranging from 40 to 60%. The major cause of death during the first 24 h after pelvic trauma is attributed to acute blood loss, with later mortality secondary to multisystem organ failure. In a majority of patients, the source of pelvic bleeding is from disruption of the presacral venous plexus and bony fracture sites, while arterial injury is present in only 10-15%. ⋯ The principles of care center on resuscitation, external stabilization of the pelvis, and hemorrhage control with angiography and embolization (AE) and/or preperitoneal pelvic packing (PPP). AE is effective in controlling arterial bleeding and its role in the management of hemodynamically unstable patients with pelvic fractures is supported by the EAST guidelines. However, since most patients suffer from venous bleeding, PPP can be an alternate life saving technique to control hemorrhage, especially if AE is not immediately available.