Injury
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Intra-abdominal packing with laparotomy pads (LP) is a common and rapid method for hemorrhage control in critically injured patients. Combat Gauze™ and Trauma Pads™ ([QC] Z-Medica QuikClot®) are kaolin impregnated hemostatic agents, that in addition to LP, may improve hemorrhage control. While QC packing has been effective in a swine liver injury model, QC remains unstudied for human intra-abdominal use. We hypothesized QC packing during damage control laparotomy (DCL) better controls hemorrhage than standard packing and is safe for intracorporeal use. ⋯ While the addition of QC to LP packing did not confer additional benefit to standard packing, there was no additional morbidity identified with its use. The surgeons at our institution now select augmented packing with QC for sicker patients, as we believe this may have additional advantage over standard LP packing. A randomized controlled trial is warranted to further evaluate the intra-abdominal use of advanced hemostatic agents, like QC, for both hemostasis and associated morbidity.
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The role of emergency physicians in the pre-hospital management of severely injured patients remains controversial. In Germany and Austria, an emergency physician is present at the scene of an emergency situation or is called to such a scene in order to provide pre-hospital care to severely injured patients in approximately 95% of all cases. By contrast, in the United States and the United Kingdom, paramedics, i.e. non-physician teams, usually provide care to an injured person both at the scene of an incident and en route to an appropriate hospital. We investigated whether physician or non-physician care offers more benefits and what type of on-site care improves outcome. ⋯ This retrospective analysis does not allow definitive conclusions to be drawn about the optimal model of pre-hospital care. It shows, however, that there was no significant difference in mortality although patients who were attended by non-physician teams received fewer pre-hospital interventions with similar scene times.
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Thrombocytosis is common following elective splenectomy and major trauma. However, little is known about the in-hospital course of platelet count (PC) and incidence of thrombocytosis after splenic trauma. Extreme thrombocytosis (PC>1000×109) is associated with increased risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in primary thrombocytosis leading to the use of acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) for risk reduction, but the need for this agent in splenic trauma is undefined. ⋯ Thrombocytosis in splenic trauma is more likely after splenectomy than with spleen preserving strategies. Splenectomy is associated with extreme thrombocytosis. There was insufficient data in our study to determine the use of ASA as primary prevention of VTE after splenic trauma.
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Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) are the primary wounding mechanism for casualties in Operation Enduring Freedom. Patients can sustain devastating traumatic amputations, which are unlike injuries seen in the civilian trauma sector. This is a database analysis of the largest patient registry of multiple traumatic amputations. ⋯ Traumatic amputations from blast injuries require significant blood product transfusion, which increases with the number of amputations. Most complications also increase with the number of amputations. Despite high injury severity, 94% of traumatic amputation patients who are alive upon admission to a role II/III facility will survive to transfer to facilities with higher acuity care.