The American surgeon
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The American surgeon · Mar 2006
Review Meta AnalysisAssessment of early tracheostomy in trauma patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
The objective of this review was to assess outcomes in trauma patients undergoing early tracheostomy (ET). Abstract databases for the Eastern and American Associations for the Surgery of Trauma and Medline were searched to find trauma patient studies comparing ET and late tracheostomy (LT) or ET and no ET. Fixed-effects meta-analyses were performed on the randomized controlled trial (RCT) studies. ⋯ In conclusion, ET has no influence on mortality, pneumonia, or laryngotracheal pathology rates in trauma patients. Patients with severe brain injury may be more rapidly liberated from mechanical ventilation with ET. However, additional research is needed.
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The American surgeon · Mar 2006
Comparative StudyCorrelation of clinical findings and autopsy results after fatal injury from motor vehicular-related crashes.
In the past, autopsy served as the gold standard to document diagnostic accuracy. Although a valuable contributor to medical education, information collected from autopsies is frequently delayed and poorly used. The purpose of this study was to determine the degree of concordance between clinical findings and autopsy results of trauma patients involved in fatal vehicular-related crashes. ⋯ There were no Goldman Class I or IV type errors, (i.e., no major or minor discrepancies, respectively, that may have altered therapy or survival of the patient). Following ATLS-based protocols results in appropriate identification of clinically significant injuries in patients involved in motor vehicular-related crashes. The routine use of autopsy results offers little additional information to a mature American College of Surgeons-verified Level I trauma program.