The American surgeon
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The American surgeon · Apr 2009
Comparative StudyElderly patients with pelvic fracture: interventions and outcomes.
We examined the outcome of elderly trauma patients with pelvic fractures. Patients 65 years of age and older (elderly) with pelvic fractures were retrospectively compared with patients younger than 65 years with pelvic fractures and also with elderly patients without fracture. Over the study period, 1223 patients sustained a pelvic fracture (younger than 65 years, n=1066, 87.2%; elderly, n=157, 12.8%). ⋯ The elderly without fracture also had a higher mortality rate when compared with the younger patients (10.9% [191 of 1760]; P < 0.03). The elderly were more likely to die from multisystem organ failure (25.0% [eight of 32] vs. 10.2% [nine of 88]), whereas the nonelderly group was more likely to die from exsanguination (45.5% [40 of 88] younger than 65 years vs. 21.9% [seven of 32] 65 years or older; P < 0.05). Elderly patients with pelvic fracture have worse outcomes than their younger counterparts despite aggressive management at a Level I trauma center.
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The American surgeon · Apr 2009
Comparative StudyTransfusion, not just injury severity, leads to posttrauma infection: a matched cohort study.
Blood transfusion has been associated with infection; however, the collinearity of injury severity has not been clearly addressed to show a direct relationship. Using more rigorous analysis, we aimed to untangle the effect of injury severity from transfusion leading to sepsis. We hypothesized that blood transfusion independently increases infection in massively transfused versus nontransfused patients with matched Injury Severity Scores (ISSs). ⋯ Infection was most associated with transfusion of packed red blood cells (PRBCs), although transfusion of other blood products had strong collinearity with PRBCs. Transfused patients had eight times the risk of infection independent of ISS; this appears to be the result of PRBC transfusion. Modifying the ratio of components in transfusion protocols favoring plasma may cause less infection after injury.