Eur J Trauma Emerg S
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Eur J Trauma Emerg S · Jun 2013
Gastrointestinal tract access for enteral nutrition in critically ill and trauma patients: indications, techniques, and complications.
Enteral nutrition (EN) is a widely used, standard-of-care technique for nutrition support in critically ill and trauma patients. ⋯ In critically ill and trauma patients, early EN through the stomach should be instituted whenever feasible. Other approaches can be used according to patient needs, available expertise, and institutional guidelines. More research is needed in order to ensure the safe use of surgical tubes in the open abdomen.
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Eur J Trauma Emerg S · Jun 2013
Glasgow Coma Scale score at intensive care unit discharge predicts the 1-year outcome of patients with severe traumatic brain injury.
To analyse the association between the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score at intensive care unit (ICU) discharge and the 1-year outcome of patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). ⋯ The GCS score at ICU discharge is a good predictor of 1-year outcome. Patients with a GCS score <10 at ICU discharge have a poor chance of favourable outcome.
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Nutrition support has undergone significant advances in recent decades, revolutionizing the care of critically ill and injured patients. However, providing adequate and optimal nutrition therapy for such patients is very challenging: it requires careful attention and an understanding of the biology of the individual patient's disease or injury process, including insight into the consequent changes in nutrients needed. ⋯ Nutrition therapy for critically ill and injured patients has become an important part of their overall care. No longer should we consider nutrition for critically ill and injured patients just as "support" but, rather, as "therapy", because it is, indeed, a key therapeutic modality.
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Eur J Trauma Emerg S · Jun 2013
Does the ratio and thickness of prevertebral soft tissue provide benefit in blunt cervical spine injury?
Although many reports advocate computed tomography (CT) as the initial surveillance tool for occult cervical spine injury (CSI) at the emergency department (ED), the role of a lateral cervical spine radiograph (LCSX) has still not been replaced. We hypothesized that the increased width of the prevertebral soft tissue on an LCSX provides helpful information for selecting the high-risk patients who need to be evaluated with more accurate diagnostic tools. ⋯ This method maximizes the usefulness of LCSX during the initial assessment of a conscious patient with blunt head and neck injury, especially for the identification of high-risk patients requiring prompt CT or MRI; on the other hand, it prevents the overuse of these high-cost imaging studies as initial diagnostic tools.