J Trauma
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Trauma registries frequently do not include the deaths of patients who do not get to trauma centers (TCs). Thus, complementary methods of monitoring the impact of trauma system initiatives should be considered. The objective of this study is to use National Highway Safety Traffic Administration's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and New York State Department of Motor Vehicles data and to study the impact of state and regional initiatives over a 10-year period in the seven-county Hudson Valley New York (HV) region with one regional TC in Westchester County (WC) and to assess its face validity. ⋯ The drops in motor vehicle crash death rates may reflect injury prevention as well as trauma system initiatives. Thus, although FARS and New York State Department of Motor Vehicles data cannot establish cause and effect relationships, it can monitor the aggregated impact of multiple initiatives. Taken together with increasing percentages of seriously injured trauma patients going to trauma centers and comparisons with national FARS data, the association of decreasing deaths with the implementation of a trauma system seems to have face validity.
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The purpose of this study was to identify factors that would aid in the diagnosis of small-bowel and mesentery injuries (SBMI) in blunt trauma patients. ⋯ The diagnosis of SBMI is often made in the presence of associated intra-abdominal injuries. Isolated SBMI are common, however, and special attention to the mechanism of injury, abdominal examination, presence of hematuria, and significant base deficit should raise suspicion to the possibility of SBMI. Findings on abdominal computed tomography that may suggest SBMI and should prompt further evaluation include free fluid, thickened bowel, and extraluminal air. Because delay in diagnosis does not seem to affect morbidity or mortality, dedication to observation and serial physical examinations will aid in the proper identification of elusive SBMI. Mortality, however, does appear to be related to the presence of hypotension on admission and associated injuries.
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Injury of the brachial artery is a rare (5-13%) but serious complication after closed elbow dislocation without associated fractures. ⋯ Primary repair of vascular injury after closed elbow dislocation with vein graft and immediate reconstruction of ligamentous injuries results in good long-term functional outcome.
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Hemorrhagic shock is associated with lactic acidosis and increased plasma catecholamines. Skeletal muscle increases lactate production under aerobic conditions in response to epinephrine, and this effect is blocked by ouabain, a specific inhibitor of the cell membrane Na+/K+ pump. In this study, we tested whether adrenergic antagonists can block lactate production during shock. ⋯ Epinephrine release in response to hypotension is a primary stimulus for muscle lactate production in this model of hemorrhagic shock. Hypoxia alone does not explain the increased lactate levels because tissue perfusion was not altered by the adrenergic antagonists. These observations challenge the rationale behind lactate clearance as an end point for resuscitation after hemorrhagic shock.