J Trauma
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Comparative Study
Acute renal failure in critically ill surgical patients: persistent lethality despite new modes of renal replacement therapy.
Despite improved resuscitation and sepsis care, acute renal failure (ARF) remains common in critically ill surgical patients. New methods of renal replacement therapy (RRT) are being used in surgical intensive care units (SICUs), including high-flux hemodialysis (HD) and continuous RRT (CRRT). RRT is being used increasingly early in the course of ARF, but data are scant to suggest that mortality is improved. Consequently, we determined whether outcomes were improved with CRRT in SICU patients, and hypothesized that CRRT lowers mortality for patients with ARF. ⋯ Despite more frequent RRT and the use of CRRT, the mortality of ARF in critically ill surgical patients remains high because of nonrenal organ dysfunction. Considering that ARF-related mortality was decreased by intermittent HD, and that intermittent RRT is less costly, patients who need RRT should be treated preferentially with HD.
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Comparative Study Controlled Clinical Trial
Hemodynamic and oxygen transport patterns after head trauma and brain death: implications for management of the organ donor.
The aims of the present study were to describe the temporal hemodynamic and oxygen transport patterns of patients with head injuries as well as the patterns of those who became brain dead to better understand the role of underlying central regulatory hemodynamic mechanisms and ultimately to improve rates of organ donation. ⋯ The hyperdynamic state with exaggerated peripheral tissue perfusion or oxygenation in brain-dead patients associated with loss of central vasoconstrictive mechanisms of the stress response resulted in unopposed peripheral metabolic vasodilatation producing high CI and tissue perfusion.
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An estimated 5.3 million people in the United States live with permanent disability related to traumatic brain injury (TBI). Access to rehabilitation after TBI is important in minimizing these disabilities. Ethnic disparities in access to health care have been documented in other diseases, but have not been studied in trauma care. We hypothesized that access to rehabilitation after TBI is influenced by race or ethnicity. ⋯ Ethnic minority patients are less likely to be placed in rehabilitation than NHW patients are, even after accounting for insurance status, suggesting existence of systematic inequalities in access. Such inequalities may have a disproportionate impact on long-term functional outcomes of African American and Hispanic TBI patients, and suggest the need for an in-depth analysis of this disparity at a health policy level.
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Comparative Study
Proximal femoral nail for the treatment of reverse obliquity intertrochanteric fractures compared with gamma nail.
The reverse obliquity fracture of the proximal femur (AO/OTA 31-A3) is mechanically different from most intertrochanteric fractures. The purpose of this study was to compare the results of proximal femoral nail (PFN) fixation with those of gamma nail (GN) fixation for these fractures. ⋯ There was no difference in clinical outcome between the PFN and GN groups. However, the PFN demonstrated better results biomechanically than the GN did in terms of less sliding of lag screw, less change of neck-shaft angle, and less complications for the treatment of reverse obliquity intertrochanteric fractures.
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Trauma-related morbidity and mortality are a growing burden in the developing world. However, usable injury data in resource-poor and developing settings is lacking. Trauma registries can improve injury surveillance to enhance trauma care, outcomes, and prevention. This article provides, by example from Haiti, an approach to developing a hospital-based trauma registry in a resource-poor setting. ⋯ Trauma registries in developing settings are plausible tools for injury surveillance. Successful trauma registries will be resource- and setting-specific in design and can potentially be the means by which trauma care and outcomes are improved, prevention programs are developed, and capacity-building goals realized.