J Trauma
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Comparative Study
Does hypoxia affect intensive care unit delirium or long-term cognitive impairment after multiple trauma without intracranial hemorrhage?
Within the traumatic brain injury population, outcomes are affected by hypoxic events in the early injury period. Previous work shows a high prevalence of cognitive deficits in patients with multiple injuries who do not have intracranial hemorrhage identified on admission head computed tomography scan. We hypothesize that intensive care unit (ICU) delirium and long-term cognitive impairment (LTCI) are more likely in patients who have a hypoxic event within the first 48 hours of ICU admission. ⋯ Hypoxic events in the ICU do not have a direct correlation with ICU delirium or LTCI in the patients with multiple injuries without evidence of intracranial hemorrhage.
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Review
Blunt abdominal trauma resulting in gallbladder injury: a review with emphasis on pediatrics.
Gallbladder injury in blunt abdominal trauma is a rare and difficult diagnosis. Gallbladder injury is reported to be between 1.9% and 2.1% of all abdominal traumas. It has vague symptoms usually with inconclusive investigation results; hence, it is often diagnosed at laparotomy. The patient typically has vague abdominal pain and occasionally a period of remission depending on the type of gallbladder injury. In pediatrics, blunt abdominal trauma presents additional challenges of difficult historians and compensating physiology. Any delay in diagnosis and definitive management will worsen the prognosis. Making the diagnosis requires astute clinical acumen and radiologic interpretation. The classification system of Losanoff has merit in guiding treatment. While cholecystectomy is the preferred treatment, there are occasions when the gallbladder may be left in situ and these are discussed. ⋯ The authors highlight the incidence of associated visceral injuries in gallbladder trauma (>90%). Gallbladder perforation is more likely in cases when the gallbladder is distended and thin-walled at the time of injury. Therefore, we recommend that gallbladder perforation is suspected in those patients who have drunk alcohol or eaten recently. Despite the developments in modern computed tomography, identifying gallbladder perforation is difficult because of the subtlety and rarity of the condition. We draw attention to the proposed anatomic classification systems because they are of some use in guiding treatment. In the absence of a diagnosis after blunt abdominal trauma and with intra-abdominal free fluid, the clinician faces the difficult decision of whether surgery is indicated for a potential visceral injury. After discussing the available evidence, the authors advocate a low index of suspicion for performing diagnostic laparoscopy.
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As familiarity with military massive transfusion (MT) triggers has increased, there is a growing interest in applying these in the civilian population to initiate MT protocols (MTP) earlier. We hypothesize that these triggers do not have equal predictability for MT and understanding the contribution of each would improve our ability to initiate the MTP earlier. ⋯ Triggers have differential predictive values for need for transfusion. Defining the individual utility of each criterion will help to identify those most likely to benefit from an early initiation of the MTP.
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Comparative Study
National Emergency X-Radiography Utilization Study criteria is inadequate to rule out fracture after significant blunt trauma compared with computed tomography.
EAST guidelines now recommend computed tomography (CT) to evaluate cervical spine (c-spine) fractures after blunt trauma in patients who do not meet National Emergency X-Radiography Utilization Study criteria (NC), yet no imaging is required in those patients who do meet these criteria. NC are based on patients with both minor and severe (trauma team activation [TTA]) trauma. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the NC using CT as the gold standard in TTA patients. ⋯ As in our previous trial, NC is inaccurate compared with CT to diagnose c-spine fractures in TTA patients. CT should be used in all blunt TTA patients regardless of whether they meet NC.
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Comparative Study
Minor head injury in warfarinized patients: indicators of risk for intracranial hemorrhage.
Head injury represents one of the most important and frequent traumatic pathology in the emergency department. Among the different risk factors, preinjury use of warfarin has received considerable attention in trauma literature. The aim of this study was to identify further risk indicators of intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) to improve risk stratification of warfarinized patients with minor head injuries. ⋯ This study highlights the strong relationship between INR values and the probability of ICH, as shown in previous studies. The high negative predictive value of the identified cutoff, if confirmed, could be used to exclude ICH.