J Trauma
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Comparative Study
A comparison of EMT judgment and prehospital trauma triage instruments.
A number of instruments have been devised to aid in the triage of trauma patients. Little work, however, has been done to demonstrate that these triage instruments offer an advantage over the judgment of an emergency medical technician (EMT) in determining which patients require transportation to a trauma center. The purpose of this study was to compare EMT judgment against three scoring systems; the triage-revised Trauma Score, the Prehospital Index, and the CRAMS scale. ⋯ We found that the EMT prediction of mortality was as accurate as the various scores. In a subset of patients, we also found that the EMT assessment performed as well as the scoring systems in identifying patients who either died or required emergent operative intervention. We conclude that EMT judgment is as accurate as these three scoring systems in identifying patients at high risk for death or the need for immediate operative intervention.
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To determine whether elevations in blood glucose levels were related to neurologic outcomes following severe brain injuries in children, 54 patients 16 years of age or younger admitted to a regional trauma center with a Glasgow Coma Scale score of 8 or less over a 2-year period were retrospectively reviewed. The mean initial blood glucose level on hospital admission was significantly higher in the 16 patients with outcomes of death or vegetative state in comparison with that of the 38 patients with outcomes of good recovery, moderate disability,or severe disability (288 mg/100 mL vs. 194 mg/100 mL, t = -2.74, p = 0.01). Blood glucose levels correlated significantly with indicators of the severity of the brain injury, which were also related to outcome. ⋯ Logistic regression analysis resulted in a model for prediction of outcome which included the Glasgow Coma Scale score on admission and the initial blood glucose level. The odds ratio of a poor outcome in this model in patients with blood glucose levels greater than or equal to 250 mg/100 mL relative to those with lower levels was 8.3 (95% confidence interval 1.3-53.6). A simple prognostic score was derived from the logistic regression which improved upon the prediction of outcome using the Glasgow Coma Scale score alone in those patients with initial blood glucose levels greater than or equal to 250 mg/100 mL.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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Tension pneumopericardium is uncommon in blunt trauma, and only rare survivors have been reported. We report two patients who survived tension pneumopericardium following blunt trauma. Both patients experienced signs and symptoms of cardiac tamponade that were corrected by insertion of a subxyphoid pericardial tube. Both survived all injuries and returned to normal activities with normal neurologic function.
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A migratory intravascular bullet fragment located within the hypogastric vein was removed successfully with the aid of interventional radiologic techniques. The authors describe the use of the technique of balloon trapping as part of this procedure. A balloon should be inflated between the foreign body and the heart before retrieval is attempted in order to prevent migration back to the heart during the manipulation.
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To characterize trauma patients who die unexpectedly on the ward (unexpected ward deaths = UWDs), 1,011 trauma-related deaths occurring at a level I trauma center over a 10-year period were reviewed for location of death. Seventy-four deaths occurred on the non-ICU trauma ward (i.e., nonmonitored med-surg floor). Fifty patients were "do not resuscitate" (expected deaths). ⋯ Twelve (50%) of the UWDs were determined by peer review to be potentially preventable and were the result of delayed diagnosis (n = 6), aspiration (n = 3), or cardiorespiratory arrest (n = 3). We conclude that unexpected trauma center deaths related to events occurring on the non-ICU trauma ward (2.4% of trauma deaths) occur mostly at night in older, neurologically impaired patients and that half of these deaths may be potentially preventable. Increased awareness of this issue and an environment for direct patient observation may reduce the number of these potentially preventable deaths.