J Trauma
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Multicenter Study
A trauma outreach program provided by a level I trauma center is an effective way to initiate peer review at referring hospitals and foster process improvements.
The initial care of critically injured patients has profound effects on ultimate outcomes. The "golden hour" of trauma care is often provided by rural hospitals before definitive transfer. There are, however, no standardized methods for providing educational feedback to these hospitals for the purposes of performance improvement. We hypothesized that an outreach program would stimulate peer review and identify systematic deficiencies in the care of patients with injuries. ⋯ A formal outreach program can stimulate peer review at rural hospitals, provide continuing education in the care of patients with injuries, and foster process improvements at referring hospitals.
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Little data exist examining the impact of positive pressure ventilation on safe thoracostomy tube removal. We sought to evaluate the impact of positive-pressure ventilation (PPV) on recurrent pneumothoraces (PTX) after removal of thoracostomy tubes (TT). ⋯ The rate of recurrent PTX or TT replacement after removal is not associated with PPV status. The slightly lower recurrence rate on PPV combined with the smaller proportion of patients with stable small PTX before removal may reflect more careful clinician selection of ideal patients or technique of TT removal among patients on PPV. Prospective data are needed to clarify these associations.
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No evidence of infection after retrograde nailing of supracondylar femur fracture in gunshot wounds.
The aim of the study was to determine whether osteomyelitis of the femur or septic arthritis of the knee develops after retrograde intramedullary nailing of the femur performed within 7 days of supracondylar femur fracture, secondary to gunshot wounds, without skin defects. ⋯ Retrograde intramedullary nailing of the femur can be performed in patients with supracondylar fractures of the femur due to gunshot wounds, and without skin defects, in the first 7 days after the trauma. Neither osteomyelitis of the femur nor septic arthritis of the knee develops in these patients.
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The purpose of this study was to describe a blinded intra-aortic balloon occlusion (IABO) procedure in pelvic fractures (PF) for patients with critically uncontrollable hemorrhagic shock (CUHS). ⋯ This IABO procedure can be life saving in the management of patients with CUHS from PF, permitting transport to angiography. However, the decision for such treatment must be as quickly as possible after trauma to reduce the time of occlusion.
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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) publicly reports hospital compliance with evidence-based processes of care as quality indicators. We hypothesized that compliance with CMS quality indicators would correlate with risk-adjusted mortality rates in trauma patients. ⋯ CMS quality indicators do not correlate with risk-adjusted mortality rates in trauma patients. Hence, there is a need to develop new trauma-specific process of care quality indicators to evaluate and improve quality of care in trauma centers.