European journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society
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Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg · Jun 2021
Increased and unjustified CT usage in paediatric C-spine clearance in a level 2 trauma centre.
Cervical spine injury after blunt trauma in children is rare but can have severe consequences. Clear protocols for diagnostic workup are, therefore, needed, but currently not available. As a step in developing such a protocol, we determined the incidence of cervical spine injury and the degree of protocol adherence at our level 2 trauma centre. ⋯ Radiographic imaging is frequently performed when clearing the paediatric cervical spine, although cervical spine injury is rare. Particularly CT scan usage has wrongly been emerging over time. Stricter adherence to current protocols could limit overuse of radiographic imaging, but ultimately there is a need for an accurate rule predicting which children really are at risk of injury.
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Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg · Jun 2021
Impact of the first COVID-19 shutdown on patient volumes and surgical procedures of a Level I trauma center.
In Dec 2019, COVID-19 was first recognized and led to a worldwide pandemic. The German government implemented a shutdown in Mar 2020, affecting outpatient and hospital care. The aim of the present article was to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 shutdown on patient volumes and surgical procedures of a Level I trauma center in Germany. ⋯ This analysis shows a decrease of total patient numbers in an emergency department of a Level I trauma center and a decrease of the total number of operations during the shutdown period. Concurrently, we observed an increase of severe open fractures and emergency operations. Furthermore, trauma mechanism changed with less traffic, work and sports-related accidents.
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Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg · Jun 2021
Associations between cardiovascular comorbidities and mortality, length of hospital stay, and total charges among traumatic injury patients.
Cardiovascular conditions are highly prevalent and particularly common in subsets of the population at high risk for traumatic injury. This study evaluates the extent to which cardiovascular comorbidity may increase risks of negative outcomes in patients receiving trauma treatment. ⋯ Cardiovascular comorbidities are related to higher risk of negative outcomes among patients hospitalized due to traumatic injury. Screening for these comorbidities on admission may help to improve patient outcomes.
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Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg · Jun 2021
Clinical and radiological evaluation of thoracic spine fractures with or without sternal fracture: is there a need for ventral stabilization?
The treatment of thoracic spine (TS) fractures with additional sternal fractures compared to TS fractures without sternal fractures is discussed controversionally, because in some studies it was stated that sternal fractures decrease the thoracic stability. We hypothesized that both types of fractures can be treated the same way by posterior stabilization alone. ⋯ We did not find any arguments to preserve additional anterior stabilization or reasons for different treatment strategies either additional sternal fractures occur in thoracic spine fractures or not.
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Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg · Jun 2021
Determinants of long-term health-related quality of life in adult patients with mild traumatic brain injury.
Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) usually leads to the appearance of post-concussion symptoms (PCS) which may resolve after a short time. In this study, the mental and physical aspects of quality of life (QoL) were evaluated 6 months after mTBI, and the association of demographic and injury-related factors, post-injury primary executive function and PCS types with the long-term QoL status was investigated. ⋯ This study emphasizes on the clinical significance of early executive function and PCS examination in mTBI population, as well as optimal management of the victims regardless of the initial brain CT findings, especially in high-risk populations.