European journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society
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Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg · Jun 2024
Haemodynamic response to pre-hospital emergency anaesthesia in trauma patients within an urban helicopter emergency medical service.
Pre-hospital emergency anaesthesia is routinely used in the care of severely injured patients by pre-hospital critical care services. Anaesthesia, intubation, and positive pressure ventilation may lead to haemodynamic instability. The aim of this study was to identify the frequency of new-onset haemodynamic instability after induction in trauma patients with a standardised drug regime. ⋯ New haemodynamic instability within the first 30 min following pre-hospital emergency anaesthesia in trauma patients is common despite reduction of sedative drug doses to minimise their haemodynamic impact. It is important to identify non-drug factors that may improve cardiovascular stability in this group to optimise the care received by these patients.
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Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg · Jun 2024
Clinical parameters for the early detection of complications in patients with blunt hepatic and/or splenic injury undergoing non-operative management.
Complications arising during non-operative management (NOM) of blunt hepatic and/or splenic trauma, particularly in cases of severe injury, are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Abdominal computed tomography (CT) is the gold standard for the initial detection of complications during NOM. Although many institutions advocate routine in-hospital follow-up scans to improve success rates, others recommend a more selective approach. The use of follow-up CT remains a subject of ongoing debate, with no validated guidelines available regarding the timing, effectiveness, or intervals of follow-up imaging. ⋯ Routine CT to detect complications may not be necessary in patients with asymptomatic low-grade blunt hepatic injuries. By contrast, in those with isolated blunt hepatic injuries that are managed non-operatively, high-grade injuries, the presence of a contrast blush on initial imaging, and the patient's age may warrant consideration for routine follow-up CT scans. Clinical symptoms and laboratory observations during NOM, such as tachycardia, abdominal pain, decreased hematocrit levels, and fever, are significantly associated with complications. These symptoms necessitate further management, regardless of the initial injury severity, in patients with blunt hepatic and/or splenic injuries undergoing NOM.
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Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg · Jun 2024
Utilization of trauma nurse screening procedure for triage of the injured patient.
The treatment of trauma patients requires significant hospital resources. Numerous protocols exist to triage the injured patient and determine the level of care they may require. The purpose of this work is to describe an institutional trauma nurse screening procedure and to evaluate its effectiveness in triaging injured patients. ⋯ These results suggest that nursing screening protocols can be safe, effective tools for triage of trauma patients.
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Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg · Jun 2024
Witnessed prehospital traumatic arrest: predictors of survival to hospital discharge.
Trauma patients are rapidly transported to the hospital for definitive care. Nonetheless, some are alive upon Emergency Medical Services (EMS) arrival but arrest on-scene or during transport. The study objective was to examine EMS-witnessed traumatic arrests to define patients who survived hospital discharge. ⋯ After EMS-witnessed traumatic cardiac arrest, survivors were more likely to be young, female, injured by blunt trauma, and less hypotensive/comatose on-scene. These findings may have implications for ED resuscitation or declaration of care futility and should be further investigated with a prospective multicenter study.
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Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg · Jun 2024
The impact of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on surgical outcomes after surgery for an acute abdominal diagnosis.
The current study was undertaken to describe the independent contribution of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) to the risk of postoperative morbidity and in-hospital mortality among patients undergoing surgery for an acute abdominal diagnosis. ⋯ Preexisting COPD may alter a patient's risk of PPCs and VD. However, it was not associated with an increased risk of in-hospital mortality.