Articles: trauma.
-
DVT/PE PostersSESSION TYPE: Poster PresentationsPRESENTED ON: Saturday, March 22, 2014 at 01:15 PM - 02:15 PMPURPOSE: Chest computed tomography (CT) has replaced angiography and ventilation/perfusion scanning as the diagnostic method of choice for pulmonary embolism. This study reviews the indications and outcomes of chest CT scanning in the setting of a non-trauma based community hospital Emergency Department (ED) in an effort to develop a "best practice" guideline that optimizes patient care while minimizing radiation exposure and cost. ⋯ The following authors have nothing to disclose: Thomas Willson, Benjamin Larsen, Matthew Blecha, Mark Connolly, Francis PodbielskiNo Product/Research Disclosure Information.
-
Admission hypocoagulability has been associated with negative outcomes after trauma. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of hypercoagulability after trauma on the need for blood product transfusion and mortality. ⋯ Approximately a quarter of trauma patients presented in a hypercoagulable state. Hypercoagulable patients required less blood products, in particular plasma. They also had a lower 24-h and 7-day mortality and lower rates of bleeding-related deaths. Further evaluation of the mechanism responsible for the hypercoagulable state and its implications on outcome is warranted.
-
The aim of this study was to describe the evolution and nature of self-destructive metabolic responses observed in critically ill patients, and to analyze therapeutic principles on how best to avoid or diminish these responses. ⋯ Minor surgical trauma is associated with a beneficial adaptive metabolic response. After a severe insult, however, emergence of self-destructive responses will be unavoidable if the patient survives the acute phase. Effective treatment is only possible by an aggressive therapy of underlying pathologies (such as shock, trauma or infection) thereby interrupting secondary metabolic trigger mechanisms at an early stage.
-
Trauma registries are used worldwide to coordinate patient care as well as provide data for audit and research purposes. National registries collect this data, producing research opportunities, outcome standards and a means by which to benchmark trauma centre performance. The Trauma Audit and Research Network (TARN) is the UK national registry, with data upload being mandatory from all major trauma centres (MTCs), a process which is manual and time and resource intensive. ⋯ The wide range of software options and their lack of integration with the hospital electronic patient records results in the duplication of data as well as requiring time and resources. This may also be due to the difference in data required for coordinating on-going patient care and that required for upload to the TARN. Whilst some of these programmes do have the capabilities for automatic data upload, further efforts must be made to provide a cohesive system that provides the required integration and customisability in order to improve efficiency and ultimately trauma care.