Articles: trauma.
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Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg · Oct 2024
ReviewThe non-haemorrhagic vagal response to trauma: a review of hypotensive and bradycardic responses to injury in the absence of bleeding.
Trauma has the potential to cause haemorrhage, tissue damage, pain, visceral manipulation and psychological distress. Each of these consequences of trauma can cause changes in autonomic outflow, which dictates a patient's vital signs. Patients who are hypotensive and bradycardic due to a vagally mediated parasympathetic response to pain, psychological distress and visceral manipulation may be confused with those who exhibit bradycardia and hypotension following significant blood volume loss. ⋯ The pattern of injury, patient demographic and speed of onset / resolution associated with the non-haemorrhagic vagal response to trauma may is heterogenous. It is therefore challenging to clinically distinguish between the hypotensive bradycardia due to hypovolaemia secondary to haemorrhage, or a parasympathetic response to trauma in the absence of bleeding.
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Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) encompasses a spectrum of disability including early cognitive impairment (ECI). The Brain Injury Guidelines suggest that patients with mTBI can be safely discharged from the emergency department. Although half of patients with mTBI with intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) have evidence of ECI, it is unclear what percentage of these patients' ECI persists after discharge. We hypothesize a significant proportion of trauma patients with mTBI and ECI at presentation have persistent ECI at 30-day follow-up. ⋯ More than one-third of mTBI patients with ICH had ECI. At 30-day postdischarge follow-up, more than one-fourth of these patients had persistent ECI and 33% had concussion symptoms. This highlights the importance of identifying ECI before discharge as a significant portion may have ongoing difficulties reintegrating into work and society.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Oct 2024
Evaluation of the Glasgow Coma Scale-Pupils score for predicting inpatient mortality among patients with traumatic subdural hematoma at United States trauma centers.
The Glasgow Coma Scale-Pupils (GCS-P) score has been suggested to better predict patient outcomes compared with GCS alone, while avoiding the need for more complex clinical models. This study aimed to compare the prognostic ability of GCS-P versus GCS in a national cohort of traumatic subdural hematoma (SDH) patients. ⋯ The GCS-P score provides better short-term prognostication compared with the GCS score alone among traumatic SDH patients with penetrating TBI. The GCS-P score overestimates inpatient mortality risk among penetrating TBI patients with higher rates of observed mortality. For penetrating TBI patients, which comprised 2.4% of our SDH cohort, a low GCS-P score should not justify clinical nihilism or forgoing aggressive treatment.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Oct 2024
Spin in traumatic brain injury literature: prevalence and associated factors. A systematic review.
Spin is characterized as a misinterpretation of results that, whether deliberate or unintentional, culminates in misleading conclusions and steers readers toward an excessively optimistic perspective of the data. The primary objective of this systematic review was to estimate the prevalence and nature of spin within the traumatic brain injury (TBI) literature. Additionally, the identification of associated factors is intended to provide guidance for future research practices. ⋯ The prevalence of spin in the TBI literature is high, even at leading medical journals. Studies with higher risks of bias are more frequently associated with spin. Critical interpretation of results and authors' conclusions is advisable regardless of the study design and published journal.
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Comparative Study
Comparison of the epidemiology of elderly trauma between major trauma centres in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Melbourne, Australia.
To review the epidemiology of elderly trauma at the Kind Saud Medical City (KSMC), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and carry out risk-adjusted analyses to benchmark outcomes with the Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Australia, the largest Australasian trauma service. ⋯ Despite the different settings, low level falls were the major cause of injury in older patients. A longer length of stay in the acute hospital was identified for KSMC, however, this may be partly explained by discharge destination practices in the 2 countries.