Fireworks Injuries to the Head and Neck: A Retrospective Analysis Between 2008 and 2017

Author(s):  
Zachary Tanenbaum ◽  
Navin Prasad ◽  
Priya Bhardwaj ◽  
Alexandra  Welschmeyer ◽  
Earl H Harley

Abstract Background This study examines firework-associated head and neck injuries in the United States from 2008 to 2017 obtained from a single epidemiology source.  Methods The National Electronic Surveillance System was used to collect epidemiologic data and retrospectively analyze firework-associated injuries from 2008 to 2017. Injury types included burns, concussions, contusions, foreign bodies, hematomas, internal organ injury, lacerations, and puncture wounds. 431 individuals were originally included, however, 14 participants were excluded due to inadequate injury information. Chi-squared analyses were performed between the following categorical variables: gender versus body part injured, patient age versus injury type, and patient age versus body part injured.  Results 417 injuries to the head and neck (67.4% male, 32.6% female) were treated in National Electronic Surveillance System-reporting emergency departments during the 10-year period. 69% of the injuries occurred in July. Body parts injured included the ear (10.6%), face (61.6%), head (13.0%), mouth (4.8%), and neck (10.0%). Chi-squared analysis demonstrated an association between gender and body part injured (p=0.0001). Patient age (p=0.066) was independent of injury type. Children aged 0-12 years had the highest probability of being injured (40.2%), then adults 22+ (33.1%) and adolescents 13-21 years (26.9%). Conclusions Given that the preponderance of injuries caused by fireworks occurred primarily in minors, pediatricians should screen for any household firework use during the anticipatory guidance portion of well-child checks, which we believe would improve patient safety and decrease injury rates.

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (suppl_1) ◽  
pp. e8-e8
Author(s):  
Brett Burstein ◽  
Julia Upton ◽  
Heloisa Fuzaro Terra ◽  
Mark I Neuman

Abstract BACKGROUND The Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN) clinical prediction rules identify children at low risk of clinically important traumatic brain injury in whom computed tomography (CT) neuro-imaging can safely be avoided. Since publication in 2009, these rules have been externally validated and are widely used in the Emergency Department (ED) assessment of children with acute head trauma. OBJECTIVES This study sought to determine if the proportion of children receiving CT-imaging in US EDs following head trauma has decreased following the development of PECARN rules. DESIGN/METHODS This study was a cross-sectional study using the National Hospital Ambulatory Care Survey (NHAMCS) database from 2007–2014. NHAMCS collects data on approximately 30,000 nationally representative visits annually to 300 randomly selected U.S EDs. We included all children <18 years old presenting with a chief complaint or discharge diagnosis of head injury. We collected data on patient demographics, reason for ED visit, discharge diagnosis, patient disposition, and use of head CT. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify characteristics of CT use, with appropriate weighting to account for the survey methodology. The primary outcome was proportion of children receiving a head CT before and after 2009. RESULTS There were 55,253 paediatric visits during the 8-year study period. Among these, 2,783 (5.3% 95%CI 5.0%-5.6%) met inclusion criteria, representing 12,417,725 paediatric head trauma visits. Median patient age was 6 years (IQR 2–13 years), 62% were male, and a majority were evaluated in non-teaching and non-paediatric hospitals (88% and 90%, respectively). Overall, 32% (95%CI 29%-35%) underwent CT neuroimaging. There was no significant difference in CT use after 2009 (31% after vs. 33% before, p=0.41). Multivariate analysis similarly demonstrated no difference after adjustment for patient age, gender, race, insurance provider, paediatric or teaching hospital, admission status and triage acuity (AOR 1.02 after vs. before, 95%CI 0.79–1.32, p=0.85). Factors associated with increased CT use were age ≥2 years (AOR 1.4, 95%CI 1.1–1.9, p=0.02), admission (AOR 5.3, 95%CI 2.2–12.4, p<0.001), highest triage acuity (AOR 7.3, 95%CI 3.5–15.3, p<0.001) and presentation to a non-teaching (AOR 1.5, 95%CI 1.1–2.2, p=0.02) or non-paediatric (AOR 1.5, 95%CI 1.3–2.8, p<0.01) hospital. CONCLUSION The use of CT neuro-imaging did not decrease in the 5-year period following derivation of PECARN rules. Findings suggest an important need for quality improvement initiatives to ensure appropriate CT utilization among head injured children.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 204589401882456 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob Schultz ◽  
Nicholas Giordano ◽  
Hui Zheng ◽  
Blair A. Parry ◽  
Geoffrey D. Barnes ◽  
...  

Background We provide the first multicenter analysis of patients cared for by eight Pulmonary Embolism Response Teams (PERTs) in the United States (US); describing the frequency of team activation, patient characteristics, pulmonary embolism (PE) severity, treatments delivered, and outcomes. Methods We enrolled patients from the National PERT Consortium™ multicenter registry with a PERT activation between 18 October 2016 and 17 October 2017. Data are presented combined and by PERT institution. Differences between institutions were analyzed using chi-squared test or Fisher's exact test for categorical variables, and ANOVA or Kruskal-Wallis test for continuous variables, with a two-sided P value < 0.05 considered statistically significant. Results There were 475 unique PERT activations across the Consortium, with acute PE confirmed in 416 (88%). The number of activations at each institution ranged from 3 to 13 activations/month/1000 beds with the majority originating from the emergency department (281/475; 59.3%). The largest percentage of patients were at intermediate–low (141/416, 34%) and intermediate–high (146/416, 35%) risk of early mortality, while fewer were at high-risk (51/416, 12%) and low-risk (78/416, 19%). The distribution of risk groups varied significantly between institutions ( P = 0.002). Anticoagulation alone was the most common therapy, delivered to 289/416 (70%) patients with confirmed PE. The proportion of patients receiving any advanced therapy varied between institutions ( P = 0.0003), ranging from 16% to 46%. The 30-day mortality was 16% (53/338), ranging from 9% to 44%. Conclusions The frequency of team activation, PE severity, treatments delivered, and 30-day mortality varies between US PERTs. Further research should investigate the sources of this variability.


2019 ◽  
Vol 85 (9) ◽  
pp. 961-964
Author(s):  
Kathryn C. Kelley ◽  
Alex Alers ◽  
Charles Bendas ◽  
Peter G. Thomas ◽  
James Cipolla ◽  
...  

Enmeshment of emergency trauma providers (ETPs) into the United States health-care fabric resulted in the establishment of a formalized surgical critical care fellowship and certification for emergency medicine trainees. The aim of this study was to compare trauma outcomes for surgery-trained providers (STPs) and ETPs at our institution, hypothesizing patient outcome equivalency. We performed an institutional review board–exempt institutional registry review (January 1, 2004 to August 1, 2018), comparing 74 STPs and 6 ETPs. Comparator variables included all-cause mortality, all-cause morbidity, CTimaging studies per provider, time in ED (min), hospital/ICU lengths of stay, ICU admissions, and functional outcomes on discharge. Statistical comparisons included chi-square test for categorical data and analysis of covariance for continuous data (adjustments made for patient age, Injury Severity Score, and trauma mechanism; all P < 0.20). Statistical significance was set at P < 0.05, with an equivalence study design. A total of 33,577 trauma resuscitations were reviewed (32,299 STP-led and 1,278 ETP-led). Except for patient age (STP 50.2 ± 25.9 vs ETP 54.9 ± 25.3 years), Injury Severity Score (8.47 ± 8.14 vs 9.22 ± 8.40), and ICU admissions (16.1% vs 18.8%), we noted no significant intergroup differences. ETPs’ performance was equivalent to that of STPs for all primary comparator variables (mortality, morbidity, CT utilization, time in the ED, lengths of stay, and functional outcomes). Incorporation of ETPs into our trauma center resulted in outcome parity between ETPs and STPs, while simultaneously expanding the expertise and experiential diversity within our multidisciplinary team. This study provides support for further incorporation of ETPs as equal partners across the growing network of United States regional trauma centers.


Author(s):  
James Feghali ◽  
Abhishek Gami ◽  
Sarah Rapaport ◽  
Matthew T Bender ◽  
Christopher M Jackson ◽  
...  

Abstract BACKGROUND Given increasing life expectancy in the United States and worldwide, the proportion of elderly patients affected by aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) would be expected to increase. OBJECTIVE To determine whether an aging trend exists in the population of aSAH patients presenting to our institution over a 28-yr period. METHODS A prospectively maintained database of consecutive patients presenting to our institution with subarachnoid hemorrhage between January 1991 and December 2018 was utilized. The 28-yr period was categorized into 4 successive 7-yr quarter intervals. The age of patients was compared among these intervals, and yearly trends were derived using linear regression. RESULTS The cohort consisted of 1671 ruptured aneurysm patients with a mean age of 52.8 yr (standard deviation = 15.0 yr). Over the progressive 7-yr time intervals during the 28-yr period, there was an approximately 4-fold increase in the proportion of patients aged 80 yr or above (P &lt; .001) and an increase in mean patient age from 51.2 to 54.6 yr (P = .002). Independent of this trend but along the same lines, there was a 29% decrease in the proportion of younger patients (&lt;50 yr) from 49% to 35%. On linear regression, there was 1-yr increase in mean patient age per 5 calendar years (P &lt; .001). CONCLUSION Analyses of aSAH patients demonstrate an increase in patient age over time with a considerable rise in the proportion of octogenarian patients and a decrease in patients younger than 50 yr. This aging phenomenon presents a challenge to the continued improvement in outcomes of aSAH patients.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 266-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sammy Othman ◽  
Jason E. Cohn ◽  
Brian McKinnon

With basketball gradually becoming increasingly popular across the United States, it is necessary for health care providers to understand injuries associated with the sport. We aim to determine the incidence of basketball-related facial injuries and further describe their patterns with regard to age, mechanism of injury, and degree of injury. An analysis of emergency department visits under the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System was conducted from 2015 through 2017. Chi-squared testing (χ2) was performed to compare categorical variables. After a review of results, a total of 4,578 patients were included for analysis spanning a 3-year time period (2015-2017). Lacerations were the most common injury overall (57.9%). Nasal fractures were by far the most common fracture (76.1%), and elbows to the face and collisions with other players were the most common types of injury mechanisms (31 and 28.7%, respectively). Adolescents (aged 12-18 years) were the most frequently injured group (42.5%), although young adults (aged 19-34 years) were also frequently affected (30.1%). Basketball facial trauma remains a prominent issue. Our research, in correlation with previous research, shows that current precautions to injury are not widely observed or are ineffective to the extent of need for further reform. It thus becomes necessary to provide patient education and develop more practical methods for decreasing player injury.


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