Predictors of blunt diaphragm injury in Australia

Trauma ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 146040862110418
Author(s):  
Annelise M Cocco ◽  
Vignesh Ratnaraj ◽  
Benjamin PT Loveday ◽  
Kellie Gumm ◽  
Phillip Antippa ◽  
...  

Introduction Blunt diaphragm injury (BDI) is an uncommon, potentially fatal consequence of blunt torso injury. While associations between BDI and other factors such as mechanism of injury or other injuries have been described elsewhere, little recent research has been done in Australia into BDI. The aims of this study were to determine the incidence rate of BDI in our centre, identify how it was diagnosed, determine rates of missed injury and identify predictive factors for BDI. The hypothesis was that patients with BDI would significantly differ to those without BDI. Methods All major trauma patients with blunt torso injuries at our Level 1 major trauma service from 2010 to 2018 were included. Data for patient demographics, other injuries, diagnosis and treatment of BDI were extracted. Patients with BDI were compared with patients without BDI in order to identify differences that could be used to predict BDI in future patients. Results Of 5190 patients with a blunt torso injury, 51 (0.98%) had a BDI at a mean age of 53 ± 19.6 years, and median Injury Severity Score (ISS) of 27(IQR 21–38.5) compared with 5139 patients with a mean age of 48.2 ± 20.7 years and median ISS of 21.9(IQR 14–26) who did not have a BDI. The diagnosis of BDI was made at CT ( n = 35), surgery ( n = 14) or autopsy ( n = 2). Blunt diaphragm injury was missed on index imaging for 11 of 43 patients (25.6%). On multivariate analysis, each point increase in ISS (OR 1.03, p = 0.02); rib fractures (OR 4.65, p = 0.004); splenic injury (OR 2.60, p = 0.004); and liver injury (OR 2.78, p = 0.003) were independently associated with BDI. Conclusion Injury Severity Score, rib fractures and solid abdominal organ injury increase the likelihood of BDI. In patients with these injuries, BDI should be considered even in the presence of normal CT findings.

Trauma ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 220-228
Author(s):  
Saleem Varachhia ◽  
Vidya Ramcharitar Maharaj ◽  
Joanne F Paul ◽  
Paula Robertson ◽  
Paula Nunes ◽  
...  

Introduction There are few data on major trauma in the developing world. This study investigated the characteristics and outcomes of seriously injured patients in Trinidad and Tobago, using Trauma and Injury Severity Score (TRISS) methodology. We also aimed to assess the predictive accuracy of the TRISS model in patients in Trinidad and Tobago. Methods Retrospective data from major trauma patients attending the Emergency Department of a tertiary hospital in Trinidad between 2010 and 2014 were analysed. Patients ≥18 years having an Injury Severity Score >15 were included. The impact of age, gender, comorbidities, mechanisms and patterns of injury on mortality was investigated. Using TRISS methodology, predicted mortality was calculated and compared to actual mortality. Results Of 323 patients analysed, 284 were male and 24 were aged ≥65 years. The commonest injury mechanisms in younger people were motor vehicle accidents (34.1%) and stabbings (30.8%) compared to falls (66.7%) and motor vehicle accidents (20.8%) in people aged ≥65 years. The commonest areas injured were the chest in younger patients (81.9%) and the head and neck in patients aged ≥65 years (58.3%). Women’s mortality rates were similar to men (RR 1.8; 95% CI 0.7–4.9). Mortality was higher with age ≥65 years (RR 7.0; 95% CI 3.1–15.9), blunt trauma (RR 7.6; 95% CI 1.8–32.4) and Charlson Comorbidity Index of 1 or more (RR 3.2; 95% CI 1.3–8.0). The TRISS model performed well at lower ISS scores and was excellent at predicting survival (discrimination statistic 0.94). Conclusion Multiple factors influence mortality in major trauma patients in Trinidad and Tobago, including age, co-morbidities and injury mechanism. TRISS methodology accurately predicted survival in this population but was better at predicting mortality in patients with lower Injury Severity Score.


2020 ◽  
pp. emermed-2019-209092
Author(s):  
James Vassallo ◽  
Gordon Fuller ◽  
Jason E Smith

IntroductionMajor trauma is the third leading cause of avoidable mortality in the UK. Defining which patients require care in a major trauma centre is a critical component of developing, evaluating and enhancing regional major trauma systems. Traditionally, trauma patients have been classified using the Injury Severity Score (ISS), but resource-based criteria have been proposed as an alternative. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between ISS and the use of life-saving interventions (LSI).MethodsRetrospective cohort study using the Trauma Audit Research Network database for all adult patients (aged ≥18 years) between 2006 and 2014. Patients were categorised as needing an LSI if they received one or more interventions from a previously defined list determined by expert consensus.Results193 290 patients met study inclusion criteria: 56.9% male, median age 60.0 years (IQR 41.2–78.8) and median ISS 9 (IQR 9–16). The most common mechanism of injury was falls <2 m (52.1%), followed by road traffic collisions (22.2%). 15.1% received one or more LSIs. The probability of a receiving an LSI increased with increasing ISS, but only a low to moderate correlation was evident (0.334, p<0.001). A clinically significant number of cases (5.3% and 7.6%) received an LSI despite having an ISS ≤8 or <15, respectively.ConclusionsA clinically significant number of adult trauma patients requiring LSIs have an ISS below the traditional definition of major trauma. The traditional definition should be reconsidered and either lowered, or an alternative metric should be used.


2017 ◽  
Vol 83 (4) ◽  
pp. 399-402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian S. Shapiro ◽  
Tarik Wasfie ◽  
Mathew Chadwick ◽  
Kimberly R. Barber ◽  
Raquel Yapchai

Presently, trauma guidelines recommend epidural analgesia as the optimal modality of pain relief from rib fractures. They are not ideally suited for elderly trauma patients and have disadvantages including bleeding risk. The paravertebral analgesic pump (PVP) eliminates such disadvantages and includes ease of placement in the trauma setting. This study compares pain control in patients treated by EPI versus PVP. This is a retrospective, historical cohort study comparing two methods of pain management in the trauma setting. Before 2010, patients who had epidural catheters (EPI) placed for pain control were compared with patients after 2010 in which the PVP was used. All patients had multiple rib fractures as diagnosed by CT scan. Analysis was adjusted for age, number of fractures, and comorbid conditions. Multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to compare average reported pain. A total of 110 patients, 31 PVP and 79 epidural catheters, were included in the study. Overall mean age was 65 years. The mean Injury Severity Score was 12.0 (EPI) and 11.1 (PVP). Mean number rib fractures was 4.29 (EPI) and 4.71 (PVP). PVP was associated with a 30 per cent greater decrease in pain than that seen with EPI (6.0–1.9 vs 6.4–3.4). After controlling for age, Injury Severity Score, and number of rib fractures, there were no differences in intensive care unit or total length of stay (P = 0.35) or in pain score (3.76 vs 3.56, P = 0.64). In conclusion, the PVP compares well with epidural analgesia in older trauma patients yet is safe, well tolerated, and easily inserted.


2018 ◽  
Vol 84 (9) ◽  
pp. 1462-1465 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krista L. Haines ◽  
Tiffany Zens ◽  
Charles Warner-Hillard ◽  
Edwarda DeSouza ◽  
Hee Soo Jung ◽  
...  

Rib fractures represent up to 55 per cent of thoracic blunt traumatic injuries and lead to significant mortality and morbidity. The aim of this study is to determine whether not only number but also the location of rib fractures can be used to risk stratify patients. This is a retrospective study of all blunt trauma patients who presented with rib fractures from January 1, 2013 to April 1, 2015 and underwent chest CT. Rib fractures were categorized by location. Primary outcome was mortality, secondary outcomes were total hospital length of stay (LOS), intensive care unit LOS, and disposition. Multivariate regressions were performed to determine whether mortality and morbidity was dependent on the number of rib fractures as related to location. Nine hundred and twenty-nine patients were reviewed, 669 fit inclusion criteria, and 35 patients died. Mean Injury Severity Score (18 ± 10), total number of rib fractures (6 ± 5), and age (54 ± 19) significantly correlated with mortality. LOS correlated with the number of rib fractures (P < 0.001). Flail chest of indeterminate location significantly increased mortality (P = 0.002). Controlling for age, gender, and Injury Severity Score and for every lateral rib fracture, patients were 1.13 times (OR; P = 0.001) more likely to die. Posterior rib fractures only effected patient outcome if the patient has three or more posterior ribs broken and the patient was 45 years of age or older (P = 0.044); these patients were 12 times more likely to die. When evaluating blunt force trauma in patients with rib fractures, it is imperative to look at rib fracture location and not only the number of rib fractures sustained to predict outcomes.


2021 ◽  
pp. 000313482110249
Author(s):  
Leonardo Alaniz ◽  
Omaer Muttalib ◽  
Juan Hoyos ◽  
Cesar Figueroa ◽  
Cristobal Barrios

Introduction Extensive research relying on Injury Severity Scores (ISS) reports a mortality benefit from routine non-selective thoracic CTs (an integral part of pan-computed tomography (pan-CT)s). Recent research suggests this mortality benefit may be artifact. We hypothesized that the use of pan-CTs inflates ISS categorization in patients, artificially affecting admission rates and apparent mortality benefit. Methods Eight hundred and eleven patients were identified with an ISS >15 with significant findings in the chest area. Patient charts were reviewed and scores were adjusted to exclude only occult injuries that did not affect treatment plan. Pearson chi-square tests and multivariable logistic regression were used to compare adjusted cases vs non-adjusted cases. Results After adjusting for inflation, 388 (47.8%) patients remained in the same ISS category, 378 (46.6%) were reclassified into 1 lower ISS category, and 45 (5.6%) patients were reclassified into 2 lower ISS categories. Patients reclassified by 1 category had a lower rate of mortality ( P < 0.001), lower median total hospital LOS ( P < .001), ICU days ( P < .001), and ventilator days ( P = 0.008), compared to those that remained in the same ISS category. Conclusion Injury Severity Score inflation artificially increases survival rate, perpetuating the increased use of pan-CTs. This artifact has been propagated by outdated mortality prediction calculation methods. Thus, prospective evaluations of algorithms for more selective CT scanning are warranted.


2011 ◽  
Vol 77 (9) ◽  
pp. 1194-1200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin J. Clark ◽  
Linda L. Wong ◽  
Fedor Lurie ◽  
Brad K. Kamitaki

Trauma patients have unknown comorbidities, multiple injuries, and incomplete laboratory testing, yet require contrast-enhanced imaging to identify potentially life-threatening problems. Our goal was to characterize contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) in this population. We retrospectively reviewed characteristics of 402 patients who presented to a Level II trauma center and received contrast-enhanced imaging. CIN was defined as creatinine rise of 0.5 mg/dL or greater or 25 per cent or greater from baseline within 48 hours. CIN occurred in 7.7 per cent and four patients required hemodialysis. Patients with CIN were older, had lower admission hemoglobin, higher Injury Severity Score, and received more blood products. Factors that predicted CIN included: male sex, age older than 46 years, body mass index less than 27 kg/m2, glomerular filtration rate less than 109 mL/min/1.73 m2, hemoglobin less than 12 mg/dL, hematocrit less than 36 per cent, proteinuria, 2 units or more of fresh-frozen plasma in 48 hours, and alcohol use. Odds ratio for developing CIN with two, five, or six of these factors was 3.39, 6.54, and 8.38, respectively. A match-controlled analysis for Injury Severity Score and age in patients with CIN versus non-CIN patients revealed the strongest predictor of CIN was proteinuria (relative risk, 2.5; confidence interval, 1.1 to 5.8). Although it is difficult to truly differentiate CIN from renal dysfunction related to injury severity in trauma patients, proteinuria may be an important factor in identifying nephropathy in this population.


2007 ◽  
Vol 73 (11) ◽  
pp. 1173-1180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Om P. Sharma ◽  
Michael F. Oswanski ◽  
Rusin J. Joseph ◽  
Peter Tonui ◽  
Libby Westrick Pa-C ◽  
...  

Serial venous duplex scans (VDS) were done in 507 trauma patients with at least one risk factor (RF) for venous thromboembolism (VTE) during a 2-year study period. Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) was detected in 31 (6.1%) patients. This incidence was 3.1 per cent in low (1–2 RFs), 3.4 per cent in moderate (3–5 RFs), and 7.7 per cent in high (≥6 RFs) VTE scores ( P = 0.172). Incidence was statistically different (3% vs 7.2%, P = 0.048) on reanalyzing patients in two risk categories, low-risk (1–4 RFs) and high-risk (≥5 RFs). Only 4 of 16 RFs had statistically higher incidence of DVT in patients with or without RFs: previous VTE (27.3% vs 5.6%, odds ratio (OR) 6.628, P = 0.024), spinal cord injury (22.6% vs 5%, OR 5.493, P = 0.001), pelvic fractures (11.4% vs 5.1%, OR 2.373, P = 0.042), and head injury with a greater than two Abbreviated Injury Score (10.5% vs 4.2%, OR 2.639, P = 0.014). On reanalyzing patients with ≥5 RFs vs <5RFs, obesity (14.3 vs 6.1%, P = 0.007), malignancy (5.6% vs 0.6%, P = 0.006), coagulopathy (10.8% vs 1.8%, P = 0.000), and previous VTE (3.2% vs 0%, P = 0.019) were significant on univariate analysis. Patients with DVT had 3.70 ± 1.75 RFs and a 9.61 ± 4.93 VTE score, whereas, patients without DVT had 2.66 ± 1.50 RFs and a 6.83 ± 3.91 VTE score ( P = 0.000). DVTs had a direct positive relationship with higher VTE scores, length of stay, and number of VDS (>1 r, P ≤ 0.001). Increasing age was a weak risk factor (0.03 r, P = 0.5). First two VDS diagnosed 77 per cent of DVTs. Patients with injury severity score of ≥15 and 25 had higher DVTs compared with the ones with lower injury severity score levels ( P ≤ 0.05). Pulmonary embolism was silent in 63 per cent and DVTs were asymptomatic in 68 per cent.


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