Risk Factors Associated with Mortality in Severe Chest Trauma Patients Admitted to the ICU

Our objective was to determine outcomes of severe chest trauma admitted to the ICU and the risk factors associated with mortality. An observational, prospective, and multicenter registry of trauma patients admitted to the participating ICUs (March 2015–December 2019) was utilized to collect the patient data that were analyzed. Severe chest trauma was defined as an Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) value of ≥3 in the thoracic area. Logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the contribution of severe chest trauma to crude and adjusted ORs for mortality and to analyze the risk factors associated with mortality. Overall, 3821 patients (39%) presented severe chest trauma. The sample’s characteristics were as follows: a mean age of 49.88 (19.21) years, male (77.6%), blunt trauma (93.9%), a mean ISS of 19.9 (11.6). Crude and adjusted (for age and ISS) ORs for mortality in severe chest trauma were 0.78 (0.68–0.89) and 0.43 (0.37–0.50) (p < 0.001), respectively. In-hospital mortality in the severe chest trauma patients without significant traumatic brain injury (TBI) was 5.63% and was 25.71% with associated significant TBI (p < 0.001). Age, the severity of injury (NISS and AIS-head), hemodynamic instability, prehospital intubation, acute kidney injury, and multiorgan failure were risk factors associated with mortality. The contribution of severe chest injury to the mortality of trauma patients admitted to the ICU was very low. Risk factors associated with mortality were identified.

Clinical and Physiologic Factors Associated With Mode of Death in Pediatric Severe TBI

Aims and Objectives: Severe traumatic brain injury (sTBI) is the leading cause of death in children. Our aim was to determine the mode of death for children who died with sTBI in a Pediatric Critical Care Unit (PCCU) and evaluate factors associated with mortality.Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study of all severely injured trauma patients (Injury Severity Score ≥ 12) with sTBI (Glasgow Coma Scale [GCS] ≤ 8 and Maximum Abbreviated Injury Scale ≥ 4) admitted to a Canadian PCCU (2000–2016). We analyzed mode of death, clinical factors, interventions, lab values within 24 h of admission (early) and pre-death (48 h prior to death), and reviewed meeting notes in patients who died in the PCCU.Results: Of 195 included patients with sTBI, 55 (28%) died in the PCCU. Of these, 31 (56%) had a physiologic death (neurologic determination of death or cardiac arrest), while 24 (44%) had withdrawal of life-sustaining therapies (WLST). Median (IQR) times to death were 35.2 (11.8, 86.4) hours in the physiologic group and 79.5 (17.6, 231.3) hours in the WLST group (p = 0.08). The physiologic group had higher partial thromboplastin time (PTT) within 24 h of admission (p = 0.04) and lower albumin prior to death (p = 0.04).Conclusions: Almost half of sTBI deaths in the PCCU were by WLST. There was a trend toward a longer time to death in these patients. We found few early and late (pre-death) factors associated with mode of death, namely higher PTT and lower albumin.

Τραυματικοί θάνατοι στην Ελλάδα

Το τραύμα αποτελεί μείζον υγειονομικό πρόβλημα σε παγκόσμια κλίμακα. Η αποτελεσματική πρόληψη και αντιμετώπισή του βασίζεται στην κατανόηση του προβλήματος μέσω κατάλληλων επιδημιολογικών και υψηλής ποιότητας ερευνητικών δεδομένων. Σε απάντηση αυτής της αναγκαιότητας, στις αναπτυγμένες χώρες ιδρύθηκαν και είναι σε λειτουργία εθνικές και τοπικές βάσεις καταγραφής δεδομένων τραύματος. Η λειτουργία τους είναι απαιτητική σε πόρους και οικονομικό κόστος. Στην Ελλάδα αντίστοιχες προσπάθειες συστηματικής εκτίμησης της ποιότητας αντιμετώπισης των τραυματιών αποδείχθηκαν περιορισμένες τόσο σε εύρος κάλυψης πληθυσμού όσο και σε διάρκεια σε βάθος χρόνου. Στην παρούσα μελέτη παρουσιάζεται η διαδικάσια ίδρυσης, λειτουργίας και απόδοσης μίας μη κρατικής βάσης δεδομένων τραύματος, που περιλαμβάνει δεδομένα από θανατηφόρους τραυματισμούς κυρίως από την ευρύτερη περιοχή της Αττικής, αξιοποιώντας το αρχείο της Ιατροδικαστικής Υπηρεσίας Αθηνών. Τα Ιατροδικαστικά αρχεία αποτελούν σημαντική και συνεχή πηγή πληροφοριών για τραυματικούς θανάτους σε εθνικό επίπεδο, αφού η Ελληνική νομοθεσία επιβάλλει τη διένεργεια Ιατροδικαστικής εξέτασης στο σύνολο αυτών των θυμάτων. Η βάση δεδομένων γνωστή ως Attica-Trauma Audit and Research Autopsy-Based Registry είναι μία ηλεκτρονική βάση Microsoft Access, όπου συγκεντρώθηκαν ανώνυμα στοιχεία 9.266 διαδοχικών τραυματικών θανάτων της δεκαετίας μεταξύ 1 Ιανουαρίου 1996 και 31 Δεκεμβρίου 2005. Από το υλικό της βάσης δεδομένων έχουν δημοσιευτεί μέχρι τώρα δέκα πλήρεις μελέτες σε διεθνή ιατρικά περιοδικά του Pubmed, καθώς και πλήθος περιλήψεων σε διεθνείς και Ελληνικές επιστημονικές εκδηλώσεις. Οι κατηγορίες των συλλεχθέντων πληροφοριών βασίστηκαν στη μεθοδολογία των διεθνών βάσεων καταγραφής τραύματος της ίδιας περιόδου. Πηγές πληροφοριών αποτελέσαν τα έγγραφα των Ιατροδικαστικών φακέλων. Χρησιμοποιήθηκε η International Classification of Diseases 9th Revision (ICD-9) για την περιγραφή των συνθηκών του τραυματισμού, και η Abbreviated Injury Scale 1990 Revision (AIS90) για την περιγραφή των ανατομικών κακώσεων και τον υπολογισμό του Injury Severity Score (ISS). Παρουσιάζεται το σύνολο των επιδημιολογικών στοιχείων της βάσης καταγραφής, ανά κατηγορία δεδομένων, και σύμφωνα με τα πρότυπα ανάλυσης και παρουσιάσης των αποτελεσμάτων των διεθνών βάσεων καταγραφής τραύματος. Ακολουθούν ειδικές αναλύσεις για τους συχνότερους μηχανισμούς τραυματισμού: ατυχήματα μέσων μεταφοράς, οδικά τροχαία ατυχήματα, πτώσεις, διατιτραίνοντες τραυματισμοί. Δύο επιπλέον ειδικές αναλύσεις, που έχουν παρουσιαστεί στην ιατρική κοινότητα, ολοκληρώνουν τη διαδικασία της απόδοσης των δεδομένων: 1) τα κατάγματα του μηριαίου ως δείκτης βαρύτητας του τραυματισμού από οδικά τροχαία ατυχήματα, 2) η επίπτωση, οι παράγοντες κινδύνου και ο πιθανός χρόνος επέλευσης της μετατραυματικής Πνευμονικής Εμβολής στους θανατηφόρους τραυματισμούς. Η πλειονότητα των θυμάτων ήταν άρρενες (73,7%) με διάμεση ηλικία τα 36 έτη. Η πλειοψηφία των θανάτων συνέβει ως αποτέλεσμα οδικών τροχαίων ατυχημάτων (54,4%), ακολουθούμενα από τα θύματα πτώσεων (20,8%) και αυτά των διατιτραίνοντων μηχανισμών (10,1%). Η διάμεση τιμή του ISS ήταν 35 και 94,3% των θυμάτων είχαν ISS≥16 (βαρύς τραυματισμός). Ο χρόνος επέλευσης του θανάτου ακολούθησε μία τρικόρυφη κατανομή και 58,8% των θανάτων συνέβησαν σε προνοσοκομειακό επίπεδο με διάμεσο χρόνο διακομιδής τα 40 λεπτά. Τα κατάγματα μηριαίου στα πλαίσια οδικών τροχαίων ατυχημάτων σχετίστηκαν με υψηλότερη βαρύτητα τραυματισμού, όπως εκφράστηκε στις υψηλότερες τιμές ISS και στον βραχύτερο χρόνο μετατραυματικής επιβίωσης, καθώς και με κακώσεις του θώρακα, των κοιλιακών σπλάγχνων και σκελετικές κακώσεις των άνω και κάτω άκρων και του πυελικού δακτυλίου. Η επίπτωση της μετατραυματικής Πνευμονικής Εμβολής ήταν 4,3%, με πιθανό χρόνο επέλευσης από 0,66 ημέρες έως 3,5 μήνες. Παράγοντες κινδύνου που σχετίστηκαν θετικά με την εμφάνιση μετατραυματικής Πνευμονικής Εμβολής ήταν οι Δευτερογενείς θάνατοι και οι σκελετικές κακώσεις του πυελικού δακτυλίου. Στο τελευταίο τμήμα της παρούσας μελέτης παρουσιάζεται η εμπειρία της ομάδας εργασίας από την ανάπτυξη και τη λειτουργία της βάσης καταγραφής, στα πλαίσια της πιθανής μελλοντικής δημιουργίας αντίστοιχων προγραμμάτων επιτήρησης τραυματικών θανάτων σε τοπικό ή εθνικό επίπεδο. Τα πνευματικά δικαιώματα που απορέουν από την Attica-Trauma Audit and Research Autopsy-Based Registry ανήκουν στον εμπνευστή και Ιδρυτή (Founder) της Βάσης, Καθηγητή Ιορδάνη Παπαδόπουλο.

A traumatic injury mortality prediction (TRIMP) based on a comprehensive assessment of abbreviated injury scale 2005 predot codes

Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS)-based systems such as injury severity score (ISS), exponential injury severity score (EISS), trauma mortality prediction model (TMPM), and injury mortality prediction (IMP), classify anatomical injuries with limited accuracy. The widely accepted alternative, trauma and injury severity score (TRISS), improves the prediction rate by combining an anatomical index of ISS, physiological index (the Revised Trauma Score, RTS), and the age of patients. The study introduced the traumatic injury mortality prediction (TRIMP) with the inclusion of extra clinical information and aimed to compare the ability against the TRISS as predictors of survival. The hypothesis was that TRIMP would outperform TRISS in prediction power by incorporating clinically available data. This was a retrospective cohort study where a total of 1,198,885 injured patients hospitalized between 2012 and 2014 were subset from the National Trauma Data Bank (NTDB) in the United States. A TRIMP model was computed that uses AIS 2005 (AIS_05), physiological reserve and physiological response indicators. The results were analysed by examining the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), the Hosmer–Lemeshow (HL) statistic, and the Akaike information criterion. TRIMP gave both significantly better discrimination (AUCTRIMP, 0.964; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.962 to 0.966 and AUCTRISS, 0.923; 95% CI, 0.919 to 0.926) and calibration (HLTRIMP, 14.0; 95% CI, 7.7 to 18.8 and HLTRISS, 411; 95% CI, 332 to 492) than TRISS. Similar results were found in statistical comparisons among different body regions. TRIMP was superior to TRISS in terms of accurate of mortality prediction, TRIMP is a new and feasible scoring method in trauma research and should replace the TRISS.

Management of Traumatic Pancreatic Injuries: Evaluation of 7 Years of Experience at a Single Regional Trauma Center

Purpose: Traumatic pancreatic injuries are rare, but their diagnosis and management are challenging. The aim of this study was to evaluate and report our experiences with the management of pancreatic injuries.Methods: We identified all adult patients (age >15) with pancreatic injuries from our trauma registry over a 7-year period. Data related to patients’ demographics, diagnoses, operative information, complications, and hospital course were abstracted from the registry and medical records.Results: A total of 45 patients were evaluated. Most patients had blunt trauma (89%) and 21 patients (47%) had pancreatic injuries of grade 3 or higher. Twenty-eight patients (62%) underwent laparotomy and 17 (38%) received nonoperative management (NOM). The overall in-hospital mortality rate was 24% (n=11), and only one patient died after NOM (due to a severe traumatic brain injury). Twenty-two patients (79%) underwent emergency laparotomy and six (21%) underwent delayed laparotomy. A drainage procedure was performed in 12 patients (43%), and pancreatectomy was performed in 16 patients (57%) (distal pancreatectomy [DP], n=8; DP with spleen preservation, n=5; pancreaticoduodenectomy, n=2; total pancreatectomy, n=1). Fourteen (31%) pancreas-specific complications occurred, and all complications were successfully managed without surgery. Solid organ injuries (n=14) were the most common type of associated abdominal injury (Abbreviated Injury Scale ≥3).Conclusions: For traumatic pancreatic injuries, an appropriate treatment method should be considered after evaluation of the accompanying injury and the patient’s hemodynamic status. NOM can be performed without mortality in appropriately selected cases.

Epidemiology and Impact of Thoracic Trauma on the Mortality of Multi-trauma Patients: Results From a French Road Trauma Registry 1997-2016

Thoracic trauma is the third most common cause of death in multi-trauma patients. One of the most frequent mechanism is road traffic accident (RTA). The objective of the present study was to investigate the influence of severe (abbreviated injury scale, AIS≥3) injuries in each body region on the mortality of multi-trauma patients with a particular attention to thoracic trauma. We also described the epidemiology and injury pattern of these patients when presenting with at least one AIS ≥2 thoracic injury (AISThorax≥2). Patients included in the Rhône RTA registry between 1997 and 2016, with at least one AIS ≥2 injury in any body region were included. Two subgroups were defined according to whether patients presented at least one AISThorax≥2 injury or not. Multivariate regression analysis with mortality as outcome was performed. A total of 46,526 patients had at least one AIS≥2 injury, among them 6,382 (13.7%) had at least one AISThorax≥2 injury. Severe thoracic injuries (OR=12.2, 95%CI [8.4;17.7]) were strongly associated with death, second to severe head injuries were (OR=26.8, 95%CI [20.4;35.2]). Chest wall injuries were the most frequent thoracic injury (62.1%, n=5,419) and 52.4% of these were multiple rib fractures. Severe thoracic injury is a priority in multi-trauma patients; both in the detection but also in the management.

Accuracy of injury coding in a trauma registry

Introduction Abbreviated Injury Scale has significant advantages over administrative coding systems for trauma analytics as it was developed specifically for injury, provides greater depth of characterisation of injury and has an integrated severity measure. It is used by trauma registries globally as it allows benchmarking between registries and is used to drive quality improvement. However, the consistency of scoring between individuals is not well understood. An audit was undertaken in six tertiary trauma centres in New Zealand to determine variation between AIS coders. Methods Each of six sites was audited by two experienced auditors. A random selection of case was identified in ISS categories 13–24, 25–44 and 45+. The case notes were pulled, and the auditors independently audited the notes,and then compared their results for a consensus result. The consensus result was then compared with the original coders. Results 111 cases were audited. Coding concordance was found in 31% of cases. Of the 69% of cases where discordant coding was observed, the discordance was attributed to incorrect coding (49%), missed injuries (43%) and other reasons (7%). Head and chest body regions were associated with the greatest number, and largest differences in coding scores. The overall mean difference across all cases was an ISS score of 1. Conclusions The overall accuracy of data held in the New Zealand Trauma Registry (NZTR) is suitable for quality improvement and benchmarking purposes, but more work is needed to improve the accuracy of individual cases, particularly those with head/neck and chest injury. Standardised tools to ensure the accuracy of data in a trauma registry is a gap which needs to be addressed to maintain confidence in a contemporary trauma system.

Inner Ear Symptoms Are Prevalent in Patients with High Head Abbreviated Injury Scale Scores after Blunt Head Trauma

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> The purpose of this article was to determine the prevalence of inner ear symptoms in patients with blunt head trauma and to explore whether the severity of head trauma was associated with the incidence of such symptoms. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> We performed a retrospective review of 56 patients admitted with blunt head trauma who underwent audiovestibular evaluation within 1 month after injury. Two scales were used to measure the severity of trauma; these were the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) and the Head Abbreviated Injury Scale (H-AIS). Patients with sensorineural-type hearing loss, or dizziness with nystagmus, were considered to have inner ear symptoms. <b><i>Results:</i></b> About half of all patients (45%) with blunt head trauma showed trauma-related inner ear symptoms. Patients with inner ear symptoms were significantly more likely to have H-AIS scores ≥4 than those without inner ear symptoms (<i>p</i> = 0.004), even without concomitant temporal bone fracture (<i>p</i> &#x3e; 0.05). Also, patients with inner ear symptoms required a statistically significantly longer time (measured from admission) before undergoing their ontological evaluations than did those without such symptoms (<i>p</i> = 0.002), possibly due to prolonged bed rest and use of sedatives. <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> Thus, detailed history-taking and early evaluation using trauma scales are essential for all patients suffering from severe head trauma. It may be necessary to initiate early treatment of traumatic inner ear diseases.