Frank R. Lewis

Epidemiology of trauma deaths

The records of all 437 persons who died from trauma in San Francisco in 1977 were examined. Sixty-five percent of the sample (285 younger than 50 years, and 119 were between ages 21 and 30. Gunshot wounds (140 or 32 percent) and falls (122 or 28 percent) were the most common causes of injury. Fifty-three percent of the sample were dead at the scene of injury before transport could be accomplished, 7.5 percent died in the emergency room, and 39.5 percent died in the hospital. Fifty-five percent of the 359 patients who died within the first 2 days died from brain injury, while 78 percent of the 55 late deaths were due to sepsis and multiple organ failure. In 10 cases (2 percent), death was due to delayed transport or to errors in diagnosis and treatment and was deemed preventable. The key areas in which advances are necessary in order to reduce the number of trauma deaths are prevention of trauma, more rapid and skilled transport of injured victims, better early management of primary brain injuries, and more effective treatment of the late complications of sepsis and multiple organ failure.

Bacteriology of necrotizing fasciitis

Sixteen patients with necrotizing fasciitis were observed under clinical and laboratory conditions for collection, preservation, and culture that permitted optimal retrieval of anaerobes. The clinical observations of necrosis of fascia, subcutaneous fat and skin with thrombosis of the microvasculature, and absence of myonecrosis were clearly apparent in these patients. Two clear-cut groups of culture and gram stain results were found, suggesting that the clinical entity of necrotizing fasciitis can occur after infection by different infecting organisms. The cultivation of Streptococcus pyogenes (group A), either alone or in combination with staphylococcus, in three patients conforms to the culture results found by Meleney [1] in his original description.

Operative Experience of Residents in US General Surgery Programs: A Gap Between Expectation and Experience

Objective:The purpose of the study was to identify a group of operations which general surgery residency program directors believed residents should be competent to perform by the end of 5 years of training and then ascertain actual resident experience with these procedures during their training. Summary Background Data:There is concern about the adequacy of training of general surgeons in the United States. The American Board of Surgery and the Association of Program Directors in Surgery undertook a study to determine what operative procedures residency program directors consider to be essential to the practice of general surgery and then we measured the actual operative experience of graduating residents in those procedures, as reported to the Residency Review Committee for Surgery (RRC). Methods:An electronic survey was sent to residency program directors at the 254 general surgery programs in the US accredited by the RRC as of spring 2006. The program directors were presented with a list of 300 types of operations. Program directors graded the 300 procedures “A,” “B,” or “C” using the following criteria: A—graduating general surgery residents should be competent to perform the procedure independently; B—graduating residents should be familiar with the procedure, but not necessarily competent to perform it; and C—graduating residents neither need to be familiar with nor competent to perform the procedure. After ballots were tallied, the actual resident operative experience reported to the RRC by all residents finishing general surgery training in June 2005 was reviewed. Results:One hundred twenty-one of the 300 operations were considered A level procedures by a majority of program directors (PDs). Graduating 2005 US residents (n = 1022) performed only 18 of the 121 A procedures, an average of more than 10 times during residency; 83 of 121 procedures were performed on an average less than 5 times and 31 procedures less than once. For 63 of the 121 procedures, the mode (most commonly reported) experience was 0. In addition, there was significant variation between residents in operative experience for specific procedures. In virtually all cases, the mean reported experience exceeded the mode, suggesting that the mean is a poor measure of typical experience. Conclusions:These data pose important problems for surgical educators. Methods will have to be developed to allow surgeons to reach a basic level of competence in procedures which they are likely to experience only rarely during residency. Even for more commonly performed procedures, the numbers of repetitions are not very robust, stressing the need to determine objectively whether residents are actually achieving basic competency in these operations. Finally, the large variations in experience between individuals in our residency system need to be explored, understood, and remedied.

THE MEASUREMENT OF EXTRAVASCULAR LUNG WATER BY THERMAL-GREEN DYE INDICATOR DILUTION*

The theory and practice of the thermal-dye indicator-dilution method for measurement of EVLW has been discussed, and all available animal data from our laboratory correlating EVTV and gravimetric EVLW have been presented. The method appears to function well over the entire range of edema seen , and to be minimally dependent on cardiac output. Thermal-indicator loss does not seem to be a significant problem and does not impair the accuracy of this method. Out results are consistent with earlier works in the field in identifying significant differences between the isotopic EVLW methods and the thermal-dye method, and it seems likely that these differences are due to the much greater diffusion rate of the thermal indicator.

Prevention of venous thromboembolism in trauma patients.

Trauma patients are at risk for thromboembolic complications, but effective methods of prophylaxis have not been established for this heterogenous population. In this prospective trial, 400 trauma patients were assigned to one of three groups, depending upon their injuries, and randomized within each group to a treatment mode: Group I: sequential gradient pneumatic leg compression (SCD), low-dose subcutaneous heparin (H), or control (C); Group II: H or C; Group III: SCD or C. Venous duplex ultrasound examinations were performed on admission and weekly thereafter. Of the 251 patients who completed the study, 15 (6%) developed lower extremity venous thrombosis and two additional patients developed pulmonary embolism (one fatal). Significant risk factors associated with the development of thromboembolism included immobilization > 3 days, age 30 years or older, and the presence of pelvic or lower extremity fractures. In patients with neurotrauma who cannot receive heparin (Group III), the SCD was more effective than control in preventing DVT (p = 0.057). Neither H nor SCD appeared to offer protection for the other groups of trauma patients, but surveillance with ultrasound examinations allowed for prompt recognition and treatment of occult deep vein thrombosis.

Prevention of complications from prolonged tracheal intubation

Abstract Eight commercially available soft cuff endotracheal tubes were studied to determine the relationship between inflation pressure distention of the cuff. Although the balloon cuff may be easily distensible in open air, when confined within the trachea small increments in the inflation volume may produce high pressures. This means that continuous external control of cuff pressure is required to prevent ischemia of the tracheal wall. Major tracheal complications in a busy ICU were examined before and after the introduction of a controlled pressure tube. Control of intratracheal cuff pressures decreased major tracheal complications tenfold and eliminated complications specifically related to the cuff.

Issues in General Surgery Residency Training—2012

The operations which are done by general surgeons, and the way in which they are done, have undergone radical change during the last 2 decades, yet the impacts on residency training have not been generally recognized. The change has come about because of 2 principal factors—evolutionary and technological changes, which have occurred in the treatment of several common diseases, and the conversion of a major proportion of abdominal surgery from an open to a laparoscopic approach. In addition to the change in the nature of the surgery done, the impact of the 80-hour workweek on resident experiences with urgent and emergent conditions has also been significant. The impact of this on the development of resident independence and autonomy has not been analyzed. This article will attempt to describe qualitatively the nature of the changes, the negative impacts on resident training, and some proposed measures to mitigate the impact. ENVIRONMENTAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE IN DISEASE MANAGEMENT Four common disease categories, which involve intraabdominal pathology, have undergone major technological change in management during the last 20 years. Benign Peptic Ulcer Disease Benign gastric and duodenal ulcer disease has been a staple of general surgical management for decades, for treatment of the complications of bleeding, perforation, and intractability. Three advances in medical treatment have markedly altered the incidence of these complications, and the consequent need for surgical intervention: H2 receptor blockers, proton pump inhibitors, and treatment of Helicobacter pylori gastric infection. As a result of medical management with these 3 modalities, intractability of ulcer disease has virtually disappeared, and perforation and hemorrhage have been markedly reduced. The result is that surgery is infrequently necessary today for treatment of peptic ulcer complications and resident experience with gastric surgery is largely limited to malignancy and other less common conditions. Interestingly, the increase in laparoscopic bariatric surgery has provided the bulk of a typical resident experience in gastric surgery in recent years, but exposure to these procedures is highly variable, and residents are rarely the operating surgeon in these complex technical procedures.

Prehospital intravenous fluid therapy: physiologic computer modelling.

A computer model incorporating known behavior of the cardiovascular system and intravascular:interstitial fluid exchange was designed which allowed bleeding rate, IV infusion rate, and prehospital care times to be independently specified. All possible circumstances were examined. The model shows that IVs are potentially of benefit only when all of the following occur: 1) the bleeding rate is initially 25-100 ml/min, 2) the prehospital time exceeds 30 minutes, and 3) the IV infusion rate is approximately equal to the bleeding rate. IV infusions therefore appear of little benefit in the usual urban environment and have a sharply limited role overall. The possibility of pulmonary edema from fluid overload in nonhypovolemic patients, and reluctance of field personnel to infuse fluid at the rates necessary to produce benefit raise further questions about realistic benefit of IVs in all but the most rural systems.

Hypertonic saline resuscitation attenuates neutrophil lung sequestration and transmigration by diminishing leukocyte-endothelial interactions in a two-hit model of hemorrhagic shock and infection.

BACKGROUND Hypertonic saline (HTS) attenuates polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMN)-mediated tissue injury after hemorrhagic shock. We hypothesized that HTS resuscitation reduces early in vivo endothelial cell (EC)-PMN interactions and late lung PMN sequestration in a two-hit model of hemorrhagic shock followed by mimicked infection. METHODS Thirty-two mice were hemorrhaged (40 mm Hg) for 60 minutes and then given intratracheal lipopolysaccharide (10 microg) 1 hour after resuscitation with shed blood and either HTS (4 mL/kg 7.5% NaCl) or Ringers lactate (RL) (twice shed blood volume). Eleven controls were not manipulated. Cremaster intravital microscopy quantified 5-hour EC-PMN adherence, myeloperoxidase assay assessed lung PMN content (2 1/2 and 24 hours), and lung histology determined 24-hour PMN transmigration. RESULTS Compared with RL, HTS animals displayed 55% less 5-hour EC-PMN adherence (p = 0.01), 61% lower 24-hour lung myeloperoxidase ( p= 0.007), and 57% lower mean 24-hour lung histologic score ( p= 0.027). CONCLUSION Compared with RL, HTS resuscitation attenuates early EC-PMN adhesion and late lung PMN accumulation in hemorrhagic shock followed by inflammation. HTS resuscitation may attenuate PMN-mediated organ damage.

Differential diagnosis of appendicitis and pelvic inflammatory disease: a prospective analysis

Diagnosis of the cause of lower abdominal pain in women may be difficult because appendicitis and pelvic inflammatory disease often present similarly. In a prospective study of 118 women, we found that several criteria are useful in establishing this differential. These include (1) duration of symptoms, (2) the presence of nausea, vomiting or both, (3) a history of venereal disease, (4) cervical motion tenderness, (5) adnexal tenderness, and (6) isolated peritoneal signs in the right lower quadrant. Although no single finding can define the diagnosis, the history and physical findings reported herein provide a number of criteria which, when taken together, will usually allow a confident diagnosis of either appendicitis or pelvic inflammatory disease to be made. Attention to these items can improve precision in diagnosis and lessen the incidence of unnecessary laparotomy, which carries a well-documented complication rate of 10 to 20 percent.