Ramon F. Cestero

Tranexamic Acid and Trauma: Current Status and Knowledge Gaps with Recommended Research Priorities

ABSTRACT A recent large civilian randomized controlled trial on the use of tranexamic acid (TXA) for trauma reported important survival benefits. Subsequently, successful use of TXA for combat casualties in Afghanistan was also reported. As a result of these promising studies, there has been growing interest in the use of TXA for trauma. Potential adverse effects of TXA have also been reported. A US Department of Defense committee conducted a review and assessment of knowledge gaps and research requirements regarding the use of TXA for the treatment of casualties that have experienced traumatic hemorrhage. We present identified knowledge gaps and associated research priorities. We believe that important knowledge gaps exist and that a targeted, prioritized research effort will contribute to the refinement of practice guidelines over time.

Incidence and clinical predictors for tracheostomy after cervical spinal cord injury: a National Trauma Databank review.

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence and identify clinical predictors for the need for tracheostomy after cervical spinal cord injury (CSCI). METHODS The National Trauma Databank version 7.0 (2002-2006) was used to identify all patients who sustained a CSCI. Patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) were excluded. Demographics, clinical data, and outcomes were abstracted. Patients requiring tracheostomy were compared with those who did not require tracheostomy. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify independent predictors for the need of tracheostomy. RESULTS There were 5,265 eligible patients. Of these, 1,082 (20.6%) required tracheostomy and 4,174 (79.4%) did not. The majority patients were men and blunt trauma predominated. Patients requiring tracheostomy had a higher Injury Severity Score (ISS) (33.5±17.7 vs. 24.4±16.2, p<0.001) and required intubation more frequently on scene and Emergency Department (ED) (4.2 vs. 1.4%, p<0.001 and 31.1 vs. 7.9%, p<0.001, respectively). Patients requiring tracheostomy had higher rates of complete CSCI at C1-C4 (18.2 vs. 8.4%, p<0.001) and C5-C7 levels (37.8 vs. 16.9%, p<0.001). Patients requiring tracheostomy had more ventilation days, longer intensive care unit and hospital lengths of stay, but lower mortality. Intubation on scene or ED, complete CSCI at C1-C4 or C5-C7 levels, ISS≥16, facial fracture, and thoracic trauma were identified as independent predictors for the need of tracheostomy. CONCLUSION After CSCI, a fifth of patients will require tracheostomy. Intubation on scene or ED, complete CSCI at C1-C4 or C5-C7 levels, ISS≥16, facial fracture, and thoracic trauma were independently associated with the need for tracheostomy.

Comparison of novel hemostatic dressings with QuikClot combat gauze in a standardized swine model of uncontrolled hemorrhage.

BACKGROUND Uncontrolled hemorrhage is the leading cause of preventable death on the battlefield. The development, testing, and application of novel hemostatic dressings may lead to a reduction of prehospital mortality through enhanced point-of-injury hemostatic control. This study aimed to determine the efficacy of currently available hemostatic dressings as compared with the current Committee for Tactical Combat Casualty Care Guidelines standard of treatment for hemorrhage control (QuikClot Combat Gauze [QCG]). METHODS The femoral artery of anesthetized Yorkshire pigs was isolated and punctured. Free bleeding was allowed to proceed for 45 seconds before packing of QCG, QuikClot Combat Gauze XL (QCX), Celox Trauma Gauze (CTG), Celox Gauze (CEL), or HemCon ChitoGauze (HCG), into the wound. After 3 minutes of applied, direct pressure, fluid resuscitation was administered to elevate and maintain a mean arterial pressure of 60 mm Hg or greater during the 150-minute observation time. Animal survival, hemostasis, and blood loss were measured as primary end points. Hemodynamic and physiologic parameters, along with markers of coagulation, were recorded and analyzed. RESULTS Sixty percent of QCG-treated animals (controls) survived through the 150-minute observation period. QCX, CEL, and HCG were observed to have higher rates of survival in comparison to QCG (70%, 90%, and 70% respectively), although these results were not found to be of statistical significance in pairwise comparison to QCG. Immediate hemostasis was achieved in 30% of QCG applications, 80% of QCX, 70% of CEL, 60% of HCG, and 30% of CTG-treated animals. Posttreatment blood loss varied from an average of 64 mL/kg with CTG to 29 mL/kg with CEL, but no significant difference among groups was observed. CONCLUSION These results suggest that the novel hemostatic devices perform at least as well as the current Committee on Tactical Combat Casualty Care standard for point-of-injury hemorrhage control. Despite their different compositions and sizes, the lack of clear superiority of any agent suggests that contemporary hemostatic dressing technology has potentially reached a plateau for efficacy.

Venovenous extracorporeal life support improves survival in adult trauma patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure: A multicenter retrospective cohort study

BACKGROUND Venovenous extracorporeal life support (VV ECLS) has been reported in adult trauma patients with severe respiratory failure; however, ECLS is not available in many trauma centers, few trauma surgeons have experience initiating ECLS and managing ECLS patients, and there is currently little evidence supporting its use in severely injured patients. This study seeks to determine if VV ECLS improves survival in such patients. METHODS Data from two American College of Surgeons–verified Level 1 trauma centers, which maintain detailed records of patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure (AHRF), were evaluated retrospectively. The study population included trauma patients between 16 years and 55 years of age treated for AHRF between January 2001 and December 2009. These patients were divided into two cohorts as follows: patients who received VV ECLS after an incomplete or no response to other rescue therapies (ECLS) versus patients who were managed with mechanical ventilation (CONV). The primary outcome was survival to discharge, and secondary outcomes were intensive care unit and hospital length of stay (LOS), total ventilator days, and rate of complications requiring intervention. RESULTS Twenty-six ECLS patients and 76 CONV patients were compared. Adjusted survival was greater in the ECLS group (adjusted odds ratio, 0.193; 95% confidence interval, 0.042–0.884; p = 0.034). Ventilator days, intensive care unit LOS, and hospital LOS did not differ between the groups. ECLS patients received more blood transfusions and had more bleeding complications, while the CONV patients had more pulmonary complications. A cohort of 17 ECLS and 17 CONV patients matched for age and lung injury severity also demonstrated a significantly greater survival in the ECLS group (adjusted odds ratio, 0.038; 95% confidence interval, 0.004–0.407; p = 0.007). CONCLUSION VV ECLS is independently associated with survival in adult trauma patients with AHRF. ECLS should be considered in trauma patients with AHRF when conventional therapies prove ineffective; if ECLS is not readily available, transfer to an ECLS center should be pursued. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Therapeutic study, level III.

Thromboembolic prophylaxis with low-molecular-weight heparin in patients with blunt solid abdominal organ injuries undergoing nonoperative management: current practice and outcomes.

BACKGROUND Low-molecular-weight heparins (LMWHs) are effective in preventing thromboembolic complications after trauma. In the nonoperative management (NOM) of blunt solid abdominal organ injuries, the timing of the administration of LMWH remains controversial because of the unknown risk for bleeding. METHODS Retrospective study including patients aged 15 years or older who sustained blunt splenic, liver, and/or kidney injuries from January 2005 to December 2008. Patients were stratified according to the type and severity of organ injuries. NOM failure rates and blood transfusion requirements were compared between patients who got LMWH early (≤3 days), patients who got LMWH late (>3 days), and patients who did not receive LMWH. RESULTS Overall, 312 (63.8%) patients with solid organ injuries had NOM attempted. There were 154 splenic, 144 liver, and 65 kidney injuries (1.2 organs injured per patient). Forty-one patients (13.2%) received LMWH early, 70 patients (22.4%) received LMWH late, and 201 (64.4%) patients did not receive LMWH. The early LMWH group was less severely injured compared with the late LMWH group. However, the distribution of the risk factors for failure of NOM (high-grade injury, large amount of hemoperitoneum, and contrast extravasation) was similar between the three LMWH groups. Overall, 17 of 312 patients (5.4%) failed NOM (7.8% spleen, 2.1% liver, and 3.1% kidney). All but one failure occurred before LMWH administration. After adjustment for demographic differences, the overall blood transfusion requirements for the early LMWH group was significantly lower when compared with patients with late LMWH administration (3.0±5.3 units vs. 6.4±9.9 units; adjusted p=0.027). Pulmonary embolism and deep venous thrombosis occurred in four patients. The mortality rate for patients with splenic, liver, and kidney injuries was 3.2% and did not differ with LMWH application. CONCLUSION In patients with solid abdominal organ injuries undergoing NOM, early use of LMWH does not seem to increase failure rates or blood transfusion requirements.

Military medical revolution: Deployed hospital and en route care

Abstract : The battlefield has seen tremendous revolutions in military medical affairs (RMMAs) as a result of the last decade of continuous combat operations. The advances in deployed and en route combat casualty care are categorized as individual RMMAs shown in Table 1. As with prehospital advances, the basis for many of the RMMAs in the deployed hospital care environment as well as en route care was translated from civilian trauma practice but is realistic and relevant to the battlefield context. As the conflict evolved, the substantive data from the battlefield led to many new paradigms of treatment and evacuation. The successful implementation of many of these battlefield practices was then effectively translated back into the civilian injury care environment as has been typical of medical advances developed subsequent to previous conflicts of antiquity. The RMMAs that occurred during the last 10 years of combat casualty care are in the realm of deployed hospital care and en route care and are discussed in detail in this article.

Iliac artery injuries and pelvic fractures: a national trauma database analysis of associated injuries and outcomes

BACKGROUND Although infrequent, injury to the common or external iliac artery in association with pelvic fractures can be devastating, and descriptive data are lacking. This study was performed to determine the incidence, injury patterns, and outcomes of blunt iliac artery injuries (BIAIs) in association with moderate or severe pelvic fractures. METHODS Patients with moderate or severe pelvic fractures (abbreviated injury score of 3 or 4) were identified from the National Trauma Databank. Records with and without common or external BIAI were compared. Admission variables included Emergency Department (ED) hypotension (systolic blood pressure <90), Glasgow Coma Score <or=8, Injury Severity Score (ISS) >or=25, femur or lumbosacral fractures, solid organ injury, vascular injury, and hollow viscus injury. The association of BIAI with moderate or severe pelvic fractures was studied. Outcomes were also analyzed, and independent associations with BIAI were determined by logistic regression. RESULTS Of 6,377 patients with moderate or severe pelvic fractures, 221 (3.5%) had an associated BIAI. Patients with BIAI were more likely to have ED hypotension, Glasgow Coma Score <or=8, ISS >or=25, genitourinary injury, bowel injury, and severe (abbreviated injury score 4) pelvic fractures. BIAI was also associated with higher mortality, lower extremity amputation, compartment syndrome, and overall complications. Independent risk factors for BIAI included severe pelvic fracture, ED hypotension, ISS >or=25, genitourinary injury, and bowel injury. CONCLUSION BIAI is a rare diagnosis, but when present it is associated with a higher rate of overall complications and mortality. Vigilance is warranted in the diagnosis and management of this infrequent injury, especially in the setting of severe pelvic fractures.

Exsanguination shock: the next frontier in prevention of battlefield mortality.

Abstract : Heretofore, those wounded in combat who arrived at a deployed medical treatment facility with signs of life and subsequently died have been designated as having died of wounds, with the vast majority classified as dying due to hemorrhage from nondescript hemorrhagic shock.1 4 In the future, the development and use of new technology may offer the greatest potential for decreasing mortality among these patients in the deployed setting. A subset of patients who pose a particularly vexing challenge to combat medics, emergency physicians, and surgeons are those who are severely hypotensive and/or pulseless on arrival, but who are able to be resuscitated to the point of clinical hemostasis and seemingly viable physiology only to eventually regress to cardiovascular collapse and death. These patients for all intent and purposes meet the definition of exsanguination, 5,6 and to improve survival, their condition must be more fully described and better understood. The objective of this commentary is to re-introduce the term exsanguination shock and to provide a rudimentary characterization of this condition in combat casualty care.

Natural history and clinical implications of nondepressed skull fracture in young children

BACKGROUND Head injury is the most common cause of neurologic disability and mortality in children. Previous studies have demonstrated that depressed skull fractures (SFs) represent approximately one quarter of all SFs in children and approximately 10% percent of hospital admissions after head injury. We hypothesized that nondepressed SFs (NDSFs) in children are not associated with adverse neurologic outcomes. METHODS Medical records were reviewed for all children 5 years or younger with SFs who presented to our Level I trauma center during a 4-year period. Data collected included patient demographics, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score at admission, level of consciousness at the time of injury, type of SF (depressed SF vs. NDSF), magnitude of the SF depression, evidence of neurologic deficit, and the requirement for neurosurgical intervention. RESULTS We evaluated 1,546 injured young children during the study period. From this cohort, 563 had isolated head injury, and 223 of them had SF. Of the SF group, 163 (73%) had NDSFs, of whom 128 (78%) presented with a GCS score of 15. None of the NDSF patients with a GCS score of 15 required neurosurgical intervention or developed any neurologic deficit. Of the remaining 35 patients with NDSF and GCS score less than 15, 7 (20%) had a temporary neurologic deficit that resolved before discharge, 4 (11%) developed a persistent neurologic deficit, and 2 died (6%). CONCLUSION Children 5 years or younger with NDSFs and a normal neurologic examination result at admission do not develop neurologic deterioration. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Epidemiological study, level III.

Endpoints of Resuscitation

Despite the multiple causes of the shock state, all causes possess the common abnormality of oxygen supply not meeting tissue metabolic demands. Compensatory mechanisms may mask the severity of hypoxemia and hypoperfusion, since catecholamines and extracellular fluid shifts initially compensate for the physiologic derangements associated with patients in shock. Despite the achievement of normal physiologic parameters after resuscitation, significant metabolic acidosis may continue to be present in the tissues, as evidenced by increased lactate levels and metabolic acidosis. This review discusses the major endpoints of resuscitation in clinical use.