Sharon Boswell

External fixation as a bridge to intramedullary nailing for patients with multiple injuries and with femur fractures: damage control orthopedics.

BACKGROUND The advantages of early fracture fixation in patients with multiple injuries have been challenged recently, particularly in patients with head injury. External fixation (EF) has been used to stabilize pelvic fractures after multiple injury. It potentially offers similar benefits to intramedullary nail (IMN) in long-bone fractures and may obviate some of the risks. We report on the use of EF as a temporary fracture fixation in a group of patients with multiple injuries and with femoral shaft fractures. METHODS Retrospective review of charts and registry data of patients admitted to our Level 1 trauma center July of 1995 to June of 1998. Forty-three patients initially treated with EF of the femur were compared to 284 patients treated with primary IMN of the femur. RESULTS Patients treated with EF had more severe injuries with significantly higher Injury Severity Scores (26.8 vs. 16.8) and required significantly more fluid (11.9 vs. 6.2 liters) and blood (1.5 vs. 1.0 liters) in the initial 24 hours. Glasgow Coma Scale score was lower (p < 0.01) in those treated with EF (11 vs. 14.2). Twelve patients (28%) had head injuries severe enough to require intracranial pressure monitoring. All 12 required therapy for intracranial pressure control with mannitol (100%), barbiturates (75%), and/or hyperventilation (75%). Most patients had more than one contraindication to IMN, including head injury in 46% of cases, hemodynamic instability in 65%, thoracoabdominal injuries in 51%, and/or other serious injuries in 46%, most often multiple orthopedic injuries. Median operating room time for EF was 35 minutes with estimated blood loss of 90 mL. IMN was performed in 35 of 43 patients at a mean of 4.8 days after EF. Median operating room time for IMN was 135 minutes with an estimated blood loss of 400 mL. One patient died before IMN. One other patient with a mangled extremity was treated with amputation after EF. There was one complication of EF, i.e., bleeding around a pin site, which was self-limited. Four patients in the EF group died, three from head injuries and one from acute organ failure. No death was secondary to the fracture treatment selected. One patient who had EF followed by IMN had bone infection and another had acute hardware failure. CONCLUSION EF is a viable alternative to attain temporary rigid stabilization in patients with multiple injuries. It is rapid, causes negligible blood loss, and can be followed by IMN when the patient is stabilized. There were minimal orthopedic complications.

Blunt cerebrovascular injuries: does treatment always matter?

BACKGROUND Blunt cerebrovascular injuries (BCVI) have become an increasingly recognized entity. Stroke as a result of these injuries can have devastating consequences. Optimal screening criteria, diagnostic imaging, and therapy for BCVIs have not been elucidated. Our institution began to apply liberal screening criteria using a whole-body scanning protocol with multidetector computed tomographic (WB-MDCT) scans to diagnose these injuries. The purpose of this study is to describe a single institutions large experience in patients with BCVI in an effort to provide insight into the diagnosis and management of these injuries. METHODS All patients with a BCVI admitted to the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center during a 30-month period were included in this study. Choice of diagnostic evaluation and treatment regimens were at the discretion of the treating attending physician. Review of medical records and all relevant radiographic studies were retrospectively performed for the purposes of this study. RESULTS During the study period, there were 12,667 patients admitted to the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center. There were 147 patients identified with 200 carotid or vertebral artery injuries. The incidence of BVCI was 1.2%. Mortality was 13%. Anatomic injury risk factors for BCVI (major facial fractures, skull base fractures, cervical spine fractures or spinal cord injury, or traumatic brain injury) were found in only 78%. Major thoracic injury was found in 63% of patients with carotid artery injuries and cervical spine fractures or spinal cord injury was found in 74% of patients with vertebral artery injuries. The initial screening test employed was a WB-MDCT in 96% of patients of which 84% detected a BCVI. Treatments included endovascular therapy (22%), antiplatelet medications (36%), anticoagulation (10%), and combination therapy with antiplatelet agents and anticoagulation (18%). Thirty percent received no therapy, primarily due to contraindications from concomitant injuries. There were 18 (12%) patients who had a stroke. Of these patients, 8 (44%) had evidence of infarction at admission, 6 were diagnosed within 72 hours, and 4 were diagnosed after 1 week. Stroke-related mortality was 50%, whereas clinical follow-up after hospital discharge demonstrated only one patient with disability as a result of infarction. Of 10 patients who did not have stroke at admission, 3 were fully treated, 5 had specific contraindications to therapy, and 2 had no or false-negative imaging before infarction. Stroke rates for untreated patients were 25.8% and patients treated with any therapy had a stroke rate of 3.9% (p = 0.0003). Radiographic follow-up >1 month after injury demonstrated improvement in over 50% of patients. CONCLUSIONS BCVIs are not infrequent after blunt trauma. These injuries occur even in the absence of classically described risk factors. Liberal screening with WB-MDCT incorporates detection of these injuries into the initial diagnostic evaluation. Stroke occurs in a substantial number of patients and carries a very high mortality. However, nearly one third of patients with BCVI are not candidates for therapy. Treatment does reduce the risk of infarction in patients with BCVI, but strokes, when they occur, are not preventable.

Pelvic Fracture in Geriatric Patients: A Distinct Clinical Entity

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to describe differences in demographics, injury pattern, transfusion needs, and outcome of pelvic fractures in older versus younger patients. METHODS This was a retrospective registry review of all patients with pelvic fractures admitted directly from the scene between January 1998 and December 1999. RESULTS We cared for 234 patients with pelvic fractures during the study period. Mean age was 37.2 years, 51% were men, and mean Injury Severity Score (ISS) was 19. Overall mortality was 9%. Eighty-three percent were under the age of 55 years and 17% were older than 55 years. Severe pelvic fractures (AP3, LC3) were more common in young patients (p < 0.05). Admitting systolic blood pressure was lower and heart rate higher, although ISS was not different between the two age groups. Older patients were 2.8 times as likely to undergo transfusion (p < 0.005), and those undergoing transfusion required more blood (median, 7.5 units vs. 5 units). Older patients underwent angiography more frequently and were significantly more likely to die in the hospital even after adjusting for ISS (p < 0.005). This was most marked with ISS 15 to 25. Lateral compression (LC) fractures occurred 4.6 times more frequently in older patients than anteroposterior (AP) compression, and 8.2 times more frequently in those older patients undergoing transfusion as compared with AP compression. Ninety-eight percent of LC fractures in older patients were minor (LC1,2). However, older patients with LC fractures were nearly four times as likely to require blood compared with younger patients. CONCLUSION In older patients, pelvic fractures are more likely to produce hemorrhage and require angiography. Fracture patterns differ in older patients, with LC fractures occurring more frequently, and commonly causing significant blood loss. The outcome of older patients with pelvic fractures is significantly worse than younger patients, particularly with higher injury severity. Recognition of these differences should help clinicians to identify patients at high risk for bleeding and death early, and to refine diagnostic and resuscitation strategies.

Computed tomography alone for cervical spine clearance in the unreliable patient--are we there yet?

BACKGROUND Injuries to the cervical spine (CS) occur in 2% to 6.6% of blunt trauma patients. Studies have suggested that computed tomography (CT) alone is sufficient for CS clearance in unreliable patients based on follow-up magnetic resonance (MR) imaging not altering management. We hypothesized that an admission cervical spine CT with no acute injury-using new CT technology-is not sufficient for CS clearance in an unreliable patient. METHODS The trauma registry was used to identify all patients with blunt trauma who had CS imaging with a CT and MR between August 2004 and December 2005. During this time period, a clinical guideline was in place whereby patients who had persistently unreliable examinations had MR despite a normal admission CT. Medical records were reviewed for demographics, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score at time of MR, and injury specific data. RESULTS Seven hundred thirty-four patients in total were identified. Two hundred three patients without obvious neurologic deficits but unreliable clinical examination, defined by a GCS score of </=14, had an initial cervical spine CT read by an attending trauma radiologist as having no acute injury. Mean age was 42.3 years (+/-20.4 years) and mean Injury Severity Score was 29.1 (+/-11.8). There were 135 (66.5%) men. Mechanism of injury included motor vehicle or motorcycle collision (48.8%), falls (25.4%), pedestrians struck (10.2%), assault (7.8%), and other (7.8%). One hundred eighty-four (90.6%) patients had a negative MR and collars were subsequently removed. After collar removal, no patient developed new neurologic deficit. Eighteen (8.9%) patients had an abnormal MR, 2 of which required operative repair and 14 required extended cervical collar use. Two patients had collars removed at the discretion of the attending surgeon. One patient had a suboptimal MR and was discharged in a collar with scheduled follow-up. CONCLUSION Newer generation CT continues to miss CS injuries in unreliable patients. MR changed the management in 7.9% of patients having had an admission CT with no acute injury. Thus, we recommend continued use of MR for CS clearance in the unreliable patient and ongoing evaluation as the quality of CT imaging continues to evolve.

Mesenteric and Renal Oxygen Transport during Hemorrhage and Reperfusion: Evaluation of Optimal Goals for Resuscitation

BACKGROUND Changes in flow to the gut and the kidney during hemorrhage and resuscitation contribute to organ dysfunction and outcome. We evaluated regional and splanchnic oxygen (O2) flow distribution and calculated oxygen supply distribution during hemorrhage and reperfusion and compared them with global measures. METHODS Seven anesthetized pigs were instrumented to evaluate global hemodynamics, visceral blood flow, and oxygen transport. Tonometric pH probes were positioned in the stomach and jejunum. Animals were bled to 45 mm Hg for 1 hour. Crystalloids and blood were infused during the following 2 hours to normalize blood pressure, heart rate, urine output, and hemo- globin. RESULTS During hemorrhage, mesenteric flow and O2 consumption were significantly decreased, whereas systemic consumption remained normal. Renal flow was reduced, but renal O2 consumption remained normal. After resuscitation, despite normal hemodynamics, neither systemic, mesenteric, nor renal O2 delivery returned to baseline. Lactate remained significantly increased. Arterial pH, base excess, and gastric and jejunal pH were all decreased. CONCLUSION During hemorrhage, the gut is more prone than other regions to O2 consumption supply dependency. After resuscitation, standard clinical parameters do not detect residual O2 debt. Lactate, arterial pH, base excess, and intramucosal gut pH are all markers of residual tissue hypoperfusion.

Angiographic embolization for hemorrhage following pelvic fracture: Is it "time" for a paradigm shift?

Introduction Major pelvic disruption with hemorrhage has a high rate of lethality. Angiographic embolization remains the mainstay of treatment. Delays to angiography have been shown to worsen outcomes in part because time spent awaiting mobilization of resources needed to perform angiography allows ongoing hemorrhage. Alternative techniques like pelvic preperitoneal packing and aortic balloon occlusion now exist. We hypothesized that time to angiographic embolization at our Level 1 trauma center would be longer than 90 minutes. Methods A retrospective review was performed of patients with pelvic fracture who underwent pelvic angiography at our trauma center over a 10-year period. The trauma registry was queried for age, sex, injury severity score, hemodynamic instability (HI) on presentation, and transfusion requirements within 24 hours. Charts were reviewed for time to angiography, embolization, and mortality. Results A total of 4712 patients were admitted with pelvic fractures during the study period, 344 (7.3%) underwent pelvic angiography. Median injury severity score was 29. Median 24-hour transfusion requirements were five units of red blood cells and six units of fresh frozen plasma. One hundred fifty-one patients (43.9%) presented with HI and 104 (30%) received massive transfusion (MT). Median time to angiography was 286 minutes (interquartile range, 210–378). Times were significantly shorter when stratified for HI (HI, 264 vs stable 309 minutes; p = 0.003), and MT (MT, 230 vs non-MT, 317 minutes; p < 0.001), but still took nearly 4 hours. Overall mortality was 18%. Hemorrhage (35.5%) and sepsis/multiple-organ failure (43.5%) accounted for most deaths. Conclusion Pelvic fracture hemorrhage remains a management challenge. In this series, the median time to embolization was more than 5 hours. Nearly 80% of deaths could be attributed to early uncontrolled hemorrhage and linked to delays in hemostasis. Earlier intervention by Acute Care Surgeons with techniques like preperitoneal packing, aortic balloon occlusion, and use of hybrid operative suites may improve outcomes. Level of Evidence Therapeutic study, level V.

Dexmedetomidine as an adjunct for sedation in patients with traumatic brain injury.

BACKGROUND In patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI), optimizing sedation is challenging because maintaining a clinical examination is important in being able to detect neurological deterioration. Propofol (PROP) is frequently used as a sedative in TBI since it has been shown to reduce the cerebral metabolic rate, but it may lead to PROP-related infusion syndrome and hemodynamic compromise. Dexmedetomidine (DEX) is a sedative that produces minimal respiratory depression with opioid-sparing effects. The purpose of this study was to determine whether sedation with DEX would be safe in patients with severe TBI. METHODS This prospective observational single-center study was conducted from 2011 to 2013. Patients with severe TBI were treated according to standard of care per the Brain Trauma Foundation guidelines. Sedative agents were titrated using the Richmond Agitation Sedation Scale (RASS) while maintaining intracranial pressure of less than 20 mm Hg and cerebral perfusion pressure of greater than 60 mm Hg. The primary outcome measure was the mean time in target RASS (0 = alert and calm to −2 = light sedation). RESULTS A total of 198 patients were enrolled in the study. Patient-days (1,028 in total) were stratified into four groups: DEX only (n = 222), DEX + PROP (n = 148), PROP only (n = 599), and NEITHER (n = 59). Regression analyses indicated a significant difference in target RASS between sedative agents (p = 0.001). The DEX-only group had the highest adjusted mean daily estimate of 16.0 hours in target RASS. Hypotension was significantly higher in both the DEX only (p = 0.01) and DEX + PROP (p = 0.01) groups than in the PROP-only group. CONCLUSIONS Dexmedetomidine was found to be associated with significantly more hypotension. Therefore, larger studies are needed to identify the role of DEX in TBI. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Therapeutic study, level III.

External Fixation as a Bridge to Intramedullary Nailing for Patients with Multiple Injuries and with Femur Fractures : Damage Control Orthopedics

Background: The advantages of early fracture fixation in patients with multiple injuries have been challenged recently, particularly in patients with head injury. External fixation (EF) has been used to stabilize pelvic fractures after multiple injury. It potentially offers similar benefits to intramedullary nail (IMN) in long-bone fractures and may obviate some of the risks. We report on the use of EF as a temporary fracture fixation in a group of patients with multiple injuries and with femoral shaft fractures. Methods: Retrospective review of charts and registry data of patients admitted to our Level 1 trauma center July of 1995 to June of 1998. Forty-three patients initially treated with EF of the femur were compared to 284 patients treated with primary IMN of the femur. Results: Patients treated with EF had more severe injuries with significantly higher Injury Severity Scores (26.8 vs. 16.8) and required significantly more fluid (11.9 vs. 6.2 liters) and blood (1.5 vs. 1.0 liters) in the initial 24 hours. Glasgow Coma Scale score was lower (p < 0.01) in those treated with EF (11 vs. 14.2). Twelve patients (28%) had head injuries severe enough to require intracranial pressure monitoring. All 12 required therapy for intracranial pressure control with mannitol (100%), barbiturates (75%), and/or hyperventilation (75%). Most patients had more than one contraindication to IMN, including head injury in 46% of cases, hemodynamic instability in 65%, thoracoabdominal injuries in 51%, and/or other serious injuries in 46%, most often multiple orthopedic injuries. Median operating room time for EF was 35 minutes with estimated blood loss of 90 mL. IMN was performed in 35 of 43 patients at a mean of 4.8 days after EF. Median operating room time for IMN was 135 minutes with an estimated blood loss of 400 mL. One patient died before IMN. One other patient with a mangled extremity was treated with amputation after EF. There was one complication of EF, i.e., bleeding around a pin site, which was selflimited. Four patients in the EF group died, three from head injuries and one from acute organ failure. No death was secondary to the fracture treatment selected. One patient who had EF followed by IMN had bone infection and another had acute hardware failure. Conclusion: EF is a viable alternative to attain temporary rigid stabilization in patients with multiple injuries. It is rapid, causes negligible blood loss, and can be followed by IMN when the patient is stabilized. There were minimal orthopedic complications.

Sublingual Capnometry An Alternative to Gastric Tonometry for the Management of Shock Resuscitation

Normal vital signs do not reflect the physiologic aberrations after blood loss. Recognition of hypoperfusion during resuscitation can avoid the development of multiple organ failure. Advances in technology enable the clinician to monitor changes, potentially identifying tissue hypoxia much earlier than previously was possible. Gastric tonometry can be quite helpful in the intensive care unit in identifying gastric hypoperfusion, but has considerable drawbacks. The ability to monitor P(SI)CO(2) via sublingual capnometers overcomes some limitations of gastric tonometry and may be a valuable aid in the prehospital phase, the emergency department, and the intensive care unit in identifying end points of resuscitation.