Multiple trauma and the burn patient

Trauma surgeons are confronted nowadays with various abdominal injuries, with a more and more increased severity, secondary to urban violence and traffic related accidents. We aim to better define the prognostic value of post-traumatic hemoperitoneum (PTH) in the nowadays era of nonoperative management of abdominal lesions, and to correlate it with the current pattern of traumatic injuries. Retrospective study of patients admitted during 24 months. Selections criteria: (1) Traumatic injury; (2) Free peritoneal fluid on preoperative imaging; (3) Surgical exploration of the abdomen. Setting: A level I trauma center. Results: There were 64 patients, with two peak frequencies between 18-35 and 50-70 years old. Abdominal wall ecchymoses were found in 36 (55%) of cases. Out of 64 cases 37 (58.7%) were transportation related, 12 (19%) caused by human aggression and 10 (16.9%) by falls. According to the Trauma Score (TS) there were 50 (78.2%) cases with TS between 14-16, 9 (17.2%) between 10 –13 and 3 (4.8%) with TS <9. More frequent extraabdominal associated lesions were: head injuries – 38 (58.5%), thoracic trauma – 34 (52.3%), orthopedic injuries – 24 (36.9%). Diagnostic peritoneal lavage was performed in 5 (7.8%) cases. FAST has a sensibility of 70.21% and CT scan a sensibility of 100%. Most frequent injured abdominal organs were the spleen – 36 (56.25%), liver 17 (26.56%) and mesentery 14 (21.87%). Laparotomy was performed in 59 (92.2%) of cases, laparoscopy in 2 (3.1%) of cases and conversion to open surgery in 3 (4.7%) cases. Mortality was 23.43%. We observed several predictive factors for mortality on univariate analysis: haemoglobin < 8g/dl (p=0.02), haematocrits < 25% (p=0.01), hemoperitoneum > 1500 ml (p=0.04), colonic trauma (p=0.001), head (p=0.01) and thoracic injuries (p=0.04). Dedicated trauma surgeons should balance between trauma kinetics details, patients’ clinical examination, and diagnostic workup, in an effort to decrease morbidity and mortality secondary to missed injuries or unnecessary laparotomies.

Background:The incidence of abdominal trauma is still underreported from the Arab Middle-East. We aimed to evaluate the incidence, causes, clinical presentation, and outcome of the abdominal trauma patients in a newly established trauma center.Materials and Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted at the only level I trauma center in Qatar for the patients admitted with abdominal trauma (2008-2011). Patients demographics, mechanism of injury, pattern of organ injuries, associated extra-abdominal injuries, Injury Severity Score (ISS), Abbreviated Injury Scale, complications, length of Intensive Care Unit, and hospital stay, and mortality were reviewed.Results:A total of 6888 trauma patients were admitted to the hospital, of which 1036 (15%) had abdominal trauma. The mean age was 30.6 ± 13 years and the majority was males (93%). Road traffic accidents (61%) were the most frequent mechanism of injury followed by fall from height (25%) and fall of heavy object (7%). The mean ISS was 17.9 ± 10. Liver (36%), spleen (32%) and kidney (18%) were most common injured organs. The common associated extra-abdominal injuries included chest (35%), musculoskeletal (32%), and head injury (24%). Wound infection (3.8%), pneumonia (3%), and urinary tract infection (1.4%) were the frequently observed complications. The overall mortality was 8.3% and late mortality was observed in 2.3% cases mainly due to severe head injury and sepsis. The predictors of mortality were head injury, ISS, need for blood transfusion, and serum lactate.Conclusion:Abdominal trauma is a frequent diagnosis in multiple trauma and the presence of extra-abdominal injuries and sepsis has a significant impact on the outcome.

BackgroundThoracic trauma is the third most common cause of death after abdominal injury and head trauma in polytrauma patients. The purpose of this study was to investigate epidemiological data, treatment and outcome of polytrauma patients with blunt chest trauma in order to help improve management, prevent complications and decrease polytrauma patients’ mortality.MethodsIn this retrospective study we included all polytrauma patients with blunt chest trauma admitted to our tertiary care center emergency department for a 2-year period, from June 2012 until May 2014. Data collection included details of treatment and outcome. Patients with chest trauma and Injury Severity Score (ISS) ≥18 and Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) >2 in more than one body region were included.ResultsA total of 110 polytrauma patients with blunt chest injury were evaluated. 82 of them were males and median age was 48.5 years. Car accidents, falls from a height and motorbike accidents were the most common causes (>75%) for blunt chest trauma. Rib fractures, pneumothorax and pulmonary contusion were the most common chest injuries. Most patients (64.5%) sustained a serious chest injury (AISthorax 3), 19.1% a severe chest injury (AISthorax 4) and 15.5% a moderate chest injury (AISthorax 2). 90% of patients with blunt chest trauma were treated conservatively. Chest tube insertion was indicated in 54.5% of patients. The need for chest tube was significantly higher among the AISthorax 4 group in comparison to the AIS groups 3 and 2 (p < 0.001). Also, admission to the ICU was directly related to the severity of the AISthorax (p < 0.001). The severity of chest trauma did not correlate with ICU length of stay, intubation days, complications or mortality.ConclusionAlthough 84.5% of patients suffered from serious or even severe chest injury, neither in the conservative nor in the surgically treated group a significant impact of injury severity on ICU stay, intubation days, complications or mortality was observed. AISthorax was only related to the rate of chest tube insertions and ICU admission. Management with early chest tube insertion when necessary, pain control and chest physiotherapy resulted in good outcome in the majority of patients.

In some groups of polytrauma patients, particularly those with chest injuries, head injuries, and those with mangled extremities, early total care of major bone fractures may be potentially harmful. Delaying all orthopaedic surgery, however, is also not always the best approach. In these situations, damage control orthopaedics, which emphasizes the stabilization and control of the injury rather than repair will add little additional physiologic insult to the patient and is a treatment option that should be considered.

In a 5-year period of prospective study, 369 pediatric patients with multiple trauma (injury to at least two body areas) had injuries scored by a Modification of Injury Severity Scale (MISS). This scale uses the categories and rankings of the Abbreviated Injury Scale-1980 (AIS-80) except that the classification of neurological injuries are scored by the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) and other neurological findings (presence of a surgical mass lesion, pupillary light response, and oculocephalic reflexes). The MISS is calculated as the sum of the squares of the three most severely injured body areas. The mean MISS score was 23.8 with 33% of MISS scores greater than 25 and 67% less than 25. Among those with MISS scores greater than 25 there was a 44% mortality and 31% disability. In the group with MISS scores less than 25, there were no mortalities, and a 1% disability (p less than 0.001). Overall mortality was 14% with 9% disability. Mean MISS scores for death and disability were 35.1 and 29.6, respectively. Neurologic injuries were present in 274 patients (74%). 163 patients had severe head injury (coma greater than 6 h duration). 86% of all deaths were due to head injury and all but 2 deaths had some degree of head injury. The remaining 14% of deaths were due to chest and abdominal injuries. Patients with MISS grade 5 injury (critical, survival uncertain) had 74% mortality, while those with grades 4 and 3 injury had 8 and 1.5% mortality. In a comparison with pediatric patients with head injury only (coma greater than 6 h, no multiple trauma) there was found to be a 12% mortality in the head injury only group versus a 33% mortality in the multiple trauma plus head injury group. The MISS serves as an accurate predictor of morbidity and mortality in pediatric trauma. The best predictors of outcome were a MISS less than 25 and the degree of neurological injury.

BackgroundTrauma, especially chest and abdominal trauma are increasing due to the growing number of vehicles on the roads, which leads to an increased incidence of road accidents. Urbanization, industrialization and additional problems are the other associated factors which accelerate this phenomenon. A better understanding of the etiology and pattern of such injuries can help to improve the management and ultimate the outcomes of these patients.ObjectivesThis study aimed to evaluate the patients with chest and abdominal trauma hospitalized in the surgery ward of Poursina teaching hospital, Guilan, Iran.Patients and MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, the data of all chest and abdominal trauma patients hospitalized in the surgery ward of Poursina teaching hospital were collected from March 2011 to March 2012. Information about age, gender, injured areas, type of injury (penetrating or blunt), etiology of the injury, accident location (urban or rural) and patients' discharge outcomes were collected by a questionnaire.ResultsIn total, 211 patients with a mean age of 34.1 ± 1.68 years was entered into the study. The most common cause of trauma was traffic accidents (51.7%). Among patients with chest trauma, 45 cases (35.4%) had penetrating injuries and 82 cases (64.6%) blunt lesions. The prevalence of chest injuries was 35.5% and rib fractures 26.5%. In chest injuries, the prevalence of hemothorax was 65.3%, pneumothorax 2.7%, lung contusion 4% and emphysema 1.3%, respectively. There were 24 cases (27.9%) with abdominal trauma which had penetrating lesions and 62 cases (72.1%) with blunt lesions. The most common lesions in patients with penetrating abdominal injuries were spleen (24.2%) and liver (12.1%) lesions. The outcomes of the patients were as follow: 95.7% recovery and 4.3% death. The majority of deaths were observed among road traffic victims (77.7%).ConclusionsConsidering the fact that road-related accidents are quite predictable and controllable; therefore, the quality promotion of traumatic patients' care, and the road safety should be noted as problems associated with public health.

Luxación pura de facetas articulares T11-T12 sin secuelas neurológicas. Caso clínico

BackgroundBlunt abdominal aortic injury (BAAI) is rare among traumatic aortic injuries, and further complications of blunt thoracic aortic injury (BTAI) have never been reported.Case PresentationA man in his 80s presented to our hospital following a motor vehicle accident. Pan-scan contrast-enhanced CT showed a thoracic aortic isthmus injury (Grade III), an abdominal aortic injury (Grade IV) with extravasation of contrast media at the level of the fourth lumbar vertebra. Endovascular abdominal aortic repair was performed on the same day and a thoracic endovascular aortic repair for BTAI was performed 11 days after admission. The patient had a good postoperative course and was discharged without complications.ConclusionThis report presented a rare case of BTAI complicated with BAAI. The timing of intervention for aortic injury should be determined based on urgency and other organ damage.

Electrical burn injury is very common, including electrical contact burn, electrical arc burn, and lightning burn, etc. Electrical burn patients account for 0.04 to 5 percent of all burn victims in the developed countries, while it hit up to 27 percent in the developing countries, much more than the global average of 4.5 percent. Historical and recent data have shown that the electrical burn injuries in China, either for the case number, the proportion of burn patients in hospital, or the population incidence per year, are much higher than those of the developed countries and the global average. Before the 1960s, conservative treatment or skin grafts after repeated debridements were used for electrical burns, resulting in high rates of amputation and severe deformity. In the 1960s, transplantation of flaps after debridement in early stage were used for repairing wrist electrical burn wounds, breaking through the traditional conservative methods. In the 1980s, local, distant and island pedicled skin or myocutaneous flaps were widely used for early stage repair of electrical burn wounds. In recent years, along with the increasing experience of evaluating the blood vessel injuries and the development of microsurgical techniques, free flaps have been more and more used to cover the deep wounds of electrical burns in early stage, leading to much better effects and shorter length of hospital stay. With the persistent efforts of the burn specialists in the last decades, great improvements have been made for the treatment of electrical burn injuries in China. Future study on decoding the full mechanism of electrical burn injury, exploring new methods to save the injured but not yet necrotic tissue, are still needed to improve the treatment and reduce amputation and deformity of electrical burn injury.

The incidence of abdominal injury in patients with thoracic and/or pelvic trauma

Risk Factors for 24-Hour Mortality After Traumatic Rib Fractures Owing to Motor Vehicle Accidents: A Nationwide Population-Based Study

Chest Trauma in Children, Single Center Experience

To determine the presentation and management outcome of thoracic trauma in a tertiary care setting. Case series study. The study was carried out in the Department of Surgery, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Islamabad from January to December 2005. A total of 143 patients, who presented with chest trauma, were included in the study. All the patients were assessed by the history, physical examination and ancillary investigations. Appropriate managements were instituted as required. Data was described in percentages. Out of 143 patients, 119 (83%) were males and 24 (17%) were females. Most of the patients belonged to the age group of 21-50 years. Ninety seven (66%) patients were admitted for indoor management. Blunt injury was found in 125 (87.4%) patients, while penetrating injuries in only 18 (12.6%) patients. Road Traffic Accidents (RTAs) were the commonest cause of trauma (n=103, 72%). Rib fracture was the commonest chest injury (74% patients). Head injury was the most frequently associated injury (18% of the patients). Tube thoracostomy was the commonest intervention undertaken in 65 (45%) patients. Seventeen (11.88%) patients were managed with mechanical ventilation. There were 17 deaths with a mortality rate of 11.88%. Thoracic trauma is an important cause of hospitalization, morbidity and mortality in the younger population. RTAs constitute the leading cause of thoracic trauma in our setup. Tube thoracostomy is the most frequent and at times the only invasive procedure required as a definitive measure in thoracic trauma patients. A policy of selective hospitalization helps to avoid unnecessary hospital admissions.

Basic demographic and injury data were collected on all major trauma patients (ISS > 15) presenting to 25 Victorian hospitals over a 1 year period (March 1992-February 1993). A total of 1076 patients were identified with an Injury Severity Score (ISS) > 15. Of these, 957 resulted from blunt trauma, 68 from penetrating trauma and 51 from burns. Most serious blunt injury was transport-related (n = 652) but falls made up a significant proportion (n = 206). The pattern of injury in blunt trauma demonstrated in this study showed a preponderance of serious head, thoracic and limb injuries with less frequent occurrences of abdominal, spine and facial injuries. In major penetrating trauma, serious injuries of the thorax and abdomen were more frequent. Head injury is the most common cause of morbidity in major trauma patients. Motor vehicle accidents caused the majority of head injuries but, proportionately, head injury was more common in pedal cycle, pedestrian, motorcycle injuries and falls. The low frequency of major abdominal trauma has important implications for surgical training and resource allocation. In Victoria, various injury prevention interventions have been introduced such as compulsory wearing of bicycle helmets, a safer home environment and behavioral modifications through advertising. Injury prevention strategies must continue to target the populations at risk and assess the impact of interventions by accurate injury surveillance.

Aims & Objectives: We present a retrospective study of pediatric polytrauma patients admitted to the pediatric Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a tertiary university hospital in Europe. Methods: Data retrieved from 2007 to 2019 included mechanism and site of injury, pre-hospital and in-hospital trauma care, ICU length-of-stay (LOS), and in-hospital mortality. Results: 217 patients were included (age 10,7 ± 4,86 years; 66% male). Motor vehicle accidents (MVA) (44,4%) and car-pedestrian accidents (25,9%) were the leading mechanisms of injury, followed by falls from height (21,8%; 4,2% sports-related), penetrating trauma (3,3%) and suicide attempts (2,3%). On pre-hospital assessment, 60% of children had documented loss of consciousness; of these, more than half had severe brain injury (GCS<9). The most frequent injury sites were brain (74%) and skeleton (73%). Vertebral fractures were the most common orthopedic injury (19%), followed by pelvic (16,6%) and femur (15,2%) fractures. Patients with orthopedic trauma had significantly longer ICU LOS (5,1 ± 2,76 vs 3,1 ± 1,16; p=0,007); those with 3 or more fracture sites had greater needs for blood transfusion (20 vs 4 mL/kg; p=0,016). MVA were associated with highest incidence of orthopedic severe injuries (p<0,001). Most children involved in MVA were completely unrestrained (37,5%) or using a restraint system inappropriately (6,3%). Overall ICU trauma-related mortality was 1,8% (three cases of severe brain injury and one cervical spine injury). Conclusions: The great majority of polytrauma children suffer orthopedic injuries, requiring longer ICU admission and higher transfusion volumes. Road traffic accidents remain the leading cause of severe polytrauma. Education-oriented programs are still of crucial importance for prevention.