Injury
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Multicenter Study
The effect of anticoagulation on outcomes after liver and spleen injuries: A research consortium of New England centers for trauma (ReCONECT) study.
Liver and spleen injuries are the most commonly injured solid organs, the effects of anticoagulation on these injuries has not yet been well characterized. ⋯ The use of anticoagulation did not result in a difference in outcomes among patients with spleen and/or liver injuries.
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Observational Study
Targeted cryoprecipitate transfusion in severe traumatic haemorrhage.
Severe traumatic haemorrhage is the leading cause of death in young adults. Trauma Induced Coagulopathy is a complex and multifactorial phenomenon associated with severe traumatic haemorrhage. Fibrinogen is one of the first coagulation factors to become depleted in TIC and evidence suggests that severely injured trauma patients with hypofibrinogenaemia have poor outcomes. It is postulated that early fibrinogen replacement can improve clinical outcomes. This study investigated cryoprecipitate transfusion in hyopfibrinogeneamic trauma patients. ⋯ This study demonstrated that early administration of cryoprecipitate was both feasible and efficacious in fibrinogen replacement in severe traumatic haemorrhage. High-level evidence supporting cryoprecipitate or fibrinogen concentrate replacement with regards to efficacy and feasibility is required to guide future clinical practice. This study provided baseline data to inform the design of further clinical trials investigating fibrinogen replacement in traumatic haemorrhage.
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Falls are the leading cause of injury-related emergency presentations, hospital admissions and deaths in Victorians over the age of 65. While there is extensive literature analysing traumatic injuries resulting from falls in older patients, there is little data on ocular injuries in this patient group. ⋯ Falls in older people may be associated with sight-threatening ocular injuries which are common and easy to miss in this population demographic. The presence of ocular injuries in this patient group is associated with significant rates of in-hospital mortality and poor functional outcomes. It is therefore essential for trauma practitioners to perform a detailed and systematic assessment in order to identify sight-threatening ocular injuries and allow for expedient sight-saving intervention to be performed.
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Pancreatic trauma (PT) involving the main pancreatic duct is rare, but represents a challenging clinical problem with relevant morbidity and mortality. It is generally classified according to the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST) and often presents as concomitant injury in blunt or penetrating abdominal trauma. Diagnosis may be delayed because of a lack of clinical or radiological manifestation. Treatment options for main pancreatic duct injuries comprise highly complex surgical procedures. ⋯ Often extension of diagnostics including MRI and/or ERP at an early stage is necessary to guide clinical decision-making. If, due to main duct injuries, surgical therapy for PT is required, we suggest consideration of an organ preservative pancreatogastrostomy in grade III/IV trauma of the pancreatic body or tail.
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Emergency resuscitative thoracotomy (ERT) is a lifesaving procedure for select indications in severely injured patients. The main body of the literature stem from regions with a high prevalence of penetrating injuries, while data from European institutions remain scarce. We aimed to evaluate a decade of ERT in a Norwegian trauma centre. ⋯ In this study, ERT conferred good outcome with survival in one of every five procedures. Performing ERT in severely injured patients presenting in extremis appears to be justified even in low-volume centres and in blunt trauma.