Journal of the American College of Surgeons
-
Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Comparative Effectiveness of Initial Treatment at Trauma Center vs Neurosurgery-Capable Non-Trauma Center for Severe, Isolated Head Injury.
Head injury is an increasing contributor to death and disability, particularly among the elderly. Older patients are less likely to be treated at trauma centers, and head injury is the most common severe injury treated at non-trauma centers. We hypothesized that patients initially triaged to trauma centers would have lower rates of mortality and higher rates of discharge home without services than those treated at non-trauma centers. ⋯ Patients with isolated, severe head injury have better outcomes if initially treated in designated trauma centers. As 40% of such patients were triaged to non-trauma centers, there are major opportunities for improving outcomes.
-
Multicenter Study Observational Study
Resuscitative Endovascular Balloon Occlusion of the Aorta and Resuscitative Thoracotomy in Select Patients with Hemorrhagic Shock: Early Results from the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma's Aortic Occlusion in Resuscitation for Trauma and Acute Care Surgery Registry.
Aortic occlusion is a potentially valuable tool for early resuscitation in patients nearing extremis or in arrest from severe hemorrhage. ⋯ Overall, REBOA can confer a survival benefit over RT, particularly in patients not requiring CPR. Considerable additional study is required to definitively recommend REBOA for specific subsets of injured patients.
-
Multicenter Study
Venous Thromboembolism after Inpatient Surgery in Administrative Data vs NSQIP: A Multi-Institutional Study.
Previous studies have documented significant differences between administrative data and registry data in the determination of postoperative venous thromboembolism (VTE). The goal of this study was to characterize the discordance between administrative and registry data in the determination of postoperative VTE. ⋯ This study identifies significant problems in ability of both NSQIP and administrative data to assess postoperative VT/PE. Administrative data functioned more accurately than NSQIP data in the identification of postoperative PE. The mechanisms used to translate VTE measurement into quality improvement should be standardized and improved.