J Trauma
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Direct muscle belly trauma is common. Selecting optimal methods for surgical repair of muscle disruption is difficult because reliable methods have not been established. Suturing tendon offers strong repairs, but epimysium and perimysium, the connective tissues that coalesce to form tendons, offer unknown repair strength. The purpose of this study was to compare biomechanical properties of repaired muscle in transected muscle bellies with epimysium and perimysium. ⋯ These data showed that epimysium incorporation into suturing improves capacity to bear forces compared with perimysium incorporation.
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In the last 10 years, trauma/critical care has become less attractive because of the decreasing surgical caseload, the nocturnal work hours, and the economics of the practice. Nevertheless, during the same period, the number of verified trauma centers has significantly increased. This study assesses the economic drive behind this dichotomy. ⋯ The economic dichotomy that exists between trauma centers and trauma/critical surgeons is significant. It drives institutional growth and, at the same time, discourages surgeons from entering the subspecialty. As physician reimbursement decreases and the number of uninsured patients increases, this economic dichotomy will amplify. Over the next decade, without a significant adjustment, the subspecialty is in danger of extinction.
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Prior studies have suggested that blood transfusion (Tx) is associated with infectious and respiratory complications in trauma patients. However, these studies are difficult to interpret because of small sample size, inclusion of severely injured patients in traumatic shock, and combination of a variety of unrelated low-morbidity/mortality infections, such as wound, catheter-related, and urinary tract infection as outcomes. To eliminate these confounding variables, this study evaluates the association between delayed Tx and serious, well-defined respiratory complications (ventilator-associated pneumonia [VAP] and acute respiratory distress syndrome [ARDS]) and death in a cohort of intensive care unit (ICU) admissions with less severe (Injury Severity Score [ISS] < 25) blunt trauma who received no Tx within the initial 48 hours after admission. ⋯ Delayed transfusion is independently associated with VAP, ARDS, and death in trauma patients regardless of injury severity. These data mandate a judicious transfusion policy after resuscitation and emphasize the need for safe and effective blood substitutes and transfusion alternatives.
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Several studies indicate impaired wound healing after trauma and shock. Wound immune cell dysfunction seems to be responsible for altered wound healing after trauma-hemorrhage (T-H). In this respect, administration of the amino acid L-arginine normalized wound immune cell function under those conditions. It remains unknown, however, whether L-arginine improves impaired wound healing after T-H. ⋯ Because L-arginine improves wound healing, the results suggest that L-arginine might represent a novel and useful adjunct to fluid resuscitation for decreasing wound complications after trauma and severe blood loss.
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Although studies have ascertained that ten percent of soldiers killed in battle bleed to death from extremity wounds, little data exists on exsanguination and mortality from extremity injuries in civilian trauma. This study examined the treatment course and outcomes of civilian patients who appear to have exsanguinated from isolated penetrating extremity injuries. ⋯ Although rare, death from isolated extremity injuries does occur in the civilian population. The majority of injuries that lead to immediate death are proximal injuries of the lower extremities. The cause of death in this series appears to have been exsanguination, although definitive etiology cannot be discerned. Intravenous access was not obtainable in the majority of patients. Eight patients (57%) had bleeding from a site that anatomically might have been amenable to tourniquet control. Patients presenting to the EC without any detectable blood pressure and who received either CPR or EC thoracotomy all died.