J Trauma
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This study assessed patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) to determine whether prehospital and community hospital providers employed hyperventilation therapy inconsistent with consensus recommendation against its routine use. ⋯ Prehospital and community hospital hyperventilation practices are not consistent with consensus recommendations for limitation of hyperventilation therapy.
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The ability to rapidly and accurately triage, evacuate, and utilize appropriate interventions can be problematic in the early decision-making process of trauma care. With current methods of prehospital data collection and analysis, decisions are often based upon single data points. This information may be insufficient for reliable decision-making. To date, no studies have attempted to utilize data at multiple time points for purposes of enhancing prediction, nor have studies attempted to synthesize prediction models with data reflecting both large-vessel venous and arterial injuries. Therefore, we performed a retrospective study to examine the potential utility of dynamic neural networks in predicting mortality using highly discretized uncontrolled hemorrhagic shock data. ⋯ This study demonstrates that PNN models can effectively harness the dynamic nature of uncontrolled hemorrhagic shock data, despite utilizing data from large-vessel arterial and venous injuries. Utilizing the dynamic nature of hemorrhagic shock data in PNNs may ultimately allow the development of novel decision assist devices.
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The objective of this study was to describe a population of children admitted to a tertiary care pediatric hospital with severe trauma to identify key areas for injury prevention research, and programming. ⋯ Research efforts and activities to prevent severe pediatric trauma in our region should focus on road safety, protection from head injuries, avoidance of falls, and prevention of child abuse.
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The 372 cases of crush syndrome that followed the 1995 Hanshin-Awaji earthquake have provided a unique opportunity to investigate the long-term physical outcomes and to establish indications for specific treatments in such patients. The objectives of this study were to identify independent predictors of physical outcome in patients suffering from crush syndrome and to clarify the influence of fasciotomy on outcomes. ⋯ Secondary compartment syndrome affects physical outcome in crush syndrome patients. We obtained no evidence that fasciotomy improves outcome. Delayed rescue, delayed fasciotomy, and radical debridement may worsen the physical prognosis. Indications for fasciotomy in crush syndrome during the acute phase need further deliberation.
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Patients with chronic alcohol abuse constitute approximately 50% of trauma care patients, and these patients have a two- to fourfold increase in posttraumatic infectious complications. Cytokines such as interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) and the adhesion molecule soluble endothelial selectin (sE-selectin) have been found to play an important role in the initial inflammatory response to trauma and the development of early and late multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS). The aim of this study was to compare the immune modulation and clinical relevance between chronic alcoholic and nonalcoholic patients following trauma. ⋯ The significantly elevated levels of IL-6, IL-10, and sE-selectin in chronic alcoholic trauma patients on admission to the ICU could play an important role in the development of MODS in intensive care. In patients with high levels of inflammatory mediators, immune modulatory treatment before the development of MODS may be considered.