J Trauma
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Pediatric trauma centers often do not meet the guidelines requiring a trauma team as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). We reviewed our experience with a team consisting of a pediatric emergency physician, resident, nurse, and respiratory therapist. The surgical and pediatric critical care residents and staff were available within 5 minutes. ⋯ The percentages of patients who were normal, disabled, and dead were 61%, 31.5%, and 7.5%, respectively, at 6 months follow-up. Eleven deaths were expected based on PRISM and TRISS analysis. Our mortality and morbidity figures were comparable with those of centers with teams based on AAP guidelines.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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This study examined the inter-rater reliability of preventable death judgments for trauma. A total of 130 deaths were reviewed for potential preventability by multiple panels of nationally chosen experts. Deaths involving a central nervous system (CNS) injury were reviewed by three panels, each consisting of a trauma surgeon, a neurosurgeon, and an emergency physician. ⋯ When both autopsy results and prehospital care reports were available reliability increased across panels. A variety of approaches have been used to elicit judgments of preventability. This study provides information to guide recommendations for future studies involving implicit judgments of preventable death.
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The records of obese and nonobese victims of blunt trauma were compared to determine if obese individuals are predisposed to a specific injury pattern. Prospectively collected data on 6368 adults admitted to a level I trauma center over a 4-year period were analyzed. Twelve percent (743 patients) met Body Mass Index (weight/height2) criteria for obesity (greater than or equal to 30 kg/m2). ⋯ More obese patients were injured in vehicular crashes (62.7% vs. 54.1% [p less than 0.01]). The obese victims were more likely to have rib fractures, pulmonary contusions, pelvic fractures, and extremity fractures and less likely to have incurred head trauma and liver injuries (p less than 0.05). Obese people injured in vehicular crashes had a similar injury pattern with no difference in seating position, direction of impact, seat belt use, and ejection.
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Traumatic injury to the diaphragm is a relatively uncommon injury with potential for considerable morbidity if the diagnosis is delayed or missed. This review of cases of traumatic diaphragmatic injury was undertaken in order to emphasize methods and timing of diagnosis and treatment. From 1986 through 1990, 43 cases of traumatic diaphragmatic injury were admitted to the trauma unit at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, for an incidence of 2% of all new multiple trauma admissions. ⋯ Surgical repair of the diaphragm was performed via laparotomy in 40 of 43 cases. Only one patient was repaired in a delayed fashion by thoracotomy for thoracic complications. A clear contrast can be drawn between blunt injuries and penetrating trauma.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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A review of burn admission patterns to Canadian hospitals from 1966 to 1991 from Statistics Canada data was prompted by a decrease to 125 burn patients admitted to Vancouver General Hospital in 1990 after a plateau at 180-195 per year for 6 years. The total number of fires from Fire Commissioner's data and data from 20 of the 27 Canadian burn units was analyzed. Canadian burn admissions decreased from 57 per 100,000 in 1966 to 23 per 100,000 in 1989. ⋯ The number of fires decreased from 370 to 270 per 100,000 in the last decade. In 1981, 1986, and 1989 15 Canadian units treated a constant 15% share of hospitalized burns, while nine units reported a constant 7% of burn patients who also required ventilation for associated smoke inhalation injury. These trends forecast a 2%-4% decrease in hospitalized burns per capita per year.