European journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society
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Fall from heights is high energy injuries and constitutes a fraction of all fall-related trauma evaluations while bearing an increase in morbidity and mortality. We hypothesize that despite advancements in trauma care, the overall survivability has not improved in this subset of trauma patients. ⋯ Level of height fallen is a good predictor of overall outcome and survival. Despite advances in trauma care, death rates remain unchanged. Safety awareness and injury prevention programs are needed to reduce the risk of high-level falls.
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This review summarizes a short list of currently discussed trauma-induced danger-associated molecular patterns (DAMP). Due to the bivalent character and often pleiotropic effects of a DAMP, it is difficult to describe its "friend or foe" role in post-traumatic inflammation and regeneration, both systemically as well locally in tissues. ⋯ While in vitro and experimental studies allow for the detection of these biomarkers at the different levels of an organism-cellular, tissue, circulation-this is not always easily transferable to the human setting. Increased knowledge exploring the dual role of DAMP after trauma, and concentrating on their nuclear functions, transcriptional targets, release mechanisms, cellular sources, multiple functions, their interactions and potential therapeutic targeting is warranted.
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Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg · Jun 2018
ReviewA systematic review of propensity score methods in the acute care surgery literature: avoiding the pitfalls and proposing a set of reporting guidelines.
Propensity score methods are techniques commonly employed in observational research to account for confounding when estimating the effects of treatments and exposures. These methods have been increasingly employed in the acute care surgery literature in an attempt to infer causality; however, the adequacy of reporting and the appropriateness of statistical analyses when using propensity score matching remain unclear. ⋯ We have proposed reporting guidelines for the use of propensity score methods in the acute care surgery literature. This is to help investigators improve the adequacy of reporting and statistical analyses when using observational data to estimate effects of treatments and exposures.
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Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg · Jun 2018
ReviewClinical outcomes and effect of delayed intervention in patients with hollow viscus injury due to blunt abdominal trauma: a systematic review.
Hollow viscus injury (HVI) due to blunt abdominal trauma remains a diagnostic challenge, often presenting late and results in delayed intervention. Despite several treatment algorithms, there is currently no consensus on how to manage patients with HVI. The aim of this review was to define clinical outcomes and the effect of delayed intervention in patients with HVI due to blunt abdominal trauma. The primary outcome of interest was difference in mortality between groups. ⋯ This systematic review summarises the results of studies considering outcomes in patients with HVI due to blunt abdominal trauma who have early vs delayed intervention. Overall mortality was significant at 17%. If all patients with hollow viscus injury are considered, the majority of studies do not show an increase in mortality. As patients with isolated bowel injuries have higher mortality in the studies reviewed, to improve outcomes in this subset further investigation is warranted.
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Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg · Jun 2018
Failure to rescue the elderly: a superior quality metric for trauma centers.
Trauma centers require reliable metrics to better compare the quality of care delivered. We compared mortality after a reported complication, termed failure to rescue (FTR), and FTR in the elderly (age >65 years) (FTRE) to determine which is a superior metric to assess quality of care delivered by trauma centers. ⋯ Higher FTRE predicts increased adjusted mortality better than FTR after trauma and should, therefore, be considered an important metric when comparing quality care delivered by trauma centers.