Articles: trauma.
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Pediatric emergency care · Oct 2014
Comparative StudyInfant head injury in falls and nonaccidental trauma: does injury pattern correlate with mechanism?
Nonaccidental trauma (NAT) is most common and most lethal in infants. Falls are the most frequently given explanation for NAT, and head injuries can result from both mechanisms. We hypothesized that infant head injuries from NAT have a distinct injury profile compared to falls. ⋯ We recommend that all children younger than 1 year, with an isolated intracranial hemorrhage, have a full NAT work-up. Injury severity score greater than 20, Glasgow Coma Scale less than 13, and extracranial injuries should also increase suspicion of NAT.
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Journal of neurotrauma · Oct 2014
Systemic Platelet Dysfunction is the Result of Local Dysregulated Coagulation and Platelet Activation in the Brain in a Rat Model of Isolated Traumatic Brain Injury.
Coagulopathy after severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) has been extensively reported. Clinical studies have identified a strong relationship between diminished platelet-rich thrombus formation, responsiveness to adenosine diphosphate agonism, and severity of TBI. ⋯ Using immunohistochemical techniques and thromboelastography platelet mapping, the current study demonstrated that the expression of coagulation (tissue factor and fibrin) and platelet activation (P-selectin) markers in the injured brain paralleled the alteration in systemic platelet responsiveness to the agonists, adenosine diphosphate and arachodonic acid. Results of this study demonstrate that local procoagulant changes in the injured brain have profound effects on systemic platelet function.
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Computed tomography angiography (CTA) has been applied in imaging studies for the assessment of most abdominal and pelvic injuries in some trauma centers. However, in most institutions, CTA is not routinely performed as part of the computed tomography scan protocol. In this study, we aimed to assess the efficiency of CTA in the evaluation of patients with pelvic fractures. ⋯ In the management of patients with pelvic fractures, CTA provides limited benefits in the evaluation of the active arterial hemorrhage. The additional arterial phase may be helpful for distinguishing between arterial and venous hemorrhage. However, this study showed that subsequent treatment was not changed.
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The status of autoregulation is an important prognostic factor in traumatic brain injury (TBI), and is important to consider in the management of TBI patients. Pressure reactivity index (PRx) is a measure of autoregulation that has been thoroughly studied, but little is known about its variation in different subtypes of TBI. In this study, we examined the impact of PRx and cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP) on outcome in different TBI subtypes. ⋯ TBI patients with diffuse injury may differ from those with mass lesions. In the latter higher levels of CPP may be harmful, possibly due to BBB disruption. In TBI patients with diffuse injury and disturbed autoregulation higher levels of CPP may be beneficial.
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Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg · Oct 2014
Adherence to protocol in pregnant trauma patients? A 12-year retrospective study.
We investigated whether the standard (ATLS) trauma protocol was adhered to in cases of suspected multi-traumatized pregnant patients and if serious injuries were overlooked. We hypothesized that radiographic studies would be less frequent in pregnant trauma patients. ⋯ Adherence to the ATLS protocol in pregnant trauma patients was low in relation to radiographic studies but, in spite of this, no known significant injuries were missed. We found that a pelvic fracture seems to be predictive of a high risk of obstetric complications, such as intrauterine death or the need for cesarean section, but we were not able to relate trauma in general to a higher risk of cesarean section or premature birth.