Articles: trauma.
-
To reduce the high rate of soft tissue complications in the treatment of displaced intra-articular fractures of the calcaneus, several minimally invasive techniques have been developed. Little evidence exists on the clinical outcome of these techniques. ⋯ Level IV, retrospective case series.
-
Review Historical Article
Clinical applications of targeted temperature management.
Targeted temperature management (TTM) has been investigated experimentally and used clinically for over 100 years. The initial rationale for the clinical application of TTM, historically referred to as therapeutic hypothermia, was to decrease the metabolic rate, allowing the injured brain time to heal. Subsequent research demonstrated the temperature dependence of diverse cellular mechanisms including endothelial dysfunction, production of reactive oxygen species, and apoptosis. ⋯ Additionally, TTM has been demonstrated to improve outcomes for neonatal patients with anoxic brain injury secondary to hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy. Trials are currently under way, or have yielded conflicting results in, examining the utility of TTM for the treatment of ischemic stroke, traumatic brain injury, and acute myocardial infarction. In this review, we place TTM in historic context, discuss the pathophysiologic rationale for its use, review the general concept of a TTM protocol for the management of brain injury, address some of the common side effects encountered when lowering human body temperature, and examine the data for its use in diverse disease conditions with in-depth examination of TTM for postarrest care and pediatric applications.
-
Journal of critical care · Feb 2014
Thrombin generation and fibrin clot formation under hypothermic conditions: An in vitro evaluation of tissue factor initiated whole blood coagulation.
Despite trauma-induced hypothermic coagulopathy being familiar in the clinical setting, empirical experimentation concerning this phenomenon is lacking. In this study, we investigated the effects of hypothermia on thrombin generation, clot formation, and global hemostatic functions in an in vitro environment using a whole blood model and thromboelastography, which can recapitulate hypothermia. ⋯ Induced hypothermic conditions directly affect the rate of thrombin generation and clot formation, whereas global clot stability remains intact.
-
Review Meta Analysis
Systematic review and meta-analysis of routine total body CT compared with selective CT in trauma patients.
Full-body CT scanning is increasingly being used in the initial evaluation of severely injured patients. We sought to analyse the literature to determine the benefits of full-body scanning in terms of mortality and length of time spent in the emergency department (ED). ⋯ We eagerly await the results of randomised controlled trials. Firm clinical outcome data are expected to emerge in the near future, though data on cost and radiation exposure will be needed before definitive conclusions can be made.