Articles: trauma.
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Bispectral index (BIS) monitoring in multiple trauma patients has become a common practice in monitoring the sedation levels. We aimed to assess the utility of BIS in the trauma intensive care unit (ICU). ⋯ Management of multiple trauma patients in the trauma ICU with BIS monitoring was found to be associated with better outcomes. BIS monitoring is a guide for adjusting the dosage of sedative agents. It can also minimize agitation, failure of extubation, and length of stay in ICU.
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The Scandinavian Journal of Trauma, Resuscitation and Emergency Medicine-which received its first Impact Factor in 2013-is extremely grateful for the time, hard work and support of its highly-qualified peer reviewers. The editors of the Scandinavian Journal of Trauma, Resuscitation and Emergency Medicine, the Norwegian Air Ambulance Foundation and BioMed Central would like to show our appreciation by thanking the following people for their assistance reviewing manuscripts for the journal in 2013.
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Hospital readmission rates will soon impact Medicare reimbursements. While risk factors for readmission have been described for medical and elective surgical patients, little is known about their predictive value specifically in trauma patients. ⋯ Trauma patients have a low risk of readmission. In contrast to elective surgical patients, the only modifiable risk factor for readmission in our trauma population was SSI. Other risk factors may present clinicians with opportunities for targeted interventions, such as proactive follow up or early phone contact. With future changes to health care policy, clinicians may have even greater motivation to prevent readmission.
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Cardiac syncope is associated with poor outcomes and may result in traumatic injuries. In patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with trauma, recognizing the cause of syncope is particularly challenging. Also, clinical markers to identify cardiac syncope are not well established. ⋯ In patients with traumatic falls and syncope, simple clinical and electrocardiographical variables may identify patients with cardiac causes of syncope. Proper identification of cardiac syncope in this population can potentially prevent recurrence of life-threatening traumatic injury.