Search Tag: trauma
2015 31 Dec
What to Expect in Civilian vs. Military Contexts Civilian blast injuries are not rare, but most are not due to military explosives, meaning extrapolation from military texts is often inappropriate. In civilian mass casualty events, emergency departments will see large patient numbers, but few require surgery or intensive care. Survivors of small...Read more
2015 31 Dec
This article focuses on the type of fluid available and respective indications in the course of trauma resuscitation according to the situation: haemorrhagic shock, trauma brain injury. In trauma patients, fluid resuscitation aims at preventing a cardiac arrest due to severe hypovolaemia and at achieving a satisfying level of mean arterial pressure...Read more
2015 31 Dec
Providing seamless emergency care is the ideal for those of us who work in emergency medicine and intensive care. In the past, intensive care units were a closed part of the hospital, and admission was strictly controlled. This idea is obsolete now. It is heartening that we are providing more integrated care between emergency and intensive care. Intensivists...Read more
2015 09 Nov
A new military trauma care protocol for managing haemorrhage and resuscitation may assist in saving both combat and civilian patients, according to a new study published in the AANA Journal . David Gaskin, CRNA, MHS, and co-authors write that although “haemorrhage is a less common cause of death than a central nervous system injury, it is the most...Read more
2015 22 Oct
Seven consensus statements from a panel of leading international experts in the treatment of severe traumatic brain injury (sTBI) provide a clear interpretation of the results from the BEST TRIP trial, which have led to ongoing debate over the value of intracranial pressure monitoring in sTBI. These new consensus statements, published in Journal of...Read more
2015 14 Sep
The University of Chicago Medicine and Sinai Health System are partnering to create a more comprehensive system of needed trauma and emergency care for Chicago’s South and Southwest side communities. The two organisations will build and operate a Level 1 adult trauma centre at Holy Cross Hospital, part of the Sinai Health System. Holy Cross, at 68th...Read more
2015 09 Jul
A new study published in PLOS ONE shows that burn injuries could trigger dramatic changes in the 100 trillion bacteria inside the gastrointestinal tract. Researchers found a huge increase in Enterobacteriaceae, a family of potentially harmful bacteria, in patients who had suffered severe burns. There was a corresponding decrease in beneficial bacteria...Read more
2015 16 Apr
Trauma is a fast-paced, demanding environment, and communication is key to ensuring everyone understands their roles and responsibilities. As a new study suggests, doctors and other members of trauma resuscitation teams should map out mental blueprints — much like how athletes mentally visualise races long before lacing up — and then communicate their...Read more
2015 31 Mar
Existing critical care is expensive, poorly distributed and severely stretched. Regionalised trauma centres have shown mortality benefits, so should critical care be regionalised at larger centres? Derek Angus, Alain Combes and Jerry Nolan addressed this vexed question in relation to critical care, ECMO and resuscitation, speaking at the International...Read more
2015 25 Mar
A life-support technology called ECMO that takes over for the failing hearts and lungs of critically ill patients saves lives. However, a new study has found that adults treated with ECMO were less likely to die when they were treated at hospitals caring for more ECMO patients per year. That is the key finding of the first large study in patients of...Read more
2015 26 Feb
A new study published in the Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma (JOT) shows that infection rates can be significantly reduced by giving patients antibiotics within the first hour of injury. The study included 137 trauma patients who had open fractures of the tibia (shinbone). In an open fracture, bone sticks out through the skin or a wound penetrates down...Read more
2015 04 Feb
A novel eye-tracking device has enabled researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center to effectively measure the severity of concussion or brain injury in patients following head trauma. They say this unique, simple and objective diagnostic tool for concussion can be utilised in the emergency room or, one day, on the sidelines at sporting events. "Our...Read more
2015 03 Feb
Among patients with severe trauma and major bleeding, those who received a transfusion of a balanced ratio of plasma, platelets, and red blood cells (RBCs) were more likely to have their bleeding stopped and less likely to die due to loss of blood by 24 hours compared to patients who received a transfusion with a higher ratio of RBCs, according to a...Read more
2015 05 Jan
A spot check device that can give readings within 20 seconds has been tested in 525 critically injured patients. Trauma surgeons at the University of Arizona, Tucson, analysed use of the Spot check Pronto-7® Pulse CO-oximeter. Using this device was a valid alternative to taking blood and typically waiting 10 minutes or longer for lab analysis of blood...Read more
2014 17 Aug
Management of critically injured patients is usually complicated and challenging. A structured team approach with comprehensive survey is warranted. However, delayed diagnosis of co-existing injuries that are less severe or occult might still occur, despite a standard thorough approach coupled with advances in image intervention. Clinicians are easily...Read more
2014 21 Jul
Patients with diabetes are at a greater risk of developing complications including mortality after polytrauma compared to those that do not have previous comorbidities, according to findings published in BMC Medicine. While there is no internationally standardised definition, polytrauma refers to a condition where a person has been subjected to multiple...Read more
2014 27 May
Helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) crew members and other pre-hospital clinicians must make on-site decisions about whether to allow parents to accompany children from the scene of paediatric trauma to hospital. The presence of a parent during this critical and frightening time is likely a positive influence for the injured or ill child, although...Read more
2013 08 Apr
CytoSorbents Corporation, a critical care focused company using blood purification to treat life-threatening illnesses, today announced the establishment of its Trauma Advisory Board consisting of international leaders in the fields of trauma, trauma research, and critical care. Most are investigators on the Inflammation and the Host Response...Read more