Early Trauma Deaths Research Articles

Early and prehospital trauma deaths: Who might benefit from advanced resuscitative care?

Recent civilian and military data from the United States and the United Kingdom suggest that further reductions in mortality will require prehospital or preoperating room hemorrhage control and blood product resuscitation. The aims of this study were to examine the potential preventability of prehospital and early in-hospital fatalities, and to consider the geographical location of such incidents, to contextualize how the use of advanced resuscitative techniques could be operationalized. Retrospective analysis of prehospital and early in-hospital trauma deaths from January to December 2017. Data were obtained from the Coroner/ME's Office. Each death was reviewed by a panel of two trauma surgeons and a forensic pathologist. Anatomical and physiological survivabilities were evaluated separately, and then combined, leading to a holistic assessment of preventability. Incident locations were mapped and analyzed using ArcGIS. Three hundred sixteen trauma deaths were identified. Two hundred thirty-one (73%) were deemed anatomically not survivable; 29 (9%) anatomically survivable, but only with hospital care; 43 (14%) anatomically survivable with advanced prehospital care; and 13 (4%) anatomically survivable with basic prehospital care. Physiologically, 114 (36%) of the patients had been dead for some time when found; 137 (43%) had no cardiorespiratory effort on arrival of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) at the scene; 24 (8%) had cardiorespiratory effort at the scene, but not on arrival at the emergency department; and 41 (13%) had cardiorespiratory effort on arrival at the emergency department, but died shortly after. Combining the assessments, 10 (3%) deaths were deemed probably not preventable, 38 (12%) possibly preventable, and the remaining 278 (85%) not preventable. Twelve percent of trauma deaths were potentially preventable and might be amenable to advanced resuscitative interventions. Operationalizing this type of care will be challenging and will require either prehospital doctors, or very highly trained paramedics, nurses, or physician assistants. Epidemiological, level III.

Potentially preventable trauma deaths: A retrospective review

BackgroundReviewing prehospital trauma deaths provides an opportunity to identify system improvements that may reduce trauma mortality. The objective of this study was to identify the number and rate of potentially preventable trauma deaths through expert panel reviews of prehospital and early in-hospital trauma deaths. MethodsWe conducted a retrospective review of prehospital and early in-hospital (<24 h) trauma deaths following a traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest that were attended by Ambulance Victoria (AV) in the state of Victoria, Australia, between 2008 and 2014. Expert panels were used to review cases that had resuscitation attempted by paramedics and underwent a full autopsy. Patients with a mechanism of hanging, drowning or those with anatomical injuries deemed to be unsurvivable were excluded. ResultsOf the 1183 cases that underwent full autopsies, resuscitation was attempted by paramedics in 336 (28%) cases. Of these, 113 cases (34%) were deemed to have potentially survivable injuries and underwent expert panel review. There were 90 (80%) deaths that were not preventable, 19 (17%) potentially preventable deaths and 4 (3%) preventable deaths. Potentially preventable or preventable deaths represented 20% of those cases that underwent review and 7% of cases that had attempted resuscitation. ConclusionsThe number of potentially preventable or preventable trauma deaths in the pre-hospital and early in-hospital resuscitation phase was low. Specific circumstances were identified in which the trauma system could be further improved.

Reviewing prehospital trauma deaths

Introduction: This study aimed to conduct detailed reviews of prehospital and early in-hospital trauma deaths to identify opportunities to improve the system of care.

Survival trends after inferior vena cava and aortic injuries in the United States

ObjectiveRecent studies have demonstrated an increase in trauma mortality relative to mortality from cancer and heart diseases in the United States. Major vascular injuries such as to the inferior vena cava (IVC) and aortic injuries remain responsible for a significant proportion of early trauma deaths in modern trauma care. The purpose of this study was to explore patterns in epidemiology and mortality after IVC and aortic injuries in the United States. MethodsA 13-year analysis of the National Trauma Databank (2002-2014) was performed to extract all patients who sustained IVC, abdominal aortic, or thoracic aortic injuries. Demographics, clinical data, and outcomes were extracted. Patients were analyzed according to injury mechanism. ResultsA total of 25,428 patients were included in this analysis. Overall, the mean age was 39.8 ± 19.1 years, 70.3% were male, and 14.1% sustained a penetrating trauma. Although the incidence of all three injuries remained constant throughout the study period, for blunt trauma, mortality decreased over the study period (from 48.8% in 2002 to 28.7% in 2014; P < .001), in particular for thoracic aortic injuries (from 46.1% in 2002 to 23.7% in 2014; P < .001) and abdominal aortic injuries (from 58.3% in 2002 to 26.2% in 2014; P < .001). This decrease in mortality after blunt trauma was accompanied by an increase in endovascular procedures over the study period (from 1.0% in 2002 to 30.4% in 2014; P < .001), in particular for blunt thoracic aortic injuries (from 0.7% in 2002 to 41.4% in 2014; P < .001). When penetrating trauma patients were analyzed, overall there was an increase in mortality (from 43.8% in 2002 to 50.6% in 2014; P < .001), in particular after abdominal aortic injury (from 30.4% in 2002 to 66.0% in 2014; P < .001). Similar trends were observed for IVC injuries. No increase in endovascular use in penetrating trauma was identified (from 0.1% in 2002 to 3.4% in 2014; P < .001). ConclusionsThe present study demonstrates an overall decrease in mortality after blunt aortic injuries in the United States. This decrease was accompanied by an increase in the use of endovascular procedures. After penetrating trauma, however, despite contemporary advances in trauma care, mortality has increased over the study period, in particular after abdominal aortic injury. No increase in endovascular use in penetrating trauma was demonstrated.

Logistic Regression Modeling for Evaluation of Factors Affecting Trauma Outcome in a Level I Trauma Center in Shiraz

Background: Since injury-related mortality is preventable, identifying factors that inversely affect trauma outcome are important initial steps towards reducing injury burden. Objectives: This study aims to determine independent risk factors of early/late in-hospital mortality among adult trauma victims with equal injury characteristics and severity at Shahid Rajaee (Emtiaz) Hospital during 2013 and 2014. Patients and Methods: A cross-sectional study of adult trauma patients (age ≥ 15 years) sustaining injury through traffic accidents, violence, and unintentional incidents was conducted. Information was retrieved from three hospital administrative databases. Data on demographics, injury mechanisms, injured body regions, injury descriptions, outcomes of hospitalization, and development of nosocomial infections were recorded. Injury severity score was calculated by cross walking from international classification of diseases (ICD-10) injury diagnosis codes to abbreviated injury scale (AIS-98) severity codes. Two multiple logistic regression models were employed to reflect the partial effect of each covariate on early (within 48 hours) and late (beyond 48 hours) deaths. Results: There were 47,295 hospitalized patients (male/female ratio: 2.7:1.0) with a median age of 30 years (interquartile range 23 - 44 years). A crude mortality rate of 1% (454 cases) was observed and 52% of deaths occurred within 48 hours of hospital arrival. One percent developed a nosocomial infection in the course of admission. After adjusting for covariates, sustaining a thoracic injury (OR 8.5, 95% CI [4.7 - 15.2]), ISS over 16 (OR 6.4, 95% CI [3.6 - 11.4]) and age over 65 years (OR 5.1, 95% CI [3.0 - 8.8]) were the most important independent risk factors of early trauma death. Presence of a hospital-acquired infection (OR 12.7, 95% CI [8.9 - 18.1]), age over 65 years (OR 7.4 95% CI [4.5 - 12.1]), and ISS of more than 16 (OR 14.6, 95% CI [6.2 - 34.3]) were independent predictors of late death. Conclusions: Age, injury severity, injured body region, and hospital-acquired infections are important determinants of trauma outcome in our center. Timely recognition of factors affecting trauma mortality is crucial for monitoring changes of trauma quality of care. Our findings suggest the need to allocate resources for trauma prevention along with a potential focus on reducing in-hospital complications.

Evaluation of circulating haematopoietic progenitor cells in patients with Trauma Haemorrhagic shock and its correlation with outcomes.

Background:Haemorrhagic shock accounts up to 50% of early trauma deaths. Hematopoietic failure has been observed in experimental animals and human following shock and injury. One of the facets of bone marrow failure is multiple organ dysfunction syndrome and is commonly seen in patients recovering from severe trauma and hemorrhagic shock. Bone Marrow (BM) dysfunction is associated with mobilization of hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) into peripheral blood. Present study explored the association of peripheral blood hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) with mortality in trauma haemorrhagic shock patients (T/HS).Materials and Methods:Prospective cohort studies of patients presenting within 8 hrs of injury with T/HS to the Department of Emergency Medicine, Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Center, All India Institute of Medical Sciences were recruited. Peripheral blood samples were collected in each patient for measurement of peripheral blood HPCs. Peripheral blood progenitor cell (PBPC) quantification was performed by measuring HPCs counts using the haematology analyzer (Sysmex XE-2100). Clinical and laboratory data were prospectively collected after consent. Ethical approval was taken and data was analysed by Stata 11.2.Results:39 patients with trauma hemorrhagic shock and 30 normal healthy controls were recruited. HPCs were significantly higher (P < 0.001) in the T/HS as compared to control. Among study group, 14 patients died within 24 h. at the hospital admission, and found HPCs concentrations were highly significant (<0.001) in non-survivors (n = 14) when compared with survivors (n = 25) among T/HS patients.Conclusions:Our studies suggest the peripheral blood HPCs may be early prognostic marker for mortality among patients who presented with trauma hemorrhagic shock on admission. But the exact molecular mechanism and signalling pathway involved in the change of the behaviour of bone marrow microenvironment is still unclear.

Epidemiology of trauma patients and analysis of 268 mortality cases: trends of a single center in Korea.

PurposeThere is an increasing incidence of mortality among trauma patients; therefore, it is important to analyze the trauma epidemiology in order to prevent trauma death. The authors reviewed the trauma epidemiology retrospectively at a regional emergency center of Korea and evaluated the main factors that led to trauma-related deaths.Materials and MethodsA total of 17007 trauma patients were registered to the trauma registry of the regional emergency center at Wonju Severance Christian Hospital in Korea from January 2010 to December 2012.ResultsThe mean age of patients was 35.2 years old. The most frequent trauma mechanism was blunt injury (90.8%), as well as slip-and-fall down injury, motor vehicle accidents, and others. Aside from 142 early trauma deaths, a total of 4673 patients were admitted for further treatment. The most common major trauma sites of admitted patients were on the extremities (38.4%), followed by craniocerebral, abdominopelvis, and thorax. With deaths of 126 patients during in-hospital treatment, the overall mortality (142 early and 126 late deaths) was 5.6% for admitted patients. Ages ≥55, injury severity score ≥16, major craniocerebral injury, cardiopulmonary resuscitation at arrival, probability of survival <25% calculated from the trauma and injury severity score were independent predictors of trauma mortality in multivariate analysis.ConclusionThe epidemiology of the trauma patients studied was found to be mainly blunt trauma. This finding is similar to previous papers in terms of demographics and mechanism. Trauma patients who have risk factors of mortality require careful management in order to prevent trauma-related deaths.

Early Trauma Deaths in a Level 1 Trauma Center: Whole-Body 16-MDCT is associated with a threefold increase in the time interval from hospital access to emergency surgery if compared with a US-based protocol

A retrospective analysis based on the data of the German Trauma Registry has shown a significant increase in the probability of survival in polytrauma patients submitted to whole body CT (WBCT). However, even when the CT is installed in the Emergency Department, the time required for positioning the patient for CT may significantly prolong the duration of CT diagnosis.

Early trauma deaths in a level 1 trauma center: whole-body 16-MDCT is associated with a threefold increase in the time interval from hospital access to emergency surgery if compared with a US-based protocol

A retrospective analysis based on the data of the German Trauma Registry has shown a significant increase in the probability of survival in polytrauma patients submitted to whole body CT (WBCT). However, even when the CT is installed in the Emergency Department, the time required for positioning the patient for CT may significantly prolong the duration of CT diagnosis.

Effect of care in emergency room toward death within 48 h of traffic

BackgroundTrauma is a major problem and secondary cause of death in Thailand. The goal of trauma care has been prevent death, special in early trauma death. The first activity in...

Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation in Trauma Injuries

Physical injuries, especially road traffic injuries, are a leading cause of death and morbidity worldwide, ranking fifth among the leading causes of death in the United States. Immediate and early trauma deaths are mainly determined by primary brain injuries and/or hemorrhages, whereas late mortality is caused by secondary brain injuries, host defense failure, and superimposed complications including also disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). Trauma patients are particularly susceptible to the early development of coagulopathy, and the most severely injured patients are coagulopathic on hospital admission. The zenith of the problem is typically seen in patients with head injuries and in those who are massively injured and transfused. The resulting coagulopathy is characterized by nonsurgical bleeding from mucosal lesions, serosal surfaces, and wound and vascular access sites. DIC associated with traumatic injury results from multiple independent but interplaying mechanisms, involving tissue trauma, shock, and inflammation. As such, the multifaceted derangement of hemostasis occurring after massive traumatic injuries, especially those involving the brain, is mainly sustained by release of procoagulants (fats, phospholipids) and constitutive tissue factor from the injured tissue into the circulation, associated with a systemic inflammatory response that also promotes tissue factor hyperexpression on monocytes and the other cells. The excessive, non-wound-related thrombin generation is insufficiently antagonized by physiological anticoagulant pathways and amplified by impaired endogenous fibrinolysis. The resulting burst of systemic thrombin generation, coupled with platelet hyperaggregability, shock, hypothermia, and tissue hypoperfusion, further contribute to the development of DIC and microvascular bleeding.

Hemorrhage is More Prevalent than Brain Injury in Early Trauma Deaths: The Golden Six Hours.

Under the trimodal distribution, most trauma deaths occur within the first hour. Determination of cause of death without autopsy review is inaccurate. The goal of this study is to determine cause of death, in hourly intervals, in trauma patients who died in the first 24 h, as determined by autopsy. Trauma deaths that occurred within 24 h at a Level I trauma center were reviewed over a six-year period ending December 2005. Timing of death was separated into 0-1, 1-3, 3-6, 6-12 and 12-24 h intervals. Cause of death was determined by clinical course and AIS scores, and was confirmed by autopsy results. Overall, 9,388 trauma patients were admitted, of which 185 deaths occurred within 24 h, with 167 available autopsies. Blunt and penetrating were the injury mechanisms in 122 (73%) and 45 (27%) patients, respectively. Of 167 deaths, 73 (43.7%) occurred within the first hour. Brain injury, when compared to other body areas, was the most likely cause of death in all hourly intervals, but hemorrhage was as or more important than brain injury as the cause of death during the first 3 h and up to 6 h. No deaths were attributable to hemorrhage after 12 h. The temporal distribution of the cause of death varies in the first 24 h after admission. Hemorrhage should not be overlooked as the cause of death, even after survival beyond 1 h. Understanding the temporal relationship of causes of early death can aid in the targeting of management and surgical training to optimize patient outcome.

Intracluster correlation coefficient in multicenter childhood trauma studies

Objective:To calculate the intracluster correlation coefficient (ICC) for emergency department (ED) shock rate, early trauma death (ie, death during the first 24 h after arrival at hospital), and in-hospital trauma...

Intracluster Correlation Coefficient and Multicenter Childhood Injury Research

Design of a clustered childhood trauma study requires having an estimate of the variability in the outcome of interest between and within the clusters. “Intracluster correlation coefficient (ICC)” is a standard measure that captures these variabilities. Ignoring the ICC in the sample size calculation might result in a severely underpowered study. Unfortunately, in spite of the importance of the subject, ICC has not been reported for any childhood-related trauma outcome. We used the data from 246 level I and II trauma centers contributed data to the United States, National Trauma Data Bank (NTDB) to calculate the ICC for three of the most commonly used outcomes of interest in childhood trauma research (age≤15 years). The evaluated outcomes were: a) emergency department (ED) shock rate; b) early trauma death (i.e. death during the first 24 hours after admission); and c) in-hospital trauma death. From 2000 to 2004, 13% of the 952,242 patients in NTDB were ≤ 15 years old. Approximately 17,000 of these children suffered severe injuries, of them 84% were hospitalized at a level I or II trauma center. In general, the ICC for ED shock rate (0.005, 95% CI: 0.000–0.010) was significantly less than the ICC for in-hospital trauma fatality rate (0.023, 95% CI: 0.013–0.033). A similar pattern was observed when we compared the ICC of ED shock rate with the ICC of in-hospital trauma fatality rate for different genders or types of injury. Furthermore, for all three outcomes of interest, the ICC was larger for adults, in comparison to children, reflecting more variability in adult's care. However, the observed differences in the ICCs between children and adults were not statistically significant. The estimated ICCs should be incorporated in sample size calculation for any multicenter trauma study that uses exclusively exposed or unexposed clusters of patients. Although the lack of difference between children and adults could be attributed to the similarity of heterogeneity in hospital and pre-hospital care between these two groups, the wide confidence intervals for the point estimates should not be overlooked.

High-Pressure Fibrin Sealant Foam: An Effective Hemostatic Agent for Treating Severe Parenchymal Hemorrhage

The majority of early trauma deaths are related to uncontrolled, noncompressible, parenchymal hemorrhage from truncal injuries. The purpose of this study was to formulate a fibrin sealant foam (FSF) able to control severe parenchymal bleeding without compression or vascular control. FSF with high fibrinogen concentration (20 mg/mL) and low thrombin activity (5 U/mL) was prepared and pressurized by addition of liquid gas propellant. The efficacy of this foam was tested against a severe parenchymal hemorrhage, created by partial resection of liver lobes in anticoagulated rabbits (n = 7) and compared to untreated injury (n = 8) and placebo treatment (n = 7). The hemostatic efficacy of pressurized FSF (n = 8) was also compared to a commercially available liquid fibrin sealant (n = 8) and a developing dry powdered fibrin sealant product (n = 8) in the same model. The liver injury resulted in 122 +/- 11.5 mL blood loss and death of 75% of untreated rabbits (3.2-3.4 kg) within 1 h. Treatment with placebo foam had no effect on blood loss or mortality rate. Pressurized FSF significantly reduced bleeding, resulting in 56% (P < 0.05) and 66% (P < 0.01) reduction in blood loss as compared to untreated or placebo-treated animals, respectively, and 100% survival (P = 0.008). When pressurized FSF was compared with liquid and powdered forms of fibrin sealant, only foam significantly reduced blood loss (49%, P < 0.05) and mortality rate (54%, P < 0.05) of rabbits as compared to untreated control animals (n = 9). Biological nature, rapid preparation, coverage of large wound areas, and effective hemostatic properties make pressurized FSF an ideal candidate for treating nonoperable parenchymal injuries in damage control procedures.

Introduction

Introduction

Fibrin sealant foam sprayed directly on liver injuries decreases blood loss in resuscitated rats.

The majority of early trauma deaths are attributable to uncontrolled hemorrhage from truncal sites. A hemorrhage-control technique that reduced bleeding in the prehospital phase of treatment without requiring manual compression may improve the outcome of these patients. We conducted this preliminary study to determine whether an expanding fibrin sealant foam (FSF) would reduce bleeding from a severe liver injury even during resuscitation. Rats (n = 31; 291 +/- 5 g; 37.4 +/- 0.3 degrees C; mean +/- SEM), underwent a 60 +/- 5% excision of the median hepatic lobe. The animals received one of three treatments: (1) FSF, (2) immunoglobulin G placebo foam (IgGF), or (3) no treatment. All animals were resuscitated with 40 degrees C lactated Ringer's solution at 3.3 mL/ min/kg to a mean arterial pressure of 100 mm Hg. Total blood loss, mean arterial pressure, and resuscitation volume were recorded for 30 minutes. A qualitative measure of foam coverage and adherence to the cut liver edge was recorded. The total blood loss was less (p < 0.01) in the FSF group (21.2 +/- 5.0 mL/kg) than in either IgGF (41.4 +/- 4.3 mL/kg) or the no treatment group (44.6 +/- 4.7 mL/kg), which did not differ. The resuscitation volume was not different. The amount of foam used in the treated groups, 9.1 +/- 1.0 g in the FSF group and 10.0 +/- 1.0 g in the IgGF group, did not differ. Survival for 30 minutes was not different among groups. There was no difference in the amount of cut liver covered by either foam, but the clots were more adherent (p < 0.05) in the FSF group than in the IgGF group. In rats with a severe liver injury, spraying fibrin foam directly on the cut liver surface decreased blood loss when compared with placebo foam and no treatment. This pilot study suggests a future possible treatment for noncompressible truncal hemorrhage.

Dry fibrin sealant dressings reduce blood loss, resuscitation volume, and improve survival in hypothermic coagulopathic swine with grade V liver injuries.

The majority of early trauma deaths are caused by uncontrolled hemorrhage, and are frequently complicated by hypothermic and dilutional coagulopathies. Any hemorrhage-control technique that achieves rapid hemostasis despite a coagulopathy should improve the outcome of these patients. We conducted this study to determine whether dry fibrin sealant dressings (DFSD) would stop bleeding from grade V liver injuries in swine that were hypothermic and coagulopathic. Nineteen swine weighing 39.7 kg (mean and 95% confidence interval, 36.3-43.1), underwent a 60% isovolemic, hypothermic exchange transfusion with 33 degrees C 6% hetastarch to produce a dilutional and hypothermic coagulopathy. The animals then received a grade V liver injury and one of three treatments: DFSD, conventional liver packing with gauze sponges, or immunoglobulin G (IgG) placebo sealant dressing (blinded control). All animals were resuscitated with lactated Ringer's solution to their preinjury mean arterial pressure. Blood loss after treatment, mean arterial pressure, resuscitation volume, hematologic variables, and core temperature were monitored for 1 hour. At the time of injury, core temperature = 33.3 degrees C (95% confidence interval, 33.2-33.4), hemoglobin concentration = 4.4 g/dL (4.2-4.6), platelet count = 132 x 10(5)/microL, (93-171), prothrombin time = 21.6 seconds (19.6-23.5), activated partial thromboplastin time = 25.2 seconds (range, 22.9-27.5 seconds), and fibrinogen = 83 mg/dL (range, 76-89 mg/dL) across treatments. The posttreatment blood loss in the DFSD group was 669 mL, (range, 353-1,268 mL), which was lower (p < 0.01) than the means of 3,321 mL (range, 1,891-5,831 mL) and 4,399 mL (range, 2,321-8,332 mL) observed in the packing and IgG groups, respectively. The resuscitation volume in DFSD was 2,145 mL (range 1,310-3,514 mL), which was lower (p < 0.05) than the means of 5,222 mL (range 3,381-8,067 mL) and 5,542 mL (range 3,384-9,077 mL) in the packing and IgG groups, respectively. One-hour survival in the DFSD group was 83%, whereas survival in the packing and IgG groups were 0% (p < 0.05). In swine with a grade V liver injury complicated by a dilutional and hypothermic coagulopathy, DFSD provided simple, rapid hemorrhage control, decreased fluid requirements, and improved survival.

Differential performance of TRISS-like in early and late blunt trauma deaths.

(1) To independently validate the Trauma and Injury Severity Score-Like (TRISS-Like) model derived by Offner et al. (Revision of TRISS for intubated patients. J Trauma. 1992;32:32-35) in a population of Canadian blunt trauma victims, and (2) to compare the ability of this model to predict mortality in early and late trauma deaths. Prospective cohort of blunt trauma cases with Injury Severity Score > 12 identified from the Ontario Trauma Registry over a 5-year period. The TRISS-Like model consisting of age, Injury Severity Score, systolic blood pressure, and best motor response of the Glasgow Coma Scale was evaluated as to its ability to predict mortality by determining the sensitivity, specificity, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve. The sample was then divided into early (< or = 7 days) and late mortality subgroups in which model performance was evaluated with respect to time of death. A total of 7,703 patients were included in this analysis. The overall mortality was 12.3%. The TRISS-Like model allowed for assessment of an additional 23% of patients than would standard TRISS and performed with a sensitivity of 97.1%, specificity of 39.8% and an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.873. Analysis of mortality with respect to time demonstrated that 75% of deaths occurred by day 7. The specificity and receiver operating characteristic area increased in the early (< or = 7 days) subgroup, 46.5% and 0.935, respectively, compared with 20.8% and 0.778 in the late mortality group. TRISS-Like demonstrated similar performance to that reported with the standard TRISS model but with the additional advantage that it is more generalizable because it can be applied to intubated patients. TRISS-Like demonstrated substantially superior performance in early trauma deaths compared with those that occurred late. This differential performance may be because the model does not include risk factors for late mortality.