Predictors of pleural decompression in blunt traumatic occult hemothorax: A retrospective study

Background: The increased use of computed tomography (CT) results in higher occult hemothorax detection in blunt chest trauma. The indication for pleural decompression is not well defined. This research aims to study the overall factors determining pleural decompression. Methods: All blunt chest injury patients were retrospectively reviewed from the institutional trauma registry. Patients who underwent chest or whole-abdomen CT within 24 h were reviewed by a radiologist to identify initial occult hemothorax defined as a negative chest X-ray with the presence of hemothorax in the CT. The data included demographic data, mechanism of injury, complications, treatments, and characteristics of the hemothorax from the CT. Results: Six hundred and eighty-six blunt chest injury patients were reviewed over a period of 30 months. Eighty-one (24.9) patients had occult hemothorax. The mean time from injury to CT was 5.7 h. Most patients (87.6) were male. Most patients (70.2) suffered from traffic collisions and 84.4 had rib fractures. Pleural decompression was performed in 25 patients who had significantly thicker hemothorax (1.1 cm vs. 0.8 cm,P P P 1.1 cm was associated with increased risk of pleural decompression (odds ratio OR: 5.51, 95% confidence interval CI: 1.42 /21.42) and occult pneumothorax (OR: 6.93, 95% CI: 1.56/30.77). Conclusions: Drainage of occult hemothorax after blunt chest trauma was significantly associated with concomitant occult pneumothorax, lung contusion, and hemothorax thicker than 1.1 cm

Adherence to guideline of venous thromboembolism prophylaxis in a level 1 Trauma center in Thailand

Objective: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) which includes deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism is a preventable complication in hospitalized trauma patients. Currently, the VTE guideline is the standard of care. However, underutilization of the guideline was reported. This study aimed to report the adherence to the VTE guideline in a Level 1 trauma center in Thailand. Methods: A retrospective review was performed on adult trauma patients admitted between January and December 2013. The inclusion criteria were Injury Severity Score 9 and admission in the hospital 7 days. The patients were classified into very high risk of DVT, high risk of DVT, and high risk of bleeding groups according to the hospital guideline. Adherence to the guideline, utility of the prophylaxis, and VTE occurrence were recorded. Results: During a 12-month period, 352 cases met the inclusion criteria. The overall adherence to the guideline was 28.9, 5.2 in the very high risk of DVT group, 18.4 in the high risk of DVT group, and 57.9 in the high risk of bleeding group. VTE occurrence was 11 incidences in 10 patients (2.8). The high risk of bleeding group had the highest in VTE occurrence (10 of 11 incidences). Conclusions: The adherence to the VTE prophylaxis guideline in Thailand was higher than previous studies. The pharmacological prophylaxis should be initiated as soon as possible

The intensive care unit admission predicting the factors of late complications in trauma patients: A prospective cohort study

Background: Organ failure (OF) and sepsis are important causes of late death in trauma. Previous studies reported the methods that could predict OF at the time of patient arrival. However, most of the evidence is from high-income countries, where health-care systems were different from developing countries. This research aimed to identify the factors to predict late complications in trauma patients in surgical intensive care units (SICUs). Methods: This study was a secondary data analysis from the THAI-SICU study, which was a prospective cohort study in nine university-based-SICUs in Thailand. Late complications were defined as any OF or sepsis that occurred after 48 h of ICU admission. Multivariable logistic regression was conducted to identify the significant factors. Results: Three hundred and fourteen patients were eligible for the analysis. Late complications occurred in 60 patients (19). Patients who had complications had higher Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Enquiry (APACHE II) (15.8 vs. 12.4, P = 0.02) and Sequential OF Assessment (SOFA) scores on admission (6.7 vs. 3.8, P P = 0.04) and SOFA score on admission (OR = 1.2, 95% CI; 1.12-1.29, P P Conclusions: The incidence of late complications in trauma patients in the SICU was 19%. Current smoking and SOFA score might be valuable in future prediction of late complications during admission

Damage control resuscitation for massive hemorrhage

Hemorrhage is the second most common cause of death among trauma patients and almost half of the deaths occur within 24 hours after arrival. Damage control resuscitation is a new paradigm for patients with massive bleeding. It consists of permissive hypotension, hemostatic resuscitation and transfusion strategies, and damage control surgery. Permissive hypotension seems to have better results before the bleeding is controlled. The strategy of fluid resuscitation is minimizing crystalloid infusion and increasing early transfusion Chin J Traumatol 2014;17(2):108-111 Damage control resuscitation for massive hemorrhage with a high ratio of fresh frozen plasma to packed red cells. Damage control surgery is done when the patient’s condition is unfit for definitive surgery. Hemorrhage and contamination control with temporary abdominal closure is performed before transferring the patients to intensive care unit and the operating room for a permanent laparotomy. Key words: Shock; Hemorrhage; Resuscitatio

Chylothorax after Blunt Chest Trauma: A Case Report

Traumatic chylothorax after blunt chest trauma alone is considered rare. Our patient was a 27-year-old female who was in a motorcycle accident and sustained blunt thoracic and traumatic thoracic aortic injuries with T1–T2 vertebral subluxation. She underwent thoracic endovascular aortic repair from T4 to T9 without any thoracic or spinal surgery. On postoperative day 7, the drainage from her left chest turned into a milky- white fluid indicative of chyle leakage. The patient was treated conservatively for 2 weeks and then the chest drain was safely removed. The results show that traumatic chylothorax can be successfully managed with conservative treatment

Massive Blood Transfusion for Trauma Score to Predict Massive Blood Transfusion in Trauma

Background. Massive blood loss is the most common cause of immediate death in trauma. A massive blood transfusion (MBT) score is a prediction tool to activate blood banks to prepare blood products. The previously published scoring systems were mostly developed from settings that had mature prehospital systems which may lead to a failure to validate in settings with immature prehospital systems. This research aimed to develop a massive blood transfusion for trauma (MBTT) score that is able to predict MBT in settings that have immature prehospital care. Methods. This study was a retrospective cohort that collected data from trauma patients who met the trauma team activation criteria. The predicting parameters included in the analysis were retrieved from the history, physical examination, and initial laboratory results. The significant parameters from a multivariable analysis were used to develop a clinical scoring system. The discrimination was evaluated by the area under a receiver operating characteristic (AuROC) curve. The calibration was demonstrated with Hosmer–Lemeshow goodness of fit, and an internal validation was done. Results. Among 867 patients, 102 (11.8%) patients received MBT. Four factors were associated with MBT: a score of 3 for age ≥60 years; 2.5 for base excess ≤–10 mEq/L; 2 for lactate >4 mmol/L; and 1 for heart rate ≥105 /min. The AuROC was 0.85 (95% CI: 0.78–0.91). At the cut point of ≥4, the positive likelihood ratio of the score was 6.72 (95% CI: 4.7–9.6, p < 0.001), the sensitivity was 63.6%, and the specificity was 90.5%. Internal validation with bootstrap replications had an AuROC of 0.83 (95% CI: 0.75–0.91). Conclusions. The MBTT score has good discrimination to predict MBT with simple and rapidly obtainable parameters

Correlation between Maximum Clot Firmness in FIBTEM and Fibrinogen Level in Critical Trauma Patients

Background. Both fibrinogen level and rotational thromboelastometry (ROTEM®) are accurate tests to demonstrate a bleeding tendency. FIBTEM® is one type of ROTEM test to determine the function of fibrinogen. An advantage of FIBTEM is helping physicians make proper decisions for blood component transfusions. However, the correlation between fibrinogen level and FIBTEM is still unclear. Objective. The aim of this study was to demonstrate a correlation between maximum clot firmness (MCF) in FIBTEM and fibrinogen level in critical trauma patients. Methods. Data were retrospectively collected from 87 patients who visited the emergency department between May 2017 and January 2019 in Songklanagarind Hospital. Blood specimens were sent for both ROTEM evaluation and fibrinogen level. The data were analysed with STATA program version 12.1. Results. Eighty-seven patients were enrolled in the study over the 21-month period. The patients consisted of 73 males (83.9%) with a median age of 40 years. Seventy-three patients (83.9%) were still alive. The following equation from FIBTEM MCF was used to predict fibrinogen level: fibrinogen level = 138 + (15.2 × FIBTEM MCF) (Lin’s concordance correlation coefficient of 0.52, P<0.001). The results showed a good correlation of FIBTEM MCF to predict patients with hypofibrinogenemia (area under ROC curve = 0.81). Patients with normal fibrinogen levels received significantly fewer units of all types of blood components. Conclusion. FIBTEM MCF had poor prediction of fibrinogen level; however, it can help to identify patients who have hypofibrinogenemia

Combination of blood lactate level with assessment of blood consumption (ABC) scoring system: A more accurate predictor of massive transfusion requirement

Purpose: Exsanguination is the most common leading cause of death in trauma patients. The massive transfusion (MT) protocol may influence therapeutic strategies and help provide blood components in timely manner. The assessment of blood consumption (ABC) score is a popular MT protocol but has low predictability. The lactate level is a good parameter to reflect poor tissue perfusion or shock states that can guide the management. This study aimed to modify the ABC scoring system by adding the lactate level for better prediction of MT. Methods: The data were retrospectively collected from 165 trauma patients following the trauma activated criteria at Songklanagarind Hospital from January 2014 to December 2014. The ABC scoring system was applied in all patients. The patients who had an ABC score ≥2 as the cut point for MT were defined as the ABC group. All patients who had a score ≥2 with a lactate level >4 mmol/dL were defined as the ABC plus lactate level (ABC + L) group. The prediction for the requirement of massive blood transfusion was compared between the ABC and ABC + L groups. The ability of ABC and ABC + L groups to predict MT was estimated by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC). Results: Among 165 patients, 15 patients (9%) required massive blood transfusion. There were no significant differences in age, gender, mechanism of injury or initial vital signs between the MT group and the non-MT group. The group that required MT had a higher Injury Severity Score and mortality. The sensitivity and specificity of the ABC scoring system in our institution were low (81%, 34%, AUC 0.573). The sensitivity and specificity were significantly better in the ABC + L group (92%, 42%, AUC = 0.745). Conclusion: The ABC scoring system plus lactate increased the sensitivity and specificity compared with the ABC scoring system alone. Keywords: Assessment of blood consumption scoring system, Blood lactate level, Massive transfusio

Scapular fractures and concomitant injuries

【Abstract】 Objective: The association of scapular fractures with other life-threatening injuries including blunt thoracic aortic injury is widely recognized. Few studies have investigated this presumed association. In this study, we investigated the incidence of significant associated injuries with scapular fracture and their outcomes. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted from 2005 to 2009 in a level I trauma center in Thailand. All blunt trauma patients were identified. Patients’ demographics, injury mechanism, associated injuries, Injury Severity Score (ISS), and survival outcomes were recorded. The manage-ment of associated injuries with scapular fracture was reviewed, and the risk factors for mortality were identified. Results: Among the 7 345 trauma patients admitted, scapular fractures occurred in 84 cases (1.1%). The mean age was (37.98±15.21) years. Motorcycle crash was the most fre-quent mechanism of injury, occurring in 51 cases (60.7%). Seventy-four patients (88.1%) suffering from scapular frac-tures had associated injuries: 5 (6.0%) had significant chest injuries, but none of them had blunt thoracic aortic injury. Two patients (2.4%) with scapular fractures died. Factors determining the likelihood of mortality were: (1) ISS&gt;25 (LR=8.5, P&lt;0.05); (2) significant associated chest injury (AIS&gt;3, LR=5.3, P&lt;0.05) and (3) significant associated ab-dominal injury (AIS&gt;3, LR=5.3, P&lt;0.05). Conclusion: A blunt scapular fracture may not accom-pany a blunt thoracic aortic injury but it is strongly related to other injuries like chest injury, extremity injury, head injury, etc. If a scapular fracture is found with a high ISS score, high chest or abdomen AIS score, the patient would have a high risk of mortality. Key words: Aortic rupture; Shoulder fractures; Mul-tiple trauma; Mortalit