Prehospital resuscitation with hypertonic saline-dextran modulates inflammatory, coagulation and endothelial activation marker profiles in severe traumatic brain injured patients

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Traumatic brain injury (TBI) initiates interrelated inflammatory and coagulation cascades characterized by wide-spread cellular activation, induction of leukocyte and endothelial cell adhesion molecules and release of soluble pro/antiinflammatory cytokines and thrombotic mediators. Resuscitative care is focused on optimizing cerebral perfusion and reducing secondary injury processes. Hypertonic saline is an effective osmotherapeutic agent for the treatment of intracranial hypertension and has immunomodulatory properties that may confer neuroprotection. This study examined the impact of hypertonic fluids on inflammatory/coagulation cascades in isolated head injury.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Using a prospective, randomized controlled trial we investigated the impact of prehospital resuscitation of severe TBI (GCS < 8) patients using 7.5% hypertonic saline in combination with 6% dextran-70 (HSD) <it>vs </it>0.9% normal saline (NS), on selected cellular and soluble inflammatory/coagulation markers. Serial blood samples were drawn from 65 patients (30 HSD, 35 NS) at the time of hospital admission and at 12, 24, and 48-h post-resuscitation. Flow cytometry was used to analyze leukocyte cell-surface adhesion (CD62L, CD11b) and degranulation (CD63, CD66b) molecules. Circulating concentrations of soluble (s)L- and sE-selectins (sL-, sE-selectins), vascular and intercellular adhesion molecules (sVCAM-1, sICAM-1), pro/antiinflammatory cytokines [tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interleukin (IL-10)], tissue factor (sTF), thrombomodulin (sTM) and D-dimers (D-D) were assessed by enzyme immunoassay. Twenty-five healthy subjects were studied as a control group.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>TBI provoked marked alterations in a majority of the inflammatory/coagulation markers assessed in all patients. Relative to control, NS patients showed up to a 2-fold higher surface expression of CD62L, CD11b and CD66b on polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) and monocytes that persisted for 48-h. HSD blunted the expression of these cell-surface activation/adhesion molecules at all time-points to levels approaching control values. Admission concentrations of endothelial-derived sVCAM-1 and sE-selectin were generally reduced in HSD patients. Circulating sL-selectin levels were significantly elevated at 12 and 48, but not 24 h post-resuscitation with HSD. TNF-α and IL-10 levels were elevated above control throughout the study period in all patients, but were reduced in HSD patients. Plasma sTF and D-D levels were also significantly lower in HSD patients, whereas sTM levels remained at control levels.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These findings support an important modulatory role of HSD resuscitation in attenuating the upregulation of leukocyte/endothelial cell proinflammatory/prothrombotic mediators, which may help ameliorate secondary brain injury after TBI.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>NCT00878631.</p

The Global Alliance for Infections in Surgery : defining a model for antimicrobial stewardship-results from an international cross-sectional survey

Background: Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs (ASPs) have been promoted to optimize antimicrobial usage and patient outcomes, and to reduce the emergence of antimicrobial-resistant organisms. However, the best strategies for an ASP are not definitively established and are likely to vary based on local culture, policy, and routine clinical practice, and probably limited resources in middle-income countries. The aim of this study is to evaluate structures and resources of antimicrobial stewardship teams (ASTs) in surgical departments from different regions of the world. Methods: A cross-sectional web-based survey was conducted in 2016 on 173 physicians who participated in the AGORA (Antimicrobials: A Global Alliance for Optimizing their Rational Use in Intra-Abdominal Infections) project and on 658 international experts in the fields of ASPs, infection control, and infections in surgery. Results: The response rate was 19.4%. One hundred fifty-six (98.7%) participants stated their hospital had a multidisciplinary AST. The median number of physicians working inside the team was five [interquartile range 4-6]. An infectious disease specialist, a microbiologist and an infection control specialist were, respectively, present in 80.1, 76.3, and 67.9% of the ASTs. A surgeon was a component in 59.0% of cases and was significantly more likely to be present in university hospitals (89.5%, p <0.05) compared to community teaching (83.3%) and community hospitals (66.7%). Protocols for pre-operative prophylaxis and for antimicrobial treatment of surgical infections were respectively implemented in 96.2 and 82.3% of the hospitals. The majority of the surgical departments implemented both persuasive and restrictive interventions (72.8%). The most common types of interventions in surgical departments were dissemination of educational materials (62.5%), expert approval (61.0%), audit and feedback (55.1%), educational outreach (53.7%), and compulsory order forms (51.5%). Conclusion: The survey showed a heterogeneous organization of ASPs worldwide, demonstrating the necessity of a multidisciplinary and collaborative approach in the battle against antimicrobial resistance in surgical infections, and the importance of educational efforts towards this goal.Peer reviewe

Resuscitation of Traumatic Hemorrhagic Shock Patients With Hypertonic Saline—Without Dextran—Inhibits Neutrophil and Endothelial Cell Activation

BACKGROUND: Post-traumatic inflammation and excessive neutrophil activation cause multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS), a major cause of death among hemorrhagic shock patients. Traditional resuscitation strategies may exacerbate inflammation and thus novel fluid treatments are needed to reduce these post-traumatic complications. Hypertonic resuscitation fluids inhibit inflammation and reduce MODS in animal models. Here we studied the anti-inflammatory efficacy of hypertonic fluids in a controlled clinical trial. METHODS: Trauma patients in hypovolemic shock were resuscitated in a pre-hospital setting with 250 ml of either 7.5% hypertonic saline (HS; n=9), 7.5% hypertonic saline + 6% dextran-70 (HSD; n=8), or 0.9% normal saline (NS; n=17). Blood samples were collected on hospital admission and 12 and 24 h post-resuscitation. Multi-color flow cytometry was used to quantify neutrophil expression of cell-surface activation/adhesion (CD11b, CD62L, CD64) and degranulation (CD63, CD66b, CD35) markers as well as oxidative burst activity. Circulating concentrations of soluble intercellular adhesion molecule (sICAM)-1, vascular cell adhesion molecule (sVCAM)-1, P-, E-selectins, myeloperoxidase (MPO), and matrix metallopeptidase (MMP)-9 were assessed with immunoassays. RESULTS: MODS, leukocytosis, and mortality were lower in the HS and HSD groups than in the NS group. However, these differences were not statistically significant. HS prevented priming and activation and neutrophil oxidative burst and CD11b and CD66b expression. HS also reduced circulating markers of neutrophil degranulation (MPO and MMP-9) and endothelial cell activation (sICAM-1, cVCAM-1, sE-selectin, and sP-selectin). HSD was less capable than HS of suppressing the upregulation of most of these activation markers. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that initial resuscitation with HS but neither NS nor HSD can attenuate post-traumatic neutrophil and endothelial cell activation in hemorrhagic shock patients. These data suggest that hypertonic resuscitation without dextran may inhibit post-traumatic inflammation. However, despite this effect, neither HS nor HSD reduced MODS in trauma patients with hemorrhagic shock