Pro/con debate: Is the scoop and run approach the best approach to trauma services organization?

You are asked to be involved in organizing a trauma service for a major urban center. You are asked to make a decision on whether the services general approach to trauma in the city (which does have a well-established trauma center) will be scoop and run (minimal resuscitation at the scene with a goal to getting the patient to a trauma center as quickly as possible) or on-the-scene resuscitation with transfer following some degree of stabilization

Aminoglycosides for Intra-Abdominal Infection: Equal to the Challenge?

Background: Aminoglycosides, combined with antianaerobic agents, have been used widely for the treatment of intra-abdominal infection. However, some prospective randomized controlled trials and other data suggested that aminoglycosides were less efficacious than newer comparators for the treatment of these infections. We therefore performed a meta-analysis of all prospective randomized controlled trials utilizing aminoglycosides to reevaluate the efficacy of these agents for the treatment of intra-abdominal infection. Methods: Published English-language prospective randomized controlled trials comparing aminoglycosides with other agents for treatment of intra-abdominal infection were identified by MEDLINE search. For each study, data were collected regarding the number of patients enrolled and evaluated, their basic demographic characteristics, the sources of the intra-abdominal infections, the number of failures as determined by the study investigators, quality score, and the use of serum drug concentrations to monitor aminoglycoside therapy. These data were combined to calculate odds ratios for risk of therapeutic failure, which were assessed for significance using Chi-square analysis. Results: Forty-seven prospective randomized controlled trials comparing aminoglycosides to other agents were identified. These were published between 1981 and 2000, and included a total of 5,182 evaluable patients. Analysis of all studies combined revealed an odds ratio that slightly, but significantly, favored the comparators. After excluding six trials using comparators that lacked accepted antianaerobic efficacy, the odds ratio more strongly favored comparators. Trials published since 1990 also notably favored comparators. Analyzing results by quality score or the use of aminoglycoside monitoring did not alter these findings. Conclusions: In this meta-analysis, aminoglycosides were less efficacious than newer comparators for the treatment of intra-abdominal infection. Given the well-known toxicities of these agents, we conclude that they should not be used as first-line therapy for these infections

The Surgical Infection Society Guidelines on Antimicrobial Therapy for Intra-Abdominal Infections: Evidence for the Recommendations

Revised guidelines for the use of antimicrobial therapy in patients with intra-abdominal infections were recently developed by the Therapeutic Agents Committee of the Surgical Infection Society (Mazuski et al., Surg Infect2002;3:161-173). These were based, insofar as possible, on evidence published over the past decade. The objective of this document is to describe the process by which the Committee identified and reviewed the published literature utilized to develop the recommendations and to summarize the results of those reviews. English-language articles published between 1990 and 2000 related to antimicrobial therapy for intra-abdominal infections were identified by a systematic MEDLINE search and an examination of references included in recent review articles. If current literature with regard to a specific issue was lacking, relevant articles published prior to 1990 were identified. All prospective randomized controlled trials, as well as other articles selected by the Committee, were evaluated individually and collectively. Data with regard to patient numbers, types of infections, and results of interventions were abstracted. Studies were categorized according to their design, and all included trials were graded according to quality. On the basis of this evidence, the Committee formulated recommendations for antimicrobial therapy for intra-abdominal infections and graded those recommendations. After receiving comments from invited reviewers and the general membership of the Society, the guidelines were finalized and submitted to the Council of the Surgical Infection Society for approval. The final recommendations related to the selection of patients needing therapeutic antimicrobials, acceptable antimicrobial regimens, duration of antimicrobial use, and the identification and treatment of higher-risk patients. Although numerous publications pertaining to these topics were identified, but nearly all of the prospective randomized controlled trials represented comparisons of different antimicrobial regimens for the treatment of intra-abdominal infections. A few prospective trials evaluated the need for therapeutic antimicrobial therapy in patients with peritoneal contamination following abdominal trauma. The quality of these prospective trials was highly variable. Many did not limit enrollment to patients with complicated intra-abdominal infections, lacked blinding of treatment assignment, did not provide a complete description of the criteria used to determine therapeutic success or failure, failed to identify the reasons why patients were excluded from analysis, or did not include an intention-to-treat analysis. For many issues, no prospective randomized controlled trials were encountered, and guidelines had to be formulated using evidence from studies with historical controls or uncontrolled data, or on the basis of expert opinion

Hips Can Lie: Impact of Excluding Isolated Hip Fractures on External Benchmarking of Trauma Center Performance

BACKGROUND: Trauma centers (TCs) vary in the inclusion of patients with isolated hip fractures (IHFs) in their registries. This inconsistent case ascertainment may have significant implications on the assessment of TC performance and external benchmarking efforts. METHODS: Data were derived from the National Trauma Data Bank (2007-8.1). We included patients (aged 16 years or older) with Injury Severity Score value ≥ 9 who were admitted to Level I and II TCs. To ensure data quality, we limited the study to TC that routinely reported comorbidities and Abbreviated Injury Scale codes. IHF were defined as patients, aged 65 years or older, injured as a result of falls, with Abbreviated Injury Scale codes for hip fracture and without other significant injuries. TCs were stratified according to their reported inclusion of IHF in their registry. Observed-to-expected mortality ratios were used to rank TC performance first with and then, without the inclusion of patients with IHF. RESULTS: In total, 91,152 patients in 132 TCs were identified; 5% (n = 4,448) were IHF. The proportion of IHF per TC varied significantly, ranging from 0% to 31%. When risk-adjusted mortality was evaluated, excluding patients with IHF had significant effects: 37% (n = 49) of TCs changed their performance rank by ≥ 3 (range, 1-25) and 12% of centers changed their performance quintile. The greatest change in rank performance was evident in centers that routinely include IHF in their registries. CONCLUSIONS: Given the fact that IHFs in the elderly significantly influence risk-adjusted outcomes and are variably reported by TCs, these patients should be excluded from subsequent benchmarking efforts

A genomic storm in critically injured humans

Critical injury in humans induces a genomic storm with simultaneous changes in expression of innate and adaptive immunity genes

Redox regulation of cell activation, implications for acute lung injury

grantor: University of TorontoThe acute respiratory distress syndrome is one of the most common causes of mortality in critically ill surgical patients. The development of acute lung injury is dependent on the sequential activation of macrophages, endothelial cells and neutrophils. Cellular activation may be modulated by changes in the intracellular redox state, which suggests that therapy directed toward this end may attenuate acute lung injury. This hypothesis was evaluated both in vitro and in vivo in a rodent model of endotoxin-induced acute lung injury. The antioxidant, pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC), is a potent inhibitor of nuclear factor-$\kappa$B, a transcription factor implicated in the activation of several genes important in the inflammatory response. Administration of PDTC significantly attenuated acute lung injury. PDTC had no effect on bronchoalveolar lavage fluid levels of TNF-$\alpha$ nor on lung TNF-$\alpha$ mRNA expression. Lung ICAM-1 mRNA expression was unaffected, a finding consistent with the lack of effect of PDTC on neutrophil influx. PDTC prevented the accumulation of malondialdehyde, a 3-carbon degradation product of lipid peroxidation, without affecting neutrophil oxidant production. In vitro studies in the murine macrophage cell line J-774.1 demonstrated that PDTC potentiated endotoxin-induced TNF-$\alpha$ secretion. By contrast, PDTC attenuated zymosan-induced TNF-$\alpha$ secretion in both J-774.1 cells and in cells derived from the human monocyte cell line, THP-1. PDTC increased TNF-$\alpha$ mRNA expression in J-774.1 cells, despite reducing mRNA transcription rates as assessed by nuclear run on analysis. However, this reduction in the rate of transcription was offset by an increase in mRNA stability. Next, the effect of systemic glutathione depletion on acute lung injury was evaluated. Animals were pretreated with the glutathione depleting agent, diethylmaleate (DEM), prior to challenge with endotoxin. DEM completely prevented lung injury, an effect mediated by a reduction in neutrophil influx. Neutrophil chemotaxis and \beta\sb2 integrin expression were unaffected. Immunohistochemical analysis demonstrated that DEM prevented lung ICAM-1 expression in response to endotoxin, an effect recapitulated in vitro in primary rat heart endothelial cell cultures. Northern analysis of lung total RNA revealed that DEM prevented upregulation of ICAM-1 at the level of transcription. Considered together, these data suggest that redox manipulation may have complex and diverse effects on cell activation. The net result of any such intervention depends on the mechanism and direction in which the intracellular redox state is altered, coupled with the type of inflammatory stimulus. Administration of redox-active agents clearly modulate the inflammatory response both in vitro and in vivo, and thus may represent a novel intervention in inflammatory disease states in man.Ph.D

Severe acute pancreatitis: a review

Abstract Background: Severe acute pancreatitis continues to be a difficult problem in clinical management. This paper provides a contemporary definition of the condition and explores the controversial issues that surround its diagnosis and management. Methods: Review of pertinent English language literature. Results: The use of various imaging techniques is discussed, with particular emphasis on the assessment of pancreatic necrosis and the evaluation of choledocholithiasis as a cause of the pancreatitis. Prophylactic antibiotics generally are discouraged and early and aggressive nutritional support is advocated. Delayed surgical intervention is recommended to avoid the severe consequences associated with prematurely early attempts at resection of the infarcted pancreas and adjacent retroperitoneal fat. Conclusions: Better quality evidence, especially regarding the utility or lack thereof of antibiotic prophylaxis, is beginning to inform optimal management of patients with severe acute pancreatitis