Association between preoperative lactate level and early complications after surgery for isolated extremity fracture.

BACKGROUND: The role of lactate level in selecting the timing of definitive surgery for isolated extremity fracture remains unclear. Therefore, we aimed to elucidate the use of preoperative lactate level for predicting early postoperative complications. METHODS: This was a single-center retrospective observational study of patients with isolated extremity fracture who underwent orthopedic surgery. Patients who underwent lactate level assessment within 24 h prior to surgery were included. The incidence of early postoperative complications was compared between patients with a preoperative lactate level of ≥ 2 and < 2 mmol/L. Moreover, subgroup analyses were performed based on the time from hospital arrival to surgery and fracture type. RESULTS: In total, 187 patients were included in the study. The incidence of postoperative complications was significantly higher in patients with a preoperative lactate level of ≥ 2 mmol/L than those with a preoperative lactate level of < 2 mmol/L. This result did not change after adjusting for age and severity. Further, a high preoperative lactate level was associated with a greater incidence of postoperative complications in patients who underwent definitive surgery within 6 h after arrival. CONCLUSION: A preoperative lactate level of ≥ 2 mmol/L was associated with a greater incidence of early postoperative complications in isolated extremity fractures. Nevertheless, this correlation was only observed among patients who underwent definitive fixation within 6 h after hospital arrival.

Simple parameters to identify patients treatable with early definitive fixation: A nationwide study.

INTRODUCTION: Early appropriate care (EAC) is widely accepted as a safe strategy to perform early definitive fracture fixation, and good clinical outcomes have been reported in selected, multiply injured patients, although the optimal candidate for early definitive fixation (EDF) has not been validated. The aim of this study was to identify simple clinical parameters to help select patients who could undergo EDF. METHODS: Patients with extremity injuries who underwent open reduction and internal fixation were retrospectively identified, using data from the Japan Trauma Data Bank (JTDB). Age, vital signs on hospital presentation, and the injury severity score (ISS) were examined by transforming these variables to binary categories. Patients were divided into categories based on these variables, and in-hospital mortality was compared between patients treated with EDF (EDF group) and those treated without EDF (non-EDF group) in each category. RESULTS: Of the 12,735 patients who were eligible for the analyses, 3706 (29.1 %) were managed with EDF. In-hospital mortality was significantly higher in the EDF group than in the non-EDF group among patients with a low Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score (<13), low systolic blood pressure (sBP) (<90 mmHg), and ISS≥15, whereas in-hospital mortality was comparable between the EDF and non-EDF groups among patients with GCS scores ≥13, sBP ≥90 mmHg, and ISS <15. DISCUSSION: In this large nationwide database of trauma patients, EDF was performed without affecting mortality in patients with GCS scores ≥13 and sBP ≥90 mmHg on hospital presentation, as well as ISS <15. These parameters might be useful as screening tools to select the candidates who could be treated with EDF safely.

Development of On-Site Medical System for Mass-Gathering Events During TOKYO 2020: Vulnerability Analysis Using Healthcare Failure Mode and Effect Analysis.

At mass-gathering events of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, a well-organized, on-site medical system is essential. This study evaluated the vulnerabilities of the prehospital medical system of the TOKYO 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games (TOKYO2020) to propose corrections that can be generalized to other mass gatherings. The healthcare failure mode and effect analysis (HFMEA) was adopted to analyze vulnerabilities of the on-site medical system proposed by the organizing committee of TOKYO2020. Processes from detecting a patient on the scene to completing transport to a hospital were analyzed. Ten processes with 47 sub-processes and 122 possible failure modes were identified. HFMEA revealed 9 failure modes as vulnerabilities: misidentification of patient, delayed immediate care at the scene, misjudgment of disposition from the on-site medical suite, and inappropriate care during transportation to hospital. Proposed corrections included surveillance to decrease blind spots, first aid brochures for spectators, and uniform protocol for health care providers at the scene. The on-site medical system amended by HFMEA seemed to work appropriately in TOKYO2020.

Physician-staffed ambulance and increased in-hospital mortality of hypotensive trauma patients following prolonged prehospital stay: A nationwide study.

BACKGROUND: The benefits of physician-staffed emergency medical services (EMS) for trauma patients remain unclear because of the conflicting results on survival. Some studies suggested potential delays in definitive hemostasis due to prolonged prehospital stay when physicians are dispatched to the scene. We examined hypotensive trauma patients who were transported by ambulance, with the hypothesis that physician-staffed ambulances would be associated with increased in-hospital mortality, compared with EMS personnel-staffed ambulances. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study that included hypotensive trauma patients (systolic blood pressure ≤ 90 mm Hg at the scene) transported by ambulance was conducted using the Japan Trauma Data Bank (2004-2019). Physician-staffed ambulances are capable of resuscitative procedures, such as thoracotomy and surgical airway management, while EMS personnel-staffed ambulances could only provide advanced life support. In-hospital mortality and prehospital time until the hospital arrival were compared between patients who were classified based on the type of ambulance. Inverse probability weighting was conducted to adjust baseline characteristics including age, sex, comorbidities, mechanism of injury, vital signs at the scene, injury severity, and ambulance dispatch time. RESULTS: Among 14,652 patients eligible for the study, 738 were transported by a physician-staffed ambulance. In-hospital mortality was higher in the physician-staffed ambulance than in the EMS personnel-staffed ambulance (201/699 [28.8%] vs. 2287/13,090 [17.5%]; odds ratio, 1.90 [1.61-2.26]; adjusted odds ratio, 1.22 [1.14-1.30]; p < 0.01), and the physician-staffed ambulance showed longer prehospital time (50 [36-66] vs. 37 [29-48] min, difference = 12 [11-12] min, p < 0.01). Such potential harm of the physician-staffed ambulance was only observed among patients who arrived at the hospital with persistent hypotension (systolic blood pressure < 90 mm Hg on hospital arrival) in subgroup analyses. CONCLUSION: Physician-staffed ambulances were associated with prolonged prehospital stay and increased in-hospital mortality among hypotensive trauma patients compared with EMS personnel-staffed ambulance. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic, level IV.

Resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta and traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: A nationwide study.

OBJECTIVE: Resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta (REBOA) is a less-invasive method for temporary hemostasis compared with cross-clamping the aorta through resuscitative thoracotomy (RT). Although the survival benefits of REBOA remained unclear, pathophysiological benefits were identified in patients with traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (t-OHCA). We examined the clinical outcomes of t-OHCA with the hypothesis that REBOA would be associated with higher survival to discharge compared with RT. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted using the Japan Trauma Data Bank (2004-2019). Adult patients with t-OHCA who had arrived without a palpable pulse and undergone aortic occlusion were included. Patients were divided into REBOA or RT groups, and propensity scores were developed using age, mechanism of injury, presence of signs of life, presence of severe head and/or chest injury, Injury Severity Score, and transportation time. Inverse probability weighting by propensity scores was performed to compare survival to discharge between the 2 groups. RESULTS: Among 13,247 patients with t-OHCA, 1483 were included in this study. A total of 144 (9.7%) patients were treated with REBOA, and 5 of 144 (3.5%) in the REBOA group and 10 of 1339 (0.7%) in the RT group survived to discharge. The use of REBOA was significantly associated with increased survival to discharge (odds ratio, 4.78; 95% confidence interval, 1.61-14.19), which was confirmed by inverse probability weighting (adjusted odds ratio, 3.73; 95% confidence interval, 1.90-7.32). CONCLUSIONS: REBOA for t-OHCA was associated with higher survival to discharge. These results should be validated by further research.

Damage control orthopedics and decreased in-hospital mortality: A nationwide study.

INTRODUCTION: While various strategies of fracture fixation in trauma victims have been discussed, the effect of damage control orthopedics (DCO) on significant clinical outcome is inconclusive. We examined the mortality of patients managed with DCO, comparing those without DCO, using a nationwide trauma database. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively identified patients with extremity injury, defined as patients with an Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) of ≥2 in an upper or lower extremity, in the database that included more than 200 major hospitals from 2004 to 2016. We included those who were age ≥15 years and underwent ORIF. Patients with missing survival data or invalid vital signs at hospital arrival were excluded. Patient data were divided into DCO or non-DCO groups, and propensity scores were developed to estimate the probability of being assigned to the DCO group, using multivariate logistic regression analyses adjusted for known survival predictors, such as age, vital signs at arrival, Abbreviated Injury Scale in extremity, ISS, presence of vascular injury, surgical procedure before fracture treatment, and transfusion requirement. The primary outcome, in-hospital mortality, was compared between the two groups after propensity score matching. Survival analyses were performed, and hazard ratio was adjusted according to age, systolic blood pressure on arrival, and Injury Severity Score. RESULTS: Of the 19,319 patients included in this study, 4407 (22.8%) underwent DCO. After the propensity score matching, 3858 pairs were selected. In-hospital mortality was significantly lower among patients in the DCO than those in the non-DCO groups (40 [1.0%] vs. 66 [1.7%]; odds ratio = 0.60; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.41-0.89; P = 0.01). Survival analyses showed that DCO was independently associated with decreased mortality in patients with extremity injury (adjusted hazard ratio = 0.30; 95% CI = 0.20-0.46; P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: DCO was associated with decreased in-hospital mortality in patients with major fractures. Further clinical study on DCO by selecting patient population should be considered eventually to develop an appropriate strategy for major fractures.

A Heart-shaped Sleeve Simplifies Intramedullary Tibial Nail Insertion when Using the Suprapatellar Approach.

The suprapatellar approach for intramedullary tibial nailing has become widely accepted over the past decade. A round sleeve is passed beneath the patella to protect the surface of the patellofemoral joint (PFJ). However, the round sleeve cannot be easily stabilized in the PFJ because it does not conform to the shape of the patellar apex. Consequently, we produced a heart-shaped sleeve to simplify the insertion of the entry sleeve during the suprapatellar approach. Using the new sleeve, the following procedure is used: (1) make a longitudinal 4 cm skin incision proximal to the patella to reach the PFJ, (2) insert the guide pin manually to the ventral edge of the tibial plateau, (3) insert the cannulated trocar along the guide pin, (4) insert the heart-shaped sleeve along the cannulated trocar, (5) remove the cannulated trocar, (6) ream the entry point through the heart-shaped sleeve. Then, continue insertion of the nail in the standard manner. Among 44 patients (29 men, mean age 45.6 years, range 26-87 years) with tibial fractures treated between 2010 and 2015, the first 18 consecutive cases were performed using a round sleeve and the rest were performed using the heart-shaped sleeve. The surgery time until entry reaming commenced was 8.9 min (range 6-12 min) using the round sleeve and 6.2 min (range 3-12 min) using the heart-shaped sleeve (P < 0.05). The heart-shaped sleeve is easily stabilized in the PFJ and greatly simplifies the intramedullary nailing of tibial shaft fractures using the suprapatellar approach.

Double traction method-an easy and safe reduction method for anterior shoulder dislocations, even for non-orthopedic surgeons.

Cases: Forty-three male and 27 female patients with anterior shoulder dislocation, with an average age of 45 years, were treated with the "double traction method". The reduction is carried out by two operators, with the patient in a supine position. The first operator holds the patient's wrist and pulls gently longitudinally. After the patient's muscle spasm adequately subsides, the second operator tows the humerus head laterally by using a towel wrapped around the proximal arm. Outcome: Reduction was successful in 63 patients (90%). No iatrogenic fracture or neurovascular deficit occurred. Conclusion: Movement of the patient's arm position causes pain-related muscle spasm. The double traction method is distinctive compared to other manual relocation maneuvers in that the patient's arm is kept at the same position throughout the whole procedure. This maneuver is an easy and safe reduction method for anterior shoulder dislocations, even for non-orthopedic surgeons. It should be an option worth considering for closed reduction in shoulder dislocations.

Vitamin K, fresh frozen plasma, and platelet transfusion used to arrest progression of intracranial hemorrhage after traumatic brain injury in a patient taking anticoagulant and antiplatelet agents.

Case: An 89-year-old man fell from stairs and sustained head trauma. He was taking warfarin and aspirin. Upon arrival at our hospital, his Glasgow Coma Scale score was 14. Initial head computed tomography showed small acute subdural hematoma. We immediately administered vitamin K and ordered fresh-frozen plasma. Repeat computed tomography 3 and 6 h after trauma revealed the acute subdural hematoma had increased to 14 and 20 mm, respectively, and there were several new intracranial hemorrhages. Fresh-frozen plasma and platelet transfusion were initiated. Outcome: Follow-up computed tomography revealed no further progression of intracranial hemorrhages, and the patient's consciousness did not deteriorate further. Conclusion: Appropriate administration of vitamin K, fresh-frozen plasma, and platelets successfully arrested progression of traumatic intracranial hemorrhages in this patient taking anticoagulant/antiplatelet agents and may have averted brain surgery.