A prospective stepped wedge cohort evaluation of the new national trauma team activation criteria in Sweden - the TRAUMALERT study.

BACKGROUND: Trauma triage based on prehospital information facilitates correct allocation of in-hospital resources. The Swedish national two-tier trauma team activation (TTA) criteria were revised in 2016. The current study aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the new criteria. METHODS: Five centres covering trauma care for 1.2 million inhabitants registered all trauma patients prospectively in the Swedish trauma registry (SweTrau) prior to and after stepwise introduction of new TTA criteria within the cohort (a prospective stepped-wedge cohort study design; period August 2016-November 2017). Evaluation of full- and limited-TTA frequency, under- and overtriage were performed at equal duration before and after this change. RESULTS: The centres registered 1948 patients, 1882 (96.6%) of which were included in the study. With new criteria, frequency of full-TTA was unchanged, while limited-TTA decreased with 46.3% (from 988 to 531). 30-day trauma mortality was unchanged. The overtriage was 107/150 (71.3%) with former criteria, and 104/144 (72.2%) with new criteria, p = 0.866. Undertriage was 50/1037 (4.8%) versus 39/551 (7.1%), p = 0.063. Undertriage was consistently > 20% in patients with fall injury. Among patients with Injury Severity Score (ISS) > 15, 50/93 (53.8%) did not initiate full-TTA with former, vs 39/79 (49.4%) with new criteria, p = 0.565. Age > 60-years was a risk factor for undertriage (OR 2.89, p < 0.001), while low fall injuries indicated a trend (OR 2.70, p = 0.051). CONCLUSIONS: The newly implemented Swedish TTA criteria result in a reduction in limited TTA frequency, indicating an increased efficiency in use of resources. The over- and undertriage is unchanged compared to former criteria, thus upholding patient safety.

Influence of BMI on short-term surgical outcome after colorectal cancer surgery: a study based on the Swedish national quality registry.

PURPOSE: It is well known that an increased body mass index (BMI) is associated with cancer development. Results from studies on colorectal cancer (CRC) treatment outcome and BMI are however conflicting. Our hypothesis was that a high as well as a low BMI will have negative effects on short-term outcome after CRC surgery. METHODS: Data from the Swedish Colorectal Cancer Registry from 2007 to 2012 was analyzed. A total of 24,587 patients operated on for CRC were included in the study and divided into one of five categories for BMI. Operative bleeding, operating time, surgical complications, and 30-day mortality were compared between groups. RESULTS: Operative bleeding as well as operating time was significantly increased when comparing normal-weight patients to overweight (p < 0.001). 15.1% of normal-weight patients suffered from postoperative surgical complications. This was significantly increased with each BMI step but did not affect the 30-day mortality. However, underweight patients, on the other hand, had fewer complications (13.3%) but an increased 30-day mortality. CONCLUSION: Longer operating times and increased perioperative bleeding may be explanatory factors behind increased postoperative complication rates for CRC patients with higher BMI. In underweight patients, advanced disease may be a reason for a higher 30-day mortality. To improve outcome, specific precautions are suggested when operating on under- as well as overweight CRC patients. We also suggest that the registry introduces a better marker than BMI for central visceral fat-the link between obesity and cancer development. Further studies are needed to analyze the findings in detail and to study long-term effects.