ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Historically, hemorrhage has been attributed as the leading cause (40%) of early death. However, a rigorous, real-time classification of the cause of death (COD) has not been performed. This study sought to prospectively adjudicate and classify COD to determine the epidemiology of trauma mortality. METHODS: Eighteen trauma centers prospectively enrolled all adult trauma patients at the time of death during December 2015 to August 2017. Immediately following death, attending providers adjudicated the primary and contributing secondary COD using standardized definitions. Data were confirmed by autopsies, if performed. RESULTS: One thousand five hundred thirty-six patients were enrolled with a median age of 55 years (interquartile range, 32-75 years), 74.5% were male. Penetrating mechanism (n = 412) patients were younger (32 vs. 64, p < 0.0001) and more likely to be male (86.7% vs. 69.9%, p < 0.0001). Falls were the most common mechanism of injury (26.6%), with gunshot wounds second (24.3%). The most common overall primary COD was traumatic brain injury (TBI) (45%), followed by exsanguination (23%). Traumatic brain injury was nonsurvivable in 82.2% of cases. Blunt patients were more likely to have TBI (47.8% vs. 37.4%, p < 0.0001) and penetrating patients exsanguination (51.7% vs. 12.5%, p < 0.0001) as the primary COD. Exsanguination was the predominant prehospital (44.7%) and early COD (39.1%) with TBI as the most common later. Penetrating mechanism patients died earlier with 80.1% on day 0 (vs. 38.5%, p < 0.0001). Most deaths were deemed disease-related (69.3%), rather than by limitation of further aggressive care (30.7%). Hemorrhage was a contributing cause to 38.8% of deaths that occurred due to withdrawal of care. CONCLUSION: Exsanguination remains the predominant early primary COD with TBI accounting for most deaths at later time points. Timing and primary COD vary significantly by mechanism. Contemporaneous adjudication of COD is essential to elucidate the true understanding of patient outcome, center performance, and future research. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Epidemiologic, level II.
Subject(s)
Wounds and Injuries/mortality , Accidental Falls/mortality , Adult , Age Factors , Aged , Brain Injuries, Traumatic/mortality , Cause of Death , Emergency Medical Services/statistics & numerical data , Exsanguination/mortality , Female , Humans , Kaplan-Meier Estimate , Male , Middle Aged , Prospective Studies , Risk Factors , Sex Factors , Statistics, Nonparametric , Time Factors , Trauma Centers/statistics & numerical data , Wounds, Gunshot/mortalityABSTRACT
Subungual squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is a rare malignancy with very few reported cases that occur on the toe. The etiology of these lesions is not known, and although this location is generally considered low risk for metastasis, cases of inguinal lymph node metastasis after toe amputation have been reported. Patients with subungual disease may meet criteria other than location that increase their risk for metastasis. Currently, no standardized approach to therapy for these patients has been established. In this article, we describe a patient with SCC of the right fourth toe with no clinical evidence of lymph-node metastasis. This patient underwent toe amputation and has done well for 2.5 years with no evidence of recurrence. We discuss this case of subungual SCC of the toe along with others in the literature to propose an optimal standardized approach for therapy and follow-up. In so doing, we aim to advance medical knowledge of subungual SCC and to improve patient care.
