Risk factors for cervical spine injury.

INTRODUCTION: The early recognition of cervical spine injury remains a top priority of acute trauma care. Missed diagnoses can lead to exacerbation of an existing injury and potentially devastating consequences. We sought to identify predictors of cervical spine injury. METHODS: Trauma registry records for blunt trauma patients cared for at a Level I Trauma Centre from 1997 to 2002 were examined. Cervical spine injury included all cervical dislocations, fractures, fractures with spinal cord injury, and isolated spinal cord injuries. Univariate and adjusted odds ratios (ORs) were calculated to identify potential risk factors. Variables and two-way interaction terms were subjected to multivariate analysis using backward conditional stepwise logistic regression. RESULTS: Data from 18,644 patients, with 55,609 injuries, were examined. A total of 1255 individuals (6.7%) had cervical spine injuries. Motor Vehicle Collision (MVC) (odds ratio (OR) of 1.61 (1.26, 2.06)), fall (OR of 2.14 (1.63, 2.79)), age <40 (OR of 1.75 (1.38-2.17)), pelvic fracture (OR of 9.18 (6.96, 12.11)), Injury Severity Score (ISS) >15 (OR of 7.55 (6.16-9.25)), were all significant individual predictors of cervical spine injury. Neither facial fracture nor head injury alone were associated with an increased risk of cervical spine injury. Significant interactions between pelvic fracture and fall and pelvic fracture and head injury were associated with a markedly increased risk of cervical spine (OR 19.6 (13.1, 28.8)) and (OR 27.2 (10.0-51.3)). CONCLUSIONS: MVC and falls were independently associated with cervical spine injury. Pelvic fracture and fall and pelvic fracture and head injury, had a greater than multiplicative interaction and high risk for cervical spine injury, warranting increased vigilance in the evaluation of patients with this combination of injuries.

The changing face of trauma: New Orleans before and after Hurricane Katrina.

Charity Hospital (CH) was devastated by Hurricane Katrina and remains closed. Design and staffing of a new, temporary dedicated trauma hospital relied on data from prior experience at CH, updated census information, and a changed trauma demographic. The study objective was to analyze the new trauma program and evaluate changes in demographics, injury patterns, and outcomes between pre- (PK) and post-Katrina (POK) trauma populations. A retrospective review of trauma patients' demographics, anatomical variables, and physiological variables 6 months PK and POK was performed under an approved Institutional Review Board protocol. Trauma activation triage criteria between study periods were also analyzed. Continuous data comparisons between the two time periods were made with Student's t test. Dichotomous data were analyzed using chi2 test. The demographic of trauma patients is different in the POK interval, reflecting changes in the New Orleans population. Modification of triage criteria by the exclusion of mechanism as an activation criterion resulted in an increase of patients with higher acuity and Injury Severity Score, lower initial Glasgow Coma Score, and a higher proportion of penetrating mechanism. Outcome measures reflect longer length of stay (4.4 vs. 6.8 days, P < 0.0001) without a significant difference in mortality (6.0 vs 7.5, P = 0.227). Hospital data demonstrates that the POK trauma system was stressed by the increased acuity, penetrating injury, and number of procedures per patient (1.7 vs. 3.4). Resources should be directed toward patients requiring multidisciplinary care by increasing intensive care unit beds and operating room capacity. Future resource planning in the recovery phases of large-scale natural disasters should take into account these observations.

Analysis of disaster response plans and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina: lessons learned from a level I trauma center.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to compare disaster preparedness of a Level I Trauma Center with performance in an actual disaster. Previous disaster response evaluations have shown that the key to succeeding in responding to a catastrophic event is to anticipate the event, plan the response, and practice the plan. The Emergency Management Team had identified natural disaster as the hospital's highest threat. The hospital also served as the regional hospital for the Louisiana Health Resources and Service Administration Bioterrorism Hospital Preparedness Program. METHODS: The hospital master disaster plan, including the Code Gray annex, was retrospectively reviewed and compared with the actual events that occurred after Hurricane Katrina. Vital support areas were evaluated for adequacy using a systematic approach. In addition, a survey of 10 key personnel from trauma and emergency medicine present during Hurricane Katrina was conducted. The survey of vital support areas were scored as adequate (3 pts), partially adequate (2 pts), or inadequate (1 pt). RESULTS: Ninety-three percent of the line items on the Code Gray Checklist were accomplished before landfall of the storm. The results of the survey of vital support areas were water-3.0, food-2.4, sanitation-1.5, communication-1.4, and power-1.5. CONCLUSION: Despite identifying the threat of a major hurricane, preparing a response plan, and exercising the plan, a major medical center can be overwhelmed by a catastrophic disaster like Hurricane Katrina. We offer our lessons-learned as an aid for other medical centers that are developing and exercising their plans.

Treatment of superior mesenteric and portal vein thrombosis with direct thrombolytic infusion via an operatively placed mesenteric catheter.

Acute superior mesenteric vein (SMV) and portal vein (PV) thrombosis can be a complication of hypercoagulable, inflammatory, or infectious states. It can also occur as a complication of medical or surgical intervention. Management of mesenteric and portal vein thrombosis includes both operative and nonoperative approaches. Operative interventions include thrombectomy with thrombolysis; this is often employed for patients who present with signs of peritoneal irritation. Nonoperative approaches can be either noninvasive or invasive. Treatment with anticoagulation has been shown to be efficacious, though its rate of recanalization is not as high as with intravascular infusion of thrombolytics. Intravenous catheterization and thrombolytic infusion has the advantage of direct pharmacologic thrombolysis of clot, with decreased infusion required and the possibility to carry out dilation or thrombectomy concurrently. We report the use of recombinant tissue-plasminogen activator (rt-PA) infusion via an operatively placed multi side-hole catheter/5-Fr introducer sheath into the right portal and superior mesenteric vein clot, inserted through a small jejunal vein, in a patient who presented with acute gangrenous appendicitis and thrombosis of the main portal trunk and superior mesenteric vein. A temporary abdominal closure was maintained until 36 hours after the start of infusion of the rt-PA. At this time venous system had normal flow, with complete recanalization of the right portal and superior mesenteric veins.

The AIDS patient with abdominal pain: a new challenge for the emergency physician.

As the prevalence of HIV infection continues to increase, EPs will be called upon to evaluate increasing numbers of AIDS patients who have abdominal pain, some of whom will require emergent surgical intervention. In addition to the myriad causes of abdominal pain in the nonimmunocompromised patient, the differential diagnosis in the AIDS patient includes a wide variety of opportunistic infections and neoplasms (Table 5). Evaluation frequently requires extensive laboratory studies and cultures and advanced imaging (CT, ultrasound, and so forth). A low threshold for surgical and other subspecialty consultation should be in place because of the often subtle presentation of surgical emergencies in AIDS patients.

Stoma complications: a multivariate analysis.

Construction of a gastrointestinal stoma is a frequently performed surgical procedure. We sought to analyze a large cohort to document the frequency and types of ostomy complications and the risk factors associated with them. The charts of patients undergoing a procedure which resulted in ostomy during a 3-year period were reviewed. Demographics, indication, ostomy type/location, perioperative risk factors, and complications were recorded. Case-control methodology was used to determine crude odds ratios and multiple logistic regression was used to calculate adjusted odds ratios. A P value of less than 0.05 was considered significant. An ostomy was constructed in 204 patients and records were available for 164. Forty-one patients (25.0%) had ostomy complications. Sixteen of these complications (39.0%) occurred within one month of the procedure. Complications included prolapse in nine (22%), necrosis in nine (22%), stenosis in seven (17%), irritation in seven (17%), infection in six (15%), bleeding in two (5%), and retraction in two (5%). Gender, cancer, trauma, diverticulitis, emergency surgery, ileostomy, and ostomy location/type were not associated with a stoma complication. Significant predictors of ostomy malfunction are presented as odds ratios (ORs) with 95 per cent confidence intervals (CIs) and include inflammatory bowel disease (OR = 4.49; 95% CI = 1.16-17.36) and obesity (OR = 2.66; 95% CI = 1.15-6.16). The care of an enterostomal nurse was found to prevent complications (OR = 0.15; 95% CI = 0.03-0.69). We conclude that ostomies have a high risk of complication, which is not related to stoma location or type. Obesity and inflammatory bowel disease predispose to complications. Enterostomal nursing may be instrumental in preventing complications.