Widening Access: Sterile Tourniquets for Surgery to the Distal Humerus.

Purpose of the study The use of tourniquets during surgery of the distal humerus can improve visibility and reduce surgical time. However, the available operating field can be limited due to the size and placement of the tourniquet. This proof-of-concept study aimed to determine if sterile tourniquets can provide a wider surgical field compared to non-sterile tourniquets for procedures around the distal humerus. Methods Volunteers (n = 5) were positioned to simulate access to the distal humerus. The distance from the posterior corner of the acromion to the tip of the olecranon was measured. Participants were draped according to the standard protocol for the use of a non-sterile or sterile tourniquet for distal humerus and humeral shaft fractures. Two non-sterile pneumatic tourniquets (standard and narrow) and two sterile tourniquets (pneumatic and elastic exsanguination) were tested. The surgical field was measured from the sterile drape or tourniquet proximally to the tip of the olecranon. A one-way repeated measures ANOVA was conducted to examine the effect of each tourniquet on the surgical field. Results The sterile elastic exsanguination tourniquet had the largest available field with a mean of 24.4 cm (71% of arm available for incision after application), followed by the sterile pneumatic tourniquet of 20.0 cm (58%), narrow non-sterile pneumatic of 19.2 cm (55%), and standard non-sterile pneumatic of 17.0 cm (49%). Repeated measures ANOVA determined that mean surgical field length is statistically significant between tourniquet devices (F (1.729, 6.914) = 21.783, p = .001). The surgical field length was statistically significantly increased from a non-sterile standard tourniquet to a sterile elastic tourniquet (7.4 (95% CI, 2.9-11.9) cm, p = .008) but not the other two tourniquet devices tested. Conclusion The use of certain types of sterile tourniquets can provide a wider surgical field compared to non-sterile tourniquets for procedures around the distal humerus, specifically the sterile elastic exsanguination tourniquet providing a statistically significant mean gain of 7.4 cm from the non-sterile tourniquets. These findings suggest that the use of sterile tourniquets should be considered more frequently in surgery of the distal humerus, and a sterile exsanguinating tourniquet could be considered for midshaft humeral fractures, facilitating safer exposure of the radial nerve and reduced blood loss.

Shoulder Pain Diagnosis, Treatment and Referral Guidelines for Primary, Community and Intermediate Care.

These care pathway guidelines for the shoulder have been written in collaboration with the NHS Evidence Based Interventions (EBI) programme. The EBI programme is a partnership between the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, NHS Clinical Commissioners, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, as well as NHS England and Improvement.

Destination healthcare facility of shocked trauma patients in Scotland: analysis of transfusion and surgical capability of receiving hospitals.

AIMS: Haemorrhage is a leading cause of death from trauma. Management requires a combination of haemorrhage control and resuscitation which may incur significant surgical and transfusion utilisation. The aim of this study is to evaluate the resource provision of the destination hospital of Scottish trauma patients exhibiting evidence of pre-hospital shock. METHODS: Patients who sustained a traumatic injury between November 2008 and October 2010 were retrospectively identified from the Scottish Ambulance Service electronic patients record system. Patients with a systolic blood pressure less than 110 mmHg or if missing, a heart rate greater than 120 bpm, were considered in shock. The level of the destination healthcare facility was classified in terms of surgical and transfusion capability. Patients with and without shock were compared. RESULTS: There were 135,004 patients identified, 133,651 (99.0%) of whom had sustained blunt trauma, 68,411 (50.7%) were male and the median (IQR) age was 59 (46). There were 6721 (5.0%) patients with shock, with a similar age and gender distribution to non-shocked patients. Only 1332 (19.8%) of shocked patients were taken to facilities with full surgical capability, 5137 (76.4%) to hospitals with limited (general and orthopaedic surgery only) and 252 (3.7%) to hospitals with no surgical services. In terms of transfusion capability, 5556 (82.7%) shocked patients were admitted to facilities with full capability and 1165 (17.3%) to a hospital with minimal or no capability. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of Scottish trauma patients are transported to a hospital with full transfusion capability, although the majority lack surgical sub-specialty representation.