Background
This study aimed to compare patient outcomes after splenic angioembolization (SAE) or splenectomy for isolated severe blunt splenic injury (BSI) with hemodynamic instability, and to ...identify potential candidates for SAE.
Methods
Adult patients with isolated severe BSI (Abbreviated Injury Scale AIS 3–5) and hemodynamic instability between 2013 and 2019 were identified from the American College of Surgeons Trauma Quality Improvement (ACS TQIP) database. Hemodynamic instability was defined as an initial systolic blood pressure (SBP) <90 mmHg, heart rate (HR) >120 bpm, or lowest SBP <90 mmHg within 1 h after admission, with ≥1 unit of blood transfused within 4 h after admission. In-hospital mortality was compared between splenectomy and SAE groups using 2:1 propensity-score matching. The characteristics of unmatched and matched splenectomy patients were also compared.
Results
A total of 478 patients met our inclusion criteria (332 splenectomy, 146 SAE). After propensity-score matching, 166 splenectomy and 83 SAE patients were compared. Approximately 85% of propensity-score matched patients sustained AIS 3/4 injuries, and 50% presented with normal SBP and HR before becoming hemodynamically unstable. The median time to intervention (splenectomy or SAE) was 137 min (interquartile range 94–183). In-hospital mortality between splenectomy and SAE groups was not significantly different (5.4% vs. 4.8%,
p
= 1.000). More than half of unmatched patients in the splenectomy group sustained AIS 5 injuries and presented with initially unstable hemodynamics. The median time to splenectomy in such patients was significantly shorter than in matched splenectomy patients (67 vs. 132 min,
p
< 0.001).
Conclusion
Splenectomy remains the mainstay of treatment for patients with AIS 5 BSI who present to hospital with hemodynamic instability. However, SAE might be a feasible alternative for patients with AIS 3/4 injuries.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Frailty has been increasingly recognized as a modifiable risk factor prior to elective general surgery. There is limited evidence regarding the association of frailty with perioperative outcomes ...after specific emergency general surgery procedures.
A retrospective cohort study of 57,173 patients older than 40 y of age from 2010 to 2014 American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program underwent appendectomy, cholecystectomy, large bowel resection, small bowel resection, or nonbowel resection (lysis of adhesion, ileostomy creation) on an emergent basis. Preoperative modified frailty index (mFI) was determined for each patient and was used in a multivariable logistic regression to determine the association with perioperative morbidity, mortality, and discharge destination.
A total of 57,173 patients (46% men, mean SD age 60 13 y) underwent an emergency appendectomy (n = 26,067), cholecystectomy (n = 8138), large bowel resection (n = 12,107), small bowel resection (n = 6503), or nonbowel resection (n = 4358). Among them, 14,300 (25.0%) experienced any perioperative complication, and 12,668 (22.2%) experienced a serious complication with an overall 30-d mortality of 5.1%. Highly frail patients had a 30-d mortality of 19.0% across all five operations. In multivariable analysis, mFI was associated with any complication and 30-d mortality in a step-wise fashion for each emergency operation. Intermediate and high mFI were also inversely associated with discharge home for each operation.
Frailty is associated with increased perioperative morbidity and mortality in common emergency general surgery operations. Frailty should be assessed by surgeons to inform decisions on operative intervention and to inform patients/families on expected outcomes.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Objectives
To assess the efficacy of haloperidol in reducing postoperative delirium in individuals undergoing thoracic surgery.
Design
Randomized double‐blind placebo‐controlled trial.
Setting
...Surgical intensive care unit (ICU) of tertiary care center.
Participants
Individuals undergoing thoracic surgery (N=135).
Intervention
Low‐dose intravenous haloperidol (0.5 mg three times daily for a total of 11 doses) administered postoperatively.
Measurements
The primary outcome was delirium incidence during hospitalization. Secondary outcomes were time to delirium, delirium duration, delirium severity, and ICU and hospital length of stay. Delirium was assessed using the Confusion Assessment Method for the ICU and delirium severity using the Delirium Rating Scale‐Revised.
Results
Sixty‐eight participants were randomized to receive haloperidol and 67 placebo. No significant differences were observed between those receiving haloperidol and those receiving placebo in incident delirium (n=15 (22.1%) vs n=19 (28.4%); p = .43), time to delirium (p = .43), delirium duration (median 1 day, interquartile range (IQR) 1‐2 days vs median 1 day, IQR 1‐2 days; p = .71), delirium severity, ICU length of stay (median 2.2 days, IQR 1–3.3 days vs median 2.3 days, IQR 1‐4 days; p = .29), or hospital length of stay (median 10 days, IQR 8–11.5 days vs median 10 days, IQR 8‐12 days; p = .41). In the esophagectomy subgroup (n = 84), the haloperidol group was less likely to experience incident delirium (n=10 (23.8%) vs n=17 (40.5%); p = .16). There were no differences in time to delirium (p = .14), delirium duration (median 1 day, IQR 1‐2 days vs median 1 day, IQR 1‐2 days; p = .71), delirium severity, or hospital length of stay (median 11 days, IQR 10‐12 days vs median days 11, IQR 10‐15 days; p = .26). ICU length of stay was significantly shorter in the haloperidol group (median 2.8 days, IQR 1.1–3.8 days vs median 3.1 days, IQR 2.1–5.1 days; p = .03). Safety events were comparable between the groups.
Conclusion
Low‐dose postoperative haloperidol did not reduce delirium in individuals undergoing thoracic surgery but may be efficacious in those undergoing esophagectomy. J Am Geriatr Soc 66:2289–2297, 2018.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Increasing health care costs and high deductible insurance plans have shifted more responsibility for medical costs to patients. After serious illnesses, financial responsibilities may result in lost ...wages, forced unemployment, and other financial burdens, collectively described as financial toxicity. Following cancer treatments, financial toxicity is associated with worse long-term health-related quality of life (HRQoL) outcomes. The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of financial toxicity following injury, factors associated with financial toxicity, and the impact of financial toxicity on long-term HRQoL.
Adult patients with an Injury Severity Score of 10 or greater and without head or spinal cord injury were prospectively followed for 1 year. The Short-Form-36 was used to determine overall quality of life at 1 month, 2 months, 4 months, and 12 months. Screens for depression and posttraumatic stress syndrome were administered. The primary outcome was any financial toxicity. A multivariable generalized estimating equation was used to account for variability over time.
Five hundred patients were enrolled, and 88% suffered financial toxicity during the year following injury (64% reduced income, 58% unemployment, 85% experienced stress due to financial burden). Financial toxicity remained stable over follow-up (80-85%). Factors independently associated with financial toxicity were lower age (odds ratio OR, 0.96 0.94-0.98), lack of health insurance (OR, 0.28 0.14-0.56), and larger household size (OR, 1.37 1.06-1.77). After risk adjustment, patients with financial toxicity had worse HRQoL, and more depression and posttraumatic stress syndrome in a stepwise fashion based on severity of financial toxicity.
Financial toxicity following injury is extremely common and is associated with worse psychological and physical outcomes. Age, lack of insurance, and large household size are associated with financial toxicity. Patients at risk for financial toxicity can be identified, and interventions to counteract the negative effects should be developed to improve long-term outcomes.
Prognostic/epidemiologic study, level III.
The current health care environment is complex. Systems often cross US state boundaries to provide care to patients with a wide variety of medical needs. The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic is ...challenging health care systems across the globe. Systems face varying levels of complexity as they adapt to the new reality. This pandemic continues to escalate in hot spots nationally and internationally, and the worst strain on health care systems may be yet to come. The purpose of this article is to provide a road map developed from lessons learned from the experience in the Department of Surgery at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and University of Wisconsin Health, based on past experience with incident command structures in military combat operations and Federal Emergency Management Agency responses. We will discuss administrative restructuring leveraging a team-of-teams approach, provide a framework for deploying the workforce needed to deliver all necessary urgent health care and critical care to patients in the system, and consider implications for the future.
Older adults with recent injuries can have impaired long-term biopsychosocial function and may benefit from interventions adapted to their needs.
To determine if a collaborative care intervention, ...Trauma Medical Home (TMH), improved the biopsychosocial function of older patients in the year after injury.
This was a single-blinded, randomized clinical trial conducted at 4 level I trauma centers in Indianapolis, Indiana, and Madison, Wisconsin. Between October 2017 and October 2021, patients aged 50 years and older with an Injury Severity Score (ISS) of 9 or greater and without traumatic brain or spinal cord injury were enrolled. Exclusions were significant brain injury or a spinal cord injury with a persistent neurologic deficit at the time of enrollment, extensive burns, pregnancy, incarceration, neurodegenerative disease, visual or auditory impairment that would preclude study participation, a life expectancy of less than 1 year, significant alcohol or drug use history, and acute stroke during admission. Of 10 276 patients screened, 430 were randomized and 299 completed 12-month follow-up. Data were analyzed from March to July 2023.
Intervention patients received 6 months of TMH delivered by a nurse care coordinator guided by an interdisciplinary team (trauma surgeon, pulmonary critical care and geriatrician physicians, nurses, and psychologist) in partnership with primary care. The care coordinator used standard protocols to monitor and treat biopsychosocial symptoms.
Primary outcomes were Medical Outcome Study Short Form-36 (SF-36) score and Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) score at 12 months. Secondary outcomes were Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) score, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale-7 (GAD-7) score, and health care utilization.
A total of 429 participants (228 53.1% female; mean SD age, 69.3 10.8 years; mean SD ISS, 12.3 4.6) completed baseline assessments and were randomized. Follow-up was 76% (n = 324) at 6 months and 70% (n = 299) at 12 months. There were no differences between the TMH and usual care groups at 12 months in SF-36 Physical Component Summary score (mean SD, 40.42 12.82 vs 39.18 12.43), SF-36 Mental Component Summary score (mean SD, 53.92 10.02 vs 53.21 10.82), or SPPB score (mean SD, 8.00 3.60 vs 8.28 3.88). Secondary outcomes were also no different. Planned subgroup analysis revealed patients with baseline symptoms of anxiety or depression (high GAD-7 and PHQ-9 scores) experienced improvement in the Mental Component Summary score when randomized to the TMH intervention.
The TMH intervention did not significantly influence quality of life, depressive and anxiety symptoms, or physical function of older adults with injury at 12 months. Subgroup analysis showed positive impact in patients with a high burden of anxiety and depression symptoms at enrollment. Collaborative care interventions may improve long-term outcomes of select patients, but further research is needed.
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03108820.
The surgical workforce particularly in rural regions needs novel approaches to reinforce the skills and confidence of health practitioners. Although conventional telementoring systems have proven ...beneficial to address this gap, the benefits of platforms of augmented reality-based telementoring in the coaching and confidence of medical personnel are yet to be evaluated.
A total of 20 participants were guided by remote expert surgeons to perform leg fasciotomies on cadavers under one of two conditions: (1) telementoring (with our System for Telementoring with Augmented Reality) or (2) independently reviewing the procedure beforehand. Using the Individual Performance Score and the Weighted Individual Performance Score, two on-site, expert surgeons evaluated the participants. Postexperiment metrics included number of errors, procedure completion time, and self-reported confidence scores. A total of six objective measurements were obtained to describe the self-reported confidence scores and the overall quality of the coaching. Additional analyses were performed based on the participants’ expertise level.
Participants using the System for Telementoring with Augmented Reality received 10% greater Weighted Individual Performance Score (P = .03) and performed 67% fewer errors (P = .04). Moreover, participants with lower surgical expertise that used the System for Telementoring with Augmented Reality received 17% greater Individual Performance Score (P = .04), 32% greater Weighted Individual Performance Score (P < .01) and performed 92% fewer errors (P < .001). In addition, participants using the System for Telementoring with Augmented Reality reported 25% more confidence in all evaluated aspects (P < .03). On average, participants using the System for Telementoring with Augmented Reality received augmented reality guidance 19 times on average and received guidance for 47% of their total task completion time.
Participants using the System for Telementoring with Augmented Reality performed leg fasciotomies with fewer errors and received better performance scores. In addition, participants using the System for Telementoring with Augmented Reality reported being more confident when performing fasciotomies under telementoring. Augmented Reality Head-Mounted Display–based telementoring successfully provided confidence and coaching to medical personnel.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Psychological impairment among injury survivors is well documented. Little is known about the prevalence of treatment of psychological impairment, however. We aimed to determine the proportion of ...injury survivors treated for depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the year after injury as well as to determine potential barriers to treatment.
Adults (18 and older) admitted to a Level I trauma center with an injury severity score greater than 10 but without traumatic brain injury or spinal cord injury were eligible for study inclusion. The Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression and PTSD CheckList-Civilian Versions surveys were administered during the initial hospitalization and repeated at 1, 2, 4, and 12 months after injury. Patients were asked if they received treatment specifically for depression or PTSD at each follow-up. Factors associated with treatment were determined using multivariable logistic regression analysis.
Five hundred injury survivors were enrolled in this prospective observational study. Of those, 68.4% of patients screened positive for depression at some point in the year after their injury (53.3%, 1 month; 49.9%, 2 months; 49.0%, 4 months; and 50.2%, 12 months). Only 22.2% of depressed patients reported receiving treatment for depression; 44.4% of patients screened positive for PTSD (26.6%, 1 month; 27.8%, 2 months; 29.8%, 4 months; and 30.0%, 12 months), but only 9.8% received treatment for PTSD. After adjusting for other factors, compared to commercial insurance status, self-pay insurance status was negatively associated with treatment for PTSD or depression (odds ratio, 0.44; 95% confidence interval, 0.21-0.95).
Depression and PTSD are common in non-neurotrauma patients in the year following injury. Greater collaboration between those caring for injury survivors and behavioral health experts may help improve psychological outcomes after injury.
Therapeutic/Care management, level IV.
Abstract Background Increases in hospital volume are positively associated with improved surgical outcomes. However, in the trauma setting, studies have reported conflicting findings in regard to ...volume's effect on in-hospital mortality. This study investigates whether complications, failure-to-rescue (FTR), and mortality are influenced by trauma centers' average annual volume. Methods We performed a retrospective cohort study that analyzed patient records included in the National Trauma Data Bank from years 2008–2010. We calculated risk-adjusted complication, FTR, and mortality rates for centers treating different volumes of patients. We also performed multilevel logistic regression modeling to examine the probability that patients treated at trauma centers with higher annual volumes would experience complication, FTR, and mortality while controlling for injury severity, type of injury, mechanism of trauma, age, gender, race, number of comorbidities, head injury, hypotension, and hospital clustering. Hospital characteristics including designation level, academic status, nonprofit status, safety-net status, and region were incorporated into the model. Results Risk-adjusted complication, FTR, and mortality rates differed significantly across hospital volume quintiles. Regression analyses indicated that higher hospital volumes were significantly associated with a decreased likelihood of mortality for individual patient but not for complication or FTR. Conclusions Our findings suggest that higher trauma center volume is associated with improved mortality outcomes. However, the relationship between volume and FTR is more complex. Future research should address the question of determining optimal volume levels that lead to high provider experience, efficient resource usage, and low unintended consequences or outcomes.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
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