Increase in Motor Vehicle Crash Severity: An Unforeseen Consequence of COVID-19

INTRODUCTION

The 2019 coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic led to stay-at-home (SAH) orders in Pennsylvania targeted at reducing viral transmission. Limitations in population mobility under SAH have been associated with decreased motor vehicle collisions (MVC) and related injuries, but the impact of these measures on severity of injury remains unknown. The goal of this study is to measure the incidence, severity, and outcomes of MVC-related injuries associated with SAH in Pennsylvania.

MATERIALS & METHODS

We conducted a retrospective geospatial analysis of MVCs during the early COVID-19 pandemic using a state-wide trauma registry. We compared characteristics of patients with MVC-related injuries admitted to Pennsylvania trauma centers during SAH measures (March 21-July 31, 2020) with those from the corresponding periods in 2018 and 2019. We also compared incidence of MVCs for each zip code tabulation area (ZCTA) in Pennsylvania for the same time periods using geospatial mapping.

RESULTS

Of 15,550 trauma patients treated during the SAH measures, 3486 (22.4%) resulted from MVCs. Compared to preceding years, MVC incidence decreased 10% under SAH measures with no change in mortality rate. However, in ZCTA where MVC incidence decreased, there was a 16% increase in MVC injury severity.

CONCLUSIONS

Stay-at-home orders issued in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Pennsylvania were associated with significant changes in MVC incidence and severity. Identifying such changes may inform resource allocation decisions during future pandemics or SAH events.

Surgical Infection Society Guidance for Restoration of Surgical Services during the Coronavirus Disease-2019 Pandemic

Background: As the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues globally, high numbers of new infections are developing nationwide, particularly in the U.S. Midwest and along both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. The need to accommodate growing numbers of hospitalized patients has led facilities in affected areas to suspend anew or curtail normal hospital activities, including elective surgery, even as earlier-affected areas normalized surgical services. Backlogged surgical cases now number in the tens of millions globally. Facilities will be hard-pressed to address these backlogs, even absent the recrudescence of COVID-19. This document provides guidance for the safe and effective resumption of surgical services as circumstances permit. Methods: Review and synthesis of pertinent international peer-reviewed literature, with integration of expert opinion. Results: The "second-wave" of serious infections is placing the healthcare system under renewed stress. Surgical teams likely will encounter persons harboring the virus, whether symptomatic or not. Continued vigilance and protection of patients and staff remain paramount. Reviewed are the impact of COVID-19 on the surgical workforce, considerations for operating on a COVID-19 patient and the outcomes of such operations, the size and nature of the surgical backlog, and the logistics of resumption, including organizational considerations, patient and staff safety, preparation of the surgical candidate, and the role of enhanced recovery programs to reduce morbidity, length of stay, and cost by rational, equitable resource utilization. Conclusions: Resumption of surgical services requires institutional commitment (including teams of surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses, pharmacists, therapists, dieticians, and administrators). Structured protocols and equitable implementation programs, and iterative audit, planning, and integration will improve outcomes, enhance safety, preserve resources, and reduce cost, all of which will contribute to safe and successful reduction of the surgical backlog.

The impact of COVID-19 infection on outcomes after injury in a state trauma system

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 pandemic reshaped the health care system in 2020. COVID-19 infection has been associated with poor outcomes after orthopedic surgery and elective, general surgery, but the impact of COVID-19 on outcomes after trauma is unknown.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients admitted to Pennsylvania trauma centers from March 21 to July 31, 2020. The exposure of interest was COVID-19 (COV+) and the primary outcome was inpatient mortality. Secondary outcomes were length of stay and complications. We compared demographic and injury characteristics between positive, negative, and not-tested patients. We used multivariable regression with coarsened exact matching to estimate the impact of COV+ on outcomes.

RESULTS

Of 15,550 included patients, 8,170 (52.5%) were tested for COVID-19 and 219 (2.7%) were positive (COV+). Compared with COVID-19-negative (COV-) patients, COV+ patients were similar in terms of age and sex, but were less often white (53.5% vs. 74.7%, p < 0.0001), and more often uninsured (10.1 vs. 5.6%, p = 0.002). Injury severity was similar, but firearm injuries accounted for 11.9% of COV+ patients versus 5.1% of COV- patients (p < 0.001). Unadjusted mortality for COV+ was double that of COV- patients (9.1% vs. 4.7%, p < 0.0001) and length of stay was longer (median, 5 vs. 4 days; p < 0.001). Using coarsened exact matching, COV+ patients had an increased risk of death (odds ratio [OR], 6.05; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.29-15.99), any complication (OR, 1.85; 95% CI, 1.08-3.16), and pulmonary complications (OR, 5.79; 95% CI, 2.02-16.54) compared with COV- patients.

CONCLUSION

Patients with concomitant traumatic injury and COVID-19 infection have elevated risks of morbidity and mortality. Trauma centers must incorporate an understanding of these risks into patient and family counseling and resource allocation during this pandemic.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Level II, Prognostic Study.

The Short and the Long of it: Timing of Mortality for Older Adults in a State Trauma System

BACKGROUND

The impact of injury extends beyond the hospital stay, but trauma center performance metrics typically focus on in-hospital mortality. We compared risk adjusted rates of in-hospital and long-term mortality among Pennsylvania trauma centers. We hypothesized that centers with low rates of in-hospital mortality would also have low rates of long-term mortality.

METHODS

We identified injured patients (age ≥ 65) admitted to Pennsylvania trauma centers in 2013 and 2014 using the Pennsylvania Trauma Outcomes Study, a robust, state-wide trauma registry. We matched trauma registry records to Medicare claims from the y 2013 to 2015. Matching variables included admission date and patient demographics including date of birth, zip, sex, and race and/or ethnicity. Outcomes examined were inpatient, 30-day, and 1-y mortality. Multivariable logistic regression models including presenting physiology, comorbidities, injury characteristics, and demographics were developed to calculate expected mortality rates for each trauma center at each time point. Trauma center performance was assessed using observed-to-expected ratios and ranking for in-hospital, 30-day, and 1-y mortality.

RESULTS

Of the 15,451 patients treated at 28 centers, 8.1% died before discharge or were discharged to hospice. Another 3.4% died within 30 d, and another 14.7% died within 1 y of injury. Of patients who survived hospitalization but died within 30 d, 92.5% were injured due to fall, and 75.0% sustained head injuries. Survival at 1 y was higher in patients discharged home (88.4%), compared to those discharged to a skilled nursing facility or long-term acute care hospital (72.7% and 52.6%, respectively). Three centers were identified as outliers (two low and one high) for in-hospital mortality, none of which were outliers when the horizon was stretched to 30 d from injury. At 30 d, two different low and two different high outliers were found.

CONCLUSION

Nearly one-in-three injured older adults who die within 30 d of injury dies after hospital discharge. Hospital rankings for in-hospital mortality correlate poorly with long-term outcomes. These findings underscore the importance of looking beyond survival to discharge for quality improvement and benchmarking.

Bang for the buck: The impact of political financial contributions on firearm law

BACKGROUND

One hundred thousand Americans are shot annually, and 39,000 die. State laws restricting firearm sales and use have been shown to decrease firearm deaths, yet little is known about what impacts their passage or repeal. We hypothesized that spending by groups that favor firearm restrictive legislation would increase new state firearm restrictive laws (FRLs) and that states increasing these laws would endure fewer firearm deaths.

METHODS

We acquired 2013 to 2018 state data on spending by groups against firearm restrictive legislation and for firearm restrictive legislation regarding lobbying, campaign, and independent and total expenditures from the National Institute on Money in State Politics. State-level political party representation data were acquired from the National Conference of State Legislatures. Mass shooting data were obtained from the Mass Shooter Database of the Violence Project, and firearm death rates were obtained from Centers for Disease Control Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research and Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Reporting databases. Firearm restrictive laws were obtained from the State Firearms Law Database. A univariate panel linear regression with fixed effect for state was performed with change in FRLs from baseline as the outcome. A final multivariable panel regression with fixed effect for state was then used. Firearm death rates were compared by whether states increased, decreased, or had no change in FRLs.

RESULTS

Twenty-two states gained and 13 lost FRLs, while 15 states had no net change (44%, 26%, and 30%; p = 0.484). In multivariable regression accounting for partisan control of state government, for-firearm restrictive legislation groups outspending against-firearm restrictive legislation groups had the largest association with increased FRLs (β = 1.420; 95% confidence interval, 0.63-2.21; p < 0.001). States that gained FRLs had significantly lower firearm death rates (p < 0.001). Relative to states with no change in FRLs, states that lost FRLs had an increase in overall firearm death of 1 per 100,000 individuals. States that gained FRLs had a net decrease in median overall firearm death of 0.5 per 100,000 individuals.

CONCLUSION

Higher political spending by groups in favor of restrictive firearm legislation has a powerful association with increasing and maintaining FRLs. States that increased their FRLs, in turn, showed lower firearm death rates.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Epidemiological, level I.

Association between access to pediatric trauma care and motor vehicle crash death in children: An ecologic analysis of United States counties

BACKGROUND

Access to pediatric trauma care is highly variable across the United States. The purpose of this study was to measure the association between pediatric trauma center care and motor vehicle crash (MVC) mortality in children (<15 years) at the US county level for 5 years (2014-2018).

METHODS

The exposure was defined as the highest level of pediatric trauma care present within each county: (1) pediatric trauma center, (2) adult level 1/2, (3) adult level 3, or (4) no trauma center. Pediatric deaths due to passenger vehicle crashes on public roads were identified from the NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System. Hierarchical negative binomial modeling measured the relationship between highest level of pediatric trauma care and pediatric MVC mortality within counties. Adjusted analyses accounted for population age and sex, emergency medical service response times, helicopter ambulance availability, state traffic safety laws, and measures of rurality.

RESULTS

During the study period 3,067 children died in fatal crashes. We identified 188 pediatric trauma centers in 141 counties. Significant disparities in access to pediatric trauma care were observed. Specifically, 99% of pediatric trauma centers were situated in population-dense urban counties, while 28% of children lived in counties no trauma center. After risk adjustment, counties with pediatric trauma centers had significantly lower rates of pediatric MVC death than those with no trauma center: 0.7 versus 3.2 deaths/100,000 child-years; mortality rate ratio, 0.58; and 95% confidence interval, 0.39 to 0.86. In counties where pediatric trauma centers were absent, adult level 1/2 trauma centers were associated with comparable risk reduction.

CONCLUSION

The presence of pediatric trauma centers was associated with lower rates of MVC death in children. Adult level 1/2 trauma centers appear to offer comparable risk reduction. Where population differences in pediatric trauma mortality are observed, addressing disparities in county-level access to pediatric trauma care may serve as a viable target for system-level improvement.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Epidemiological, level III; Care management, level III.

Rising incidence of interpersonal violence in Pennsylvania during COVID-19 stay-at home order

BACKGROUND

The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and associated policies have had important downstream consequences for individuals, communities, and the healthcare system, and they appear to have been accompanied by rising interpersonal violence. The objective of this study was to evaluate the incidence of injuries owing to interpersonal violence after implementation of a statewide stay-at-home order in Pennsylvania in March 2020.

METHODS

Using the Pennsylvania Trauma Outcome Study registry, we conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients with gunshot wounds, stab wounds, and blunt assault-related injuries attributable to interpersonal violence treated at Pennsylvania trauma centers from March 16 to July 31 of 2018, 2019, and 2020.

RESULTS

There were fewer total trauma admissions in 2020 (17,489) vs 2018 (19,290) and 2019 (19,561). Gunshot wounds increased in 2020 to 737 vs 647 for 2019 and 565 for 2018 (P = .028), whereas blunt assault injuries decreased (P = .03). In all time periods, interpersonal violence primarily impacted urban counties. African American men were predominantly affected by gunshot wounds and stab wounds, whereas Caucasian men were predominantly affected by blunt assault injuries. There were more patients with substance abuse disorders and positive drug screens during coronavirus disease than in comparison periods: (stab wound population 52.3% vs 33.9% vs 45.9%, coronavirus disease era vs 2018 vs 2019, respectively P = .0001), (blunt assault injury population 41.4% vs 33.1% vs 33.5%, coronavirus disease era vs 2018 vs 2019, respectively P < .0001). There was no correlation between the incidence of interpersonal violence and coronavirus disease 2019 rates at the county level.

CONCLUSION

The implementation of a stay-at-home order was accompanied by rising incidence of gunshot and stab wound injuries in Pennsylvania. Preparedness for future resurgences of coronavirus disease 2019 and other pandemics calls for plans to address injury prevention, recidivism, and access to mental health and substance abuse prevention services.

Commentary: Reducing youth firearm violence and the associated health disparities requires enhanced surveillance and modern behavioral intervention strategies - a commentary on Bottiani et al. (2021)

Youth firearm injury is a worsening public health crisis, and the risks are not distributed evenly. Bottiani et al. skillfully explicated those health disparities, described sociological factors underlying them, and explored avenues for prevention. We supplement their analysis by detailing problems and solutions related to a critical barrier to firearm violence prevention - the nonexistence both of reliable 'gold standard' nonfatal firearm injury surveillance data, and systems for near real-time surveillance of firearm injuries at granular spatial scales that would enable to optimization of rapid response protocols and neighborhood-based prevention programs. We conclude with a discussion of modern, scalable, behavioral intervention approaches that could be leveraged to fill the largely absent evidence base resulting from the documented underfunding of youth firearm violence prevention research.

Changes in Shooting Incidence in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Between March and November 2020

This study uses police department registry data to describe trends in incidence of firearm shootings and deaths in January-November 2020, before and after the closure of nonessential businesses in March, the killing of George Floyd in May, and the partial lifting of containment policies in June.

Before the Bullets Fly: The Physician's Role in Preventing Firearm Injury

Firearm injury is a disease that is disproportionately prevalent in the United States. When a bullet hits a human being, it brings together multiple structural determinants of health into one acute, life-changing event. Firearm injury can lead to long-term mental and physical challenges for individuals, families, and communities. Despite the impact of this disease, physicians often underestimate their role in not only treating but also preventing firearm injury. Physicians can intervene through screening, counseling, community engagement, and advocacy, and can mobilize the health care systems they serve to engage with injury prevention. Physicians also play a key role in expanding the knowledge base on firearm injury through much-needed research on the epidemiology, context, and outcomes of firearm injury. When we treat firearm injury as a disease, we can develop and implement interventions from the clinic to the statehouse that can curb profound harms. This work and these opportunities belong not only to emergency physicians and trauma surgeons, but to all fields that evaluate and assess patients over the life course.

Epidemiologic Trends in Fatal and Nonfatal Firearm Injuries in the US, 2009-2017

IMPORTANCE

Firearm injury research in the US has focused on fatal injuries. The incidence and epidemiologic factors associated with nonfatal firearm injuries are less understood.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate estimates of incidence and trends over time of fatal and nonfatal firearm injuries.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

A cross-sectional, ecologic study was conducted using data throughout the US from 2009 to 2017. Data on fatal injuries from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were combined with national data on emergency department visits for nonfatal firearm injury from the Nationwide Emergency Department (ED) sample. Data analysis was conducted from August 2019 to September 2020.

EXPOSURES

Firearm injuries identified with International Classification of Diseases external cause of injury codes and categorized by intent of injury, age group, and urban-rural location.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

Incidence, case fatality rate, and trends over time of firearm injury according to intent, age group, and urban-rural location.

RESULTS

From 2009 to 2017, there was a mean of 85 694 ED visits for nonfatal firearm injury and 34 538 deaths each year. An annual mean of 26 445 deaths (76.6%) occurred outside of the hospital. Assault was the most common overall mechanism (38.9%), followed by unintentional injuries (36.9%) and intentional self-harm (19.6%). Self-harm, which accounted for 21 128 deaths (61.2%), had the highest case fatality rate (89.4%; 95% CI, 88.5%-90.4%), followed by assault (25.9%; 95% CI, 23.7%-28.6%) and legal intervention (23.4%; 95% CI, 21.6%-25.5%). Unintentional injuries were the most common nonfatal injuries (43 729 [51.0%]) and had the lowest case fatality rate (1.2%; 95% CI, 1.1%-1.3%). Self-harm deaths, 87.8% of which occurred outside the hospital, increased in all age groups in both rural and urban areas during the study period and were most common among people aged 55 years and older. The rate of fatal assault injuries was higher in urban than in rural areas (16.6 vs 9.0 per 100 000 per year) and highest among people aged 15 to 34 years (38.6 per 100 000 per year). Rates of unintentional injury were higher in rural than in urban areas (18.5 per 100 000 vs 12.4 per 100 000).

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

In this cross-sectional study, suicide appears to be the most common cause of firearm injury death in the US, and most people who die from suicide never reach the hospital. These findings suggest that assaults and unintentional injuries account for most nonfatal and overall firearm injuries and for most of the injuries that are treated in hospitals.

Beyond morbidity and mortality: The practicality of measuring patient-reported outcomes in trauma

BACKGROUND

The 2016 Zero Preventable Deaths report highlighted the need for comprehensive injury data to include long term outcomes such as societal and workforce re-entry. Currently, postinjury quality of life is poorly understood. We hypothesized that routine measurement of patient-reported outcomes is feasible as a part of post-discharge follow-up, and that trauma patients would report that their injury had a detrimental impact on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) after discharge.

METHODS

After instruction, patients self-administered the PROMIS-29 instrument in our outpatient office (11/2019-4/2020). We surveyed 7 domains: Participation in Social Roles/Activities, Anxiety, Depression, Fatigue, Pain Interference, Physical Function, and Sleep Disturbance. Results are reported as means (SD) and compared to the U.S population by t-score (mean score=50). Higher scores in negatively-worded domains (e.g. "Depression") are worse; vice versa for positively-worded domains (e.g. "Physical Function"). Repeated scores among patients returning for a second visit were analyzed using paired t-tests.

RESULTS

103 patients completed the PROMIS-29. Mean (SD) age was 42.3 (17.3) years, 75% were male, and 42% suffered a penetrating injury. Median length of stay was 3 days and median time from injury to clinic visit was 18 days. Mean scores were worse than population means in every domain. Pain Interference (mean 63.5, 95%CI [61.8-65.3]) and Physical Function (38.0 [36.2-39.8]) were particularly affected. Among patients returning for a second visit (n=10; median time between clinic visits: 17.5 days), there were no significant differences in domain scores over time.

CONCLUSION

Trauma patients are at high risk for poor quality of life outcomes in the short term following injury. Our results highlight the need for early recognition and multidisciplinary treatment following injury.

Efficient evaluation of center-level emergency surgery performance using a high-yield procedure set: A step towards an EGS registry

BACKGROUND

Emergency general surgery (EGS) lacks mechanisms to compare performance between institutions. Focusing on higher-risk procedures may efficiently identify outliers.

METHODS

EGS patients were identified from the 2016 State Inpatient Databases of Florida, New York, and Kentucky. Risk-adjusted mortality was calculated as an O:E ratio, generating expected mortality from a model including demographic and procedural factors. Outliers were centers whose 90% confidence intervals excluded 1. This was repeated in several subsets, to determine if these yielded outliers similar to the overall dataset.

RESULTS

We identified 45,430 EGS patients. Overall, 3 high performing centers and 5 low performing centers were identified. Exclusion of appendectomies and cholecystectomies resulted in a remaining data set of 13,569 patients (29.9% of the overall data set), with 2 high performers and 5 low performers. One low performer in the limited data set was not identified in the overall set.

CONCLUSION

Evaluation of 5 procedures, making up less than a third of EGS, identifies most outliers. A streamlined monitoring procedure may facilitate maintenance of an EGS registry.

Firearm Homicide Incidence, Within-state Firearm Laws, and Interstate Firearm Laws in US Counties

BACKGROUND

Firearm homicides occur less frequently in US states with more firearm control laws. However, firearms are easily transported across state lines, and laws in one location may affect firearm violence in another. This study examined associations between within-state firearm laws and firearm homicide while accounting for interference from laws in other nearby states.

METHODS

The units of analysis were 3,107 counties in the 48 contiguous US states, arrayed in 15 yearly panels for 2000 to 2014 (n = 46,605). The dependent measure was firearm homicides accessed from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Compressed Mortality Data. The main independent measures were counts of firearm laws and the proportion of laws within categories (e.g., background checks, child access prevention laws). We calculated these measures for interstate laws using a geographic gravity function between county centroids. Bayesian conditional autoregressive Poisson models related within-state firearm laws and interstate firearm laws to firearm homicides.

RESULTS

There were 172,726 firearm homicides in the included counties over the 15 years. States had between 3 and 100 firearm laws. Within-state firearm laws (incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 0.995, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.992, 0.997) and interstate firearm laws (IRR = 0.993, 95% CI = 0.990, 0.996) were independently associated with fewer firearm homicides, and associations for within-state laws were strongest where interstate laws were weakest.

CONCLUSIONS

Additional firearm laws are associated with fewer firearm homicides both within the states where the laws are enacted and elsewhere in the United States. Interference from interstate firearm laws may bias associations for studies of within-state laws and firearm homicide.

Differences Between Center-level Outcomes in Emergency and Elective General Surgery

BACKGROUND

Center-level outcome metrics have long been tracked in elective surgery (ELS). Despite recent interest in measuring emergency general surgery (EGS) quality, centers are often compared based on elective or combined outcomes. Therefore, quality of care for emergency surgery specifically is unknown.

METHODS

We extracted data on EGS and ELS patients from the 2016 State Inpatient Databases of Florida, New York, and Kentucky. Centers that performed >100 ELS and EGS operations were included. Risk-adjusted mortality, complication, and failure to rescue (FTR, death after complication) rates were calculated and observed-to-expected ratios were calculated by center for ELS and EGS patients. Centers were determined to be high or low outliers if the 90% CI for the observed: expected ratio excluded 1. We calculated the frequency with which centers demonstrated a different performance status between EGS and ELS. Kendall's tau values were calculated to assess for correlation between EGS and ELS status.

RESULTS

A total of 204 centers with 45,500 EGS cases and 49,380 ELS cases met inclusion criteria. Overall mortality, complication, and FTR rates were 1.7%, 8.0%, and 14.5% respectively. There was no significant correlation between mortality performance in EGS and ELS, with 36 centers in a different performance category (high outlier, low outlier, as expected) in EGS than in ELS. The correlation for complication rates was 0.20, with 60 centers in different categories for EGS and ELS. For FTR rates, there was no correlation, with 16 centers changing category.

CONCLUSIONS

There was minimal correlation between outcomes for ELS and EGS. High performers in one category were rarely high performers in the other. There may be important differences between the processes of care that are important for EGS and ELS outcomes that may yield meaningful opportunities for quality improvement.

Outcomes in Delayed Drainage of Hemothorax

BACKGROUND

Prompt drainage of traumatic hemothorax is recommended to prevent empyema and trapped lung. Some patients do not present the day of their trauma, leading to their delayed treatment. Delayed drainage could be challenging as clotted blood may not evacuate through a standard chest tube. We hypothesized that such delays would increase the need for surgery or secondary interventions.

METHODS

Our trauma registry was reviewed for patients with a hemothorax admitted to our level 1 trauma center from 1/1/00 to 4/30/19. Patients were included in the delayed group if they received a drainage procedure >24 hours after injury. These patients were matched 1:1 by chest abbreviated injury score to patients who received drainage <24 hours from injury.

RESULTS

A total of 19 patients with 22 hemothoraces received delayed drainage. All but 3 patients had a chest tube placed as initial treatment. Four patients received surgery, including 3 who initially had chest tubes placed. Longer time to drainage increased the odds of requiring intrathoracic thrombolytics or surgery. In comparison, 2 patients who received prompt drainage received thrombolytics (P = .11) and none required surgery (P = .02). Patients needed surgery when initial drainage was on or after post-injury day 5, but pigtail catheter drainage was effective 26 days after injury.

DISCUSSION

Longer times from injury to intervention are associated with increased likelihood of needing surgery for hemothorax evacuation, but outcomes were not uniform. A larger, multicenter study will be necessary to provide better characterization of treatment outcomes for these patients.

Making the news: Victim characteristics associated with media reporting on firearm injury

Firearm injury is a public health crisis in the United States. Selective media coverage may contribute to incomplete public understanding of firearm injury. To better understand how firearm injury is communicated to the public, we analyzed media coverage of intentional, interpersonal shootings in 3 U.S. cities. We hypothesized that multiple shootings and fatal shootings would be more likely to make the news, as would shootings affecting children, women, and white individuals. We compared police department data on shootings to media reports drawn from the Gun Violence Archive (GVA) for 2017 in Philadelphia, PA, Rochester, NY, and Cincinnati, OH. GVA reports were matched to police data by shooting date, location, victim age, and gender. Matched victims were compared to unmatched using chi2 tests for categorical variables and Kruskal Wallis tests for continuous variables. Philadelphia police reported 1216 firearm assault victims; Cincinnati police reported 407; and Rochester police reported 178. News reports covered 562 (46.2%), 222 (54.6%), and 116 (65.2%) victims, respectively. Fatal shootings were more often reported as were shootings involving multiple victims or women. Half of shooting victims did not make the news. Selective reporting likely limits awareness of the public health impact of firearm injury. Researchers and policy makers should work with journalists and editors to improve the quantity and content of reporting on firearm injury.

Beyond survival: the broader consequences of prehospital transport by police for penetrating trauma

Background

Time to definitive hemorrhage control is a primary driver of survival after penetrating injury. For these injuries, mortality outcomes after prehospital transport by police and emergency medical service (EMS) providers are comparable. In this study we identify patient and geographic predictors of police transport relative to EMS transport and describe perceptions of police transport elicited from key stakeholders.

Methods

This mixed methods study was conducted in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which has the highest rate of police transport nationally. Patient data were drawn from Pennsylvania’s trauma registry and geographic data from the US Census and American Community Survey. For all 7500 adults who presented to Philadelphia trauma centers with penetrating injuries, 2006–2015, we compared how individual and geospatial characteristics predicted the odds of police versus EMS transport. Concurrently, we conducted qualitative interviews with patients, police officers and trauma clinicians to describe their perceptions of police transport in practice.

Results

Patients who were Black (OR 1.50; 1.20–1.88) and Hispanic (OR 1.38; 1.05–1.82), injured by a firearm (OR 1.58; 1.19–2.10) and at night (OR 1.48; 1.30–1.69) and who presented with decreased levels of consciousness (OR 1.18; 1.02–1.37) had higher odds of police transport. Neighborhood characteristics predicting police transport included: percent of Black population (OR 1.18; 1.05–1.32), vacant housing (OR 1.40; 1.20–1.64) and fire stations (OR 1.32; 1.20–1.44). All stakeholders perceived speed as police transport’s primary advantage. For patients, disadvantages included pain and insecurity while in transport. Police identified occupational health risks. Clinicians identified occupational safety risks and the potential for police transport to complicate the workflow.

Conclusions

Police transport may improve prompt access to trauma care but should be implemented with consideration of the equity of access and broad stakeholder perspectives in efforts to improve outcomes, safety, and efficiency.

Level of evidence

Epidemiological study, level III.

A Contemporary Analysis of Delayed Diagnoses After Traumatic Injury : The Role of Operative Therapy

BACKGROUND

Factors associated with delayed injury diagnosis (DID) have been examined, but incompletely researched.

METHODS

We evaluated demographics, mechanism, and measures of mental status and injury severity among 10 years' worth of adult trauma patients at our center for association with DID in a multivariable regression model. Descriptions of DID injuries were reviewed to highlight characteristics of these injuries.

RESULTS

We included 13 509 patients, 89 (0.7%) of whom had a recognized DID. In regression analysis, ISS (OR 1.04 per point, 95% CI 1.02-1.06) and number of injuries (OR 1.08 per injury, 95% CI 1.04-1.11) were associated with DID. Operative patients had twice the odds of DID (OR 2.02, 95% CI 1.18-3.44). The most common category of DID was orthopedic extremity injury (22/89).

CONCLUSION

DID is associated with injury severity and operative intervention. This suggests that the presence of an injury requiring operation may distract the trauma team from additional injuries.

The Impact of Socially Stigmatized Preexisting Conditions on Outcomes After Injury

BACKGROUND

Socially stigmatized preexisting conditions (SSPECs), including alcohol use disorder (AUD), drug use disorder (DUD), and major psychiatric illness, may lead to provider minimization of patient symptoms and have been associated with negative outcomes. However, the impact of SSPECs on failure to rescue (FTR) has not been evaluated. We hypothesized that SSPEC patients would have increased probability of complications, mortality, and FTR.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We performed a retrospective analysis of the 2015 National Trauma Data Bank, including patients aged ≥18 y and excluding burn victims, patients with Injury Severity Score <9, and non-SSPEC patients with drug or alcohol withdrawal. We defined SSPECs using the National Trauma Data Bank's comorbidity recording codes for AUD, DUD, and major psychiatric illnesses. We built multivariable logistic regression models to determine the relationships between SSPECs and complications, mortality, and FTR.

RESULTS

We included 365,801 patients (62% male, 76% White, median age 56 y [interquartile range 35-74], median Injury Severity Score 10 [interquartile range 9-17]). After adjusting for patient and injury characteristics, SSPEC patients were more likely to have complications (odds ratio [OR] 1.75, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.70-1.79), less likely to die (OR 0.43, CI 0.38-0.48), and less likely to have FTR (OR 0.34, CI 0.26-0.43). SSPEC patients had a significantly higher complication rate (12.4% versus 7.2%; P < 0.001). After excluding drug or alcohol withdrawal, the complication rate remained significantly higher for SSPEC patients (9.3% versus 7.2%; P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Although SSPEC patients have lower odds of mortality and FTR, they are at higher probability of complications after injury. Further investigation into the causality behind the higher complications despite lower mortality and FTR is warranted.

High-Performance Trauma Centers in a Single-State Trauma System : Big Saves or Marginal Gains?

BACKGROUND

Trauma centers with low observed:expected (O:E) mortality ratios are considered high performers; however, it is unknown whether improvements in this ratio are due to a small number of unexpected survivors with high mortality risk (big saves) or a larger number of unexpected survivors with moderate mortality risk (marginal gains). We hypothesized that the highest-performing centers achieve that status via larger numbers of unexpected survivors with moderate mortality risk.

METHODS

We calculated O:E ratios for trauma centers in Pennsylvania for 2016 using a risk-adjusted mortality model. We identified high and low performers as centers whose 95% CIs did not cross 1. We visualized differences between these centers by plotting patient-level observed and expected mortality; we then examined differences in a subset of patients with a predicted mortality of ≥10% using the chi-squared test.

RESULTS

One high performer and 1 low performer were identified. The high performer managed a population with more blunt injuries (97.2% vs 93.6%, P < .001) and a higher median Injury Severity Score (14 vs 11, P < .001). There was no difference in survival between these centers in patients with an expected mortality of <10% (98.0% vs 96.7%, P = .11) or ≥70% (23.5% vs 10.8%, P = .22), but there was a difference in the subset with an expected mortality of ≥10% (77.5% vs 43.1%, P < .001).

CONCLUSIONS

Though patients with very low predicted mortality do equally well in high-performing and low-performing centers, the fact that performance seems determined by outcomes of patients with moderate predicted mortality favors a "marginal gains" theory.

Multiple Complications in Emergency Surgery : Identifying Risk Factors for Failure-to-Rescue

BACKGROUND

While the use of the failure-to-rescue (FTR) metric, or death after complication, has expanded beyond elective surgery to emergency general surgery (EGS), little is known about the trajectories patients take from index complication to death.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective cohort study of EGS operations using the National Surgical Quality Improvement Project (NSQIP) dataset, 2011-2017. 16 major complications were categorized as infectious, respiratory, thrombotic, cardiac, renal, neurologic, or technical. We tabulated common combinations of complications. We then use logistic regression analyses to test the hypotheses that (1) increase in the number and frequency of complications would yield higher FTR rates and (2) secondary complications that span a greater number of organ systems or mechanisms carry a greater associated FTR risk.

RESULTS

Of 329 183 EGS patients, 69 832 (21.2%) experienced at least 1 complication. Of the 11 195 patients who died following complication (16.0%), 8205 (63.4%) suffered more than 1 complication. Multivariable regression analyses revealed an association between the number of complications and mortality risk (odds ratio [OR] 2.37 for 2 complications vs 1, P < .001). There was a similar increase in mortality with increased complication accrual rate (OR 3.29 for 0.2-0.4 complications/day vs <0.2, P < .001). Increasing the number of types of complication were similarly associated with mortality risk.

DISCUSSION

While past FTR analyses have focused primarily on index complication, a broader consideration of ensuing trajectory may enable identification of high-risk cohorts. Efforts to reduce mortality in EGS should focus on attention to those who suffer a complication to prevent a cascade of downstream complications culminating in death.

Questioning dogma: does a GCS of 8 require intubation?

Background

There is no evidence supporting intubation for a Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) of 8. We investigated the effect of intubation in trauma patients with a GCS 6–8, with the hypothesis that intubation would increase mortality and length of stay.

Methods

We studied adult patients with GCS 6–8 from the 2016 National Trauma Data Bank. Intubated and non-intubated patients were compared using inverse probability weighted regression adjustment (IPWRA) to control for injury severity and patient characteristics. Outcomes were mortality, intensive care unit length of stay (ICU LOS), and total LOS. Stratified analysis was performed to investigate the effect in patients with and without head injuries.

Results

Among 6676 patients with a GCS between 6 and 84,078 were intubated within 1 h of arrival to the emergency department. The overall mortality rate was 15.1%. IPWRA revealed an increase in mortality associated with intubation (OR 1.05, 95% CI 1.03, 1.06). The results were similar in patients with head injuries (OR 1.04, 95% CI 1.02, 1.06) and without (OR 1.06, 95% CI 1.03, 1.10). Among the 5,742 patients admitted to the ICU, intubation was associated with a 14% increase in ICU LOS (95% CI 8–20%; 5.5 vs. 4.8 days; p < 0.001). The overall length of stay was 27% longer (95% CI 19.8–34.3%) among intubated patients (mean 7.7 vs 6.0 days; p < 0.001).

Conclusion

Among patients with GCS of 6 to 8, intubation on arrival was associated with an increase in mortality and with longer ICU and overall length of stay. The use of a strict threshold GCS to mandate intubation should be revisited.