Revisiting the validity of APACHE II in the trauma ICU: improved risk stratification in critically injured adults

Effect of Dexmedetomidine on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Patients Undergoing Emergency Trauma Surgery: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Importance

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is common in people who have experienced trauma, especially those hospitalized for surgery. Dexmedetomidine may reduce or reverse the early consolidation and formation of conditioned fear memory and prevent the occurrence of postoperative PTSD.

Objective

To evaluate the effects of intraoperative and postoperative low-dose intravenous pumping dexmedetomidine on PTSD among patients with trauma undergoing emergency surgery.

Design, Setting, and Participants

This double-blind, randomized clinical trial was conducted from January 22 to October 20, 2022, with follow-up 1 month postoperatively, in patients with trauma undergoing emergency surgery at 4 hospital centers in Jiangsu Province, China. A total of 477 participants were screened. The observers were blinded to patient groupings, particularly for subjective measurements.

Interventions

Dexmedetomidine or placebo (normal saline) was administered at a maintenance dose of 0.1 μg/kg hourly from the start of anesthesia until the end of surgery and at the same rate after surgery from 9 pm to 7 am on days 1 to 3.

Main Outcomes and Measures

The primary outcome was the difference in the incidence of PTSD 1 month after surgery in the 2 groups. This outcome was assessed with the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fifth Edition) (CAPS-5). The secondary outcomes were the pain score within 48 hours and 1 month postoperatively; incidence of postoperative delirium, nausea, and pruritus; subjective sleep quality; anxiety; and occurrence of adverse events.

Results

A total of 310 patients (154 in the normal saline group and 156 in the dexmedetomidine group) were included in the modified intention-to-treat analysis (mean [SD] age, 40.2 [10.3] years; 179 men [57.7%]). The incidence of PTSD was significantly lower in the dexmedetomidine group than in the control group 1 month postoperatively (14.1% vs 24.0%; P = .03). The participants in the dexmedetomidine group had a significantly lower CAPS-5 score than those in the control group (17.3 [5.3] vs 18.9 [6.6]; mean difference, 1.65; 95% CI, 0.31-2.99; P = .02). After adjusting for potential confounders, the patients in the dexmedetomidine group were less likely to develop PTSD than those in the control group 1 month postoperatively (adjusted odds ratio, 0.51; 95% CI, 0.27-0.94; P = .03).

Conclusions and Relevance

In this randomized clinical trial, the administration of intraoperative and postoperative dexmedetomidine reduced the incidence of PTSD among patients with trauma. The findings of this trial support the use of dexmedetomidine in emergency trauma surgery.

Trial Registration

Chinese Clinical Trial Register Identifier: ChiCTR2200056162.

Applicability of Anatomic and Physiologic Scoring Systems for the Prediction of Outcome in Polytraumatized Patients with Blunt Aortic Injuries

Background: Most patients with blunt aortic injuries, who arrive alive in a clinic, suffer from traumatic pseudoaneurysms. Due to modern treatments, the perioperative mortality has significantly decreased. Therefore, it is unclear how exact the prediction of commonly used scoring systems of the outcome is. Methods: We analyzed data on 65 polytraumatized patients with blunt aortic injuries. The following scores were calculated: injury severity score (ISS), new injury severity score (NISS), trauma and injury severity score (TRISS), revised trauma score coded (RTSc) and acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II (APACHE II). Subsequently, their predictive value was evaluated using Spearman´s and Kendall´s correlation analysis, logistic regression and receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves. Results: A proportion of 83% of the patients suffered from a thoracic aortic rupture or rupture with concomitant aortic wall dissection (54/65). The overall mortality was 24.6% (16/65). The sensitivity and specificity were calculated as the area under the receiver operating curves (AUC): NISS 0.812, ISS 0.791, APACHE II 0.884, RTSc 0.679 and TRISS 0.761. Logistic regression showed a slightly higher specificity to anatomical scoring systems (ISS 0.959, NISS 0.980, TRISS 0.957, APACHE II 0.938). The sensitivity was highest in the APACHE II with 0.545. Sensitivity and specificity for the RTSc were not significant. Conclusion: The predictive abilities of all scoring systems were very limited. All scoring systems, except the RTSc, had a high specificity but a low sensitivity. In our study population, the RTSc was not applicable. The APACHE II was the most sensitive score for mortality. Anatomical scoring systems showed a positive correlation with the amount of transfused blood products.

Age, Frailty, Resuscitation and Intensive Care: With Reference to COVID-19

Discussion regarding cardiopulmonary resuscitation and admission to an intensive care unit is frequently fraught in the context of older age. It is complicated by the fact that the presence of multiple comorbidities and frailty adversely impact on prognosis. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation and mechanical ventilation are not appropriate for all. Who decides and how? This paper discusses the issues, biases, and potential harms involved in decision-making. The basis of decision making requires fairness in the distribution of resources/healthcare (distributive justice), yet much of the printed guidance has taken a utilitarian approach (getting the most from the resource provided). The challenge is to provide a balance between justice for the individual and population justice.

Neutrophil-derived long noncoding RNA IL-7R predicts development of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome in patients with trauma

PURPOSE

Overactive neutrophils are thought to be key drivers in the development of post-traumatic multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS). Little is known about the role of inflammation-related lnc-IL7R in trauma. Thus, we aimed to explore the association between neutrophil-derived lnc-IL7R and post-traumatic MODS.

METHODS

Total RNA was extracted from the isolated circulating neutrophils in 60 patients with trauma and 33 healthy volunteers for lnc-IL7R expression determination by real-time PCR. The correlation of lnc-IL7R expression with disease severity and the development of post-traumatic MODS was analyzed.

RESULTS

The lnc-IL7R levels were significantly lower in trauma patients, especially in those with severe trauma [Injury Severity Score (ISS) ≥ 16], and correlated negatively with the ISS, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score, and length of ICU stay. The lnc-IL7R levels were also significantly decreased in patients who developed MODS than in those who did not. Lnc-IL7R was an independent predictor of MODS [odds ratio (OR) 0.654, (0.435-0.982), p = 0.041]. The area under the curve for predicting post-traumatic MODS was 0.799 (sensitivity 76.9%, specificity 71.4%), with a cutoff value of 0.024.

CONCLUSIONS

Neutrophil-derived lnc-IL7R is an independent predictor of post-traumatic MODS; therefore, it could be a useful predictive marker for MODS.

Administrative and Claims Data Help Predict Patient Mortality in Intensive Care Units by Logistic Regression: A Nationwide Database Study

Background

Increasing attention has been paid to the predictive power of different prognostic scoring systems for decades. In this study, we compared the abilities of three commonly used scoring systems to predict short-term and long-term mortalities, with the intention of building a better prediction model for critically ill patients. We used the data from the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) in Taiwan, which included information on patient age, comorbidities, and presence of organ failure to build a new prediction model for short-term and long-term mortalities.

Methods

We retrospectively collected the medical records of patients in the intensive care unit of a regional hospital in 2012 and linked them to the claims data from the NHIRD. The Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score, Elixhauser Comorbidity Index (ECI), and Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) were compared for their predictive abilities. Multiple logistic regression tests were performed, and the results were presented as receiver operating characteristic curves and C-statistic.

Results

The APACHE II score has the best predictive power for inhospital mortality (0.79; C − statistic = 0.77 − 0.83) and 1-year mortality (0.77; C − statistic = 0.74 − 0.79). The ECI and CCI alone have poorer predictive power and need to be combined with other variables to be comparable to the APACHE II score, as predictive tools. Using CCI together with age, sex, and whether or not the patient required mechanical ventilation is estimated to have a C-statistic of 0.773 (95% CI 0.744-0.803) for inhospital mortality, 0.782 (95% CI 0.76-0.81) for 30-day mortality, and 0.78 (95% CI 0.75-0.80) for 1-year mortality.

Conclusions

We present a new prognostic model that combines CCI with age, sex, and mechanical ventilation status and can predict mortality, comparable to the APACHE II score.

Optimizing energy expenditure and oxygenation toward ventilator tolerance is associated with lower ventilator and intensive care unit days

BACKGROUND

We hypothesize that if both energy expenditure and oxygenation are optimized (EEOO) toward ventilator tolerance, this would provide patients with the best condition to be liberated from the ventilator. We defined ventilator tolerance as having a respiratory quotient value between 0.7 and 1.0 while maintaining saturations above 98% with FIO2 70% or less and a normal respiratory rate without causing disturbances to the patient's pH.

METHODS

This is a single-institution prospective cohort study of ventilator dependent patients within a closed trauma intensive care unit (ICU). The study period was over 52 months. A total of 1,090 patients were part of the primary analysis. The test group (EEOO) was compared to a historical cohort, comparing 26 months in each study group. The primary outcome of this study was number of ventilator days. Secondary outcomes included in-hospital mortality, ICU length of stay (LOS), overall hospital length of stay, tracheostomy rates, reintubation rates, and in-hospital complication rates, such as pneumonia and Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) ARDS. Both descriptive and multivariable regression analyses were performed to compare the effects of the EEOO protocol with our standard protocols alone.

RESULTS

The primary outcome of number of ventilator days was significantly shorter the EEOO cohort by nearly 3 days. This was significant even after adjustment for age, sex, race, comorbidities, nutrition type, and injury severity, (4.3 days vs. 7.2 days, p = 0.0001). The EEOO cohort also had significantly lower ICU days, hospital days, and overall complications rates.

CONCLUSION

Optimizing the patient's nutritional regimen to ventilator tolerance and optimizing oxygenation by means of targeted pulmonary mechanics and inspired FIO2 may be associated with lower ventilator and ICU days, as well as overall complication rates.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Therapeutic, Level IV.

No effect of hyperoxia on outcome following major trauma

Purpose

Oxygen supplementation has previously been considered beneficial when managing critically ill patients in order to avoid hypoxia. However, in recent years, studies have shown that hyperoxia may be harmful in critical care patients. The aim of the study was to investigate whether hyperoxia within the first 24 hours of admission following major trauma is associated with 30-day in-hospital mortality.

Patients and methods

We conducted a retrospective database study of trauma patients admitted to the general intensive care unit at University Hospital Southampton from October 2008 to October 2014. Hyperoxia was defined as one arterial blood gas with a pO₂ ≥40.0 kPa during the first 24 hours of admission. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to compare 30-day in-hospital mortality between the two groups. HRs for death were calculated with 95% CIs and presented as both unadjusted and adjusted for age, sex, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score and number of arterial blood gases.

Results

In total, 1,462 patients had trauma as the cause for admission. Of these, 343 patients met the study inclusion criteria, of which 265 were defined as normoxic and the remaining 78 patients as hyperoxic. The cumulative in-hospital risk of death within 30 days was 7.8% (95% CI: 4.9%–12.5%) for the normoxia group and 9.7% (95% CI: 4.4 %–20.4%) for the hyperoxia group. The crude HR for 30-day in-hospital mortality was 1.15 (95% CI: 0.45–2.90) for hyperoxia compared to normoxia. Adjusting for APACHE II, age, sex and number of arterial blood gases yielded an adjusted HR of 30-day in-hospital mortality of 0.65 (95% CI: 0.24–1.73) for the hyperoxia group compared to the normoxia group.

Conclusion

In our convenience sample of 343 patients, hyperoxia within the first 24 hours following admission to intensive care with major trauma had no impact on 30-day in-hospital mortality.

The Effectiveness of Scoring Systems in the Prediction of Diagnosis-Based Mortality

Scoring systems are used for mortality and morbidity rating in intensive care conditions, prognosis prediction, standardization of scientific data and the monitoring of clinical quality. The aim of this study was to retrospectively analyze the efficacy of APACHE II (Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation), APACHE IV and SAPS (Simplified Acute Physiology Score) III prognostic scorings in the prediction of mortality and disease severity of patients admitted to the Anesthesia and Reanimation Clinic Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in Bakırköy Dr. Sadi Konuk Training and Research Hospital according to general and specific diagnoses. A total of 1896 patient files were included in the study. With the exception of single system or head trauma patient groups, a statistically significant difference was found in the mortality prediction rates in all other diagnosis groups (P < 0.05). The discrimination calculated with AUROC fields was sufficient in all groups, and calibration was evaluated as good except for the neurological and neurosurgical patient group. In respect of standard mortality prediction, APACHE II and IV were good in cases of sepsis, and SAPS III made almost exact predictions for cardiovascular diseases, APACHE II for neurological diseases, and APACHE IV for gastrointestinal system diseases. From the results of this study, it was seen that different scoring systems vary in predictions according to the diagnoses, therefore, it can be recommended that the diagnosis should be taken into account more when applying scoring systems.

Multi-institutional analysis of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in patients with severe hemorrhage: A new mortality predictor value

BACKGROUND

The neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has been associated as a predictor for increased mortality in critically ill patients. We sought to determine the relationship between NLR and outcomes in adult trauma patients with severe hemorrhage requiring the initiation of massive transfusion protocol (MTP). We hypothesized that the NLR would be a prognostic indicator of mortality in this population.

METHODS

This was a multi-institutional retrospective cohort study of adult trauma patients (≥18 years) with severe hemorrhage who received MTP between November 2014 and November 2015. Differentiated blood cell counts obtained at days 3 and 10 were used to obtain NLR. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis assessed the predictive capacity of NLR on mortality. To identify the effect of NLR on survival, Kaplan-Meier (KM) survival analysis and Cox regression models were used.

RESULTS

A total of 285 patients with severe hemorrhage managed with MTP were analyzed from six participating institutions. Most (80%) were men, 57.2% suffered blunt trauma. Median (IQR) age, Injury Severity Score, and Glasgow Coma Scale were 35 (25-47), 25 (16-36), and 9 (3-15), respectively. Using ROC curve analysis, optimal NLR cutoff values of 8.81 at day 3 and 13.68 at day 10 were calculated by maximizing the Youden index. KM curves at day 3 (p = 0.05) and day 10 (p = 0.02) revealed an NLR greater than or equal to these cutoff values as a marker for increased in-hospital mortality. Cox regression models failed to demonstrate an NLR over 8.81 as predictive of in-hospital mortality at day 3 (p = 0.056) but was predictive for mortality if NLR was greater than 13.68 at day 10 (p = 0.036).

CONCLUSIONS

NLR is strongly associated with early mortality in patients with severe hemorrhage managed with MTP. Further research is needed to focus on factors that can ameliorate NLR in this patient population.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Prognostic study, level III.

Multiclassifier Systems for Predicting Neurological Outcome of Patients with Severe Trauma and Polytrauma in Intensive Care Units

This paper presents an ensemble based classification proposal for predicting neurological outcome of severely traumatized patients. The study comprises both the whole group of patients and a subgroup containing those patients suffering traumatic brain injury (TBI). Data was gathered from patients hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the University Hospital in Salamanca. Predictive models were induced from both epidemiologic and clinical variables taken at the emergency room and along the stay in the ICU. The large number of variables leads to a low accuracy in the classifiers even when feature selection methods are used. In addition, the presence of a much larger number of instances of one of the classes in the subgroup of TBI patients produces a significantly lesser precision for the minority class. Usual ways of dealing with the last problem is to use undersampling and oversampling strategies, which can lead to the loss of valuable data and overfitting problems respectively. Our proposal for dealing with these problems is based in the use of ensemble multiclassifiers as well as in the use of an ensemble playing the role of base classifier in multiclassifiers. The proposed strategy gave the best values of the selected quality measures (accuracy, precision, sensitivity, specificity, F-measure and area under the Receiver Operator Characteristic curve) as well as the closest values of precision for the two classes under study in the case of the classification from imbalanced data.

Enhancing the Communication of Suddenly Speechless Critical Care Patients

BACKGROUND

Sudden speechlessness is common in critically ill patients who are intubated or have had surgery for head and neck cancer. Sudden inability to speak poses challenges for hospitalized patients because strategies to facilitate communication are often limited and unreliable.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the impact of a technology-based communication intervention on patients' perception of communication difficulty, satisfaction with communication methods, and frustration with communication.

METHODS

A quasi-experimental, 4-cohort (control and intervention) repeated-measures design was used. Data were collected daily for up to 10 days. Patients in adult critical care units were followed up as they were transferred to other units within the institutions selected for the study. The impact of a technology-based communication system (intervention) was compared with usual care (control). Patients' communication outcomes pertinent to communication with nursing staff that were evaluated included perception of communication ease, satisfaction with methods used for communication, and frustration with communication.

RESULTS

Compared with participants in the control group, participants in the intervention group reported lower mean frustration levels (-2.68; SE, 0.17; 95% CI, -3.02 to -2.34; P < .001) and higher mean satisfaction levels (0.59; SE, 0.16; 95% CI, 0.27 to 0.91; P < .001) with use of the communication intervention. Participants in the intervention group reported a consistent increase in perception of communication ease during the hospital stay.

CONCLUSIONS

The results facilitated evaluation of a bedside technology-based communication intervention tailored to the needs of suddenly speechless critically ill patients.

Randomized Controlled Study on Safety and Feasibility of Transfusion Trigger Score of Emergency Operations

Background:

Due to the floating of the guideline, there is no evidence-based evaluation index on when to start the blood transfusion for patients with hemoglobin (Hb) level between 7 and 10 g/dl. As a result, the trigger point of blood transfusion may be different in the emergency use of the existing transfusion guidelines. The present study was designed to evaluate whether the scheme can be safely and effectively used for emergency patients, so as to be supported by multicenter and large sample data in the future.

Methods:

From June 2013 to June 2014, patients were randomly divided into the experimental group (Peri-operative Transfusion Trigger Score of Emergency [POTTS-E] group) and the control group (control group). The between-group differences in the patients’ demography and baseline information, mortality and blood transfusion-related complications, heart rate, resting arterial pressure, body temperature, and Hb values were compared. The consistency of red blood cell (RBC) transfusion standards of the two groups of patients with the current blood transfusion guideline, namely the compliance of the guidelines, utilization rate, and per-capita consumption of autologous RBC were analyzed.

Results:

During the study period, a total of 72 patients were recorded, and 65 of them met the inclusion criteria, which included 33 males and 32 females with a mean age of (34.8 ± 14.6) years. 50 underwent abdomen surgery, 4 underwent chest surgery, 11 underwent arms and legs surgery. There was no statistical difference between the two groups for demography and baseline information. There was also no statistical differences between the two groups in anesthesia time, intraoperative rehydration, staying time in postanesthetic care unit, emergency hospitalization, postoperative 72 h Acute Physiologic Assessment and Chronic Health Evaluation II scores, blood transfusion-related complications and mortality. Only the POTTS-E group on the 1^st postoperative day Hb was lower than group control, P < 0.05. POTTS-E group was totally (100%) conformed to the requirements of the transfusion guideline to RBC infusion, which was higher than that of the control group (81.25%), P < 0.01. There were no statistical differences in utilization rates of autologous blood of the two groups; the utilization rates of allogeneic RBC, total allogeneic RBC and total RBC were 48.48%, 51.5%, and 75.7% in POTTS-E group, which were lower than those of the control group (84.3%, 84.3%, and 96.8%) P < 0.05 or P < 0.01. Per capita consumption of intraoperative allogeneic RBC, total allogeneic RBC and total RBC were 0 (0, 3.0), 2.0 (0, 4.0), and 3.1 (0.81, 6.0) in POTTS-E groups were all lower than those of control group (4.0 [2.0, 4.0], 4.0 [2.0, 6.0] and 5.8 [2.7, 8.2]), P < 0.05 or P < 0.001.

Conclusions:

Peri-operative Transfusion Trigger Score-E evaluation scheme is used to guide the application of RBC. There are no differences in the recent prognosis of patients with the traditional transfusion guidelines. This scheme is safe; Compared with doctor experience-based subjective assessment, the scoring scheme was closer to patient physiological needs for transfusion and more reasonable; Utilization rate and the per capita consumption of RBC are obviously declined, which has clinical significance and is feasible. Based on the abovementioned three points, POTTS-E scores scheme is safe, reasonable, and practicable and has the value for carrying out multicenter and large sample clinical researches.

The geriatric cytokine response to trauma: time to consider a new threshold

BACKGROUND

Inflammatory responses to trauma, especially if exaggerated, drive mortality and morbidities including infectious complications. Geriatric patients are particularly susceptible to profound inflammation. Age-related declines in inflammatory and immune systems are known to occur. Geriatric patients display dampened inflammatory responses to non-critical disease processes. Specific inflammatory responses in critically ill geriatric trauma patients, and how the inflammatory profile associated with subsequent infections or mortality, remain unknown.

METHODS

Geriatric (≥65 y) and young (18-50 y old) critically ill blunt trauma intensive care unit (ICU) patients were enrolled prospectively. Blood was drawn within 36 h of presentation to measure circulating cytokines including interleukin (IL)-6 (pg/mL), IL-10 (pg/mL), and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α (pg/mL) levels. Age, gender, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE II) score and outcomes were reviewed.

RESULTS

Twenty-one young and 29 geriatric critically ill patients were recruited. Groups were comparable in male gender and age-adjusted APACHE II score, but geriatric patients had higher mortality (38% versus 9.5%; p=0.04). Within geriatric trauma patients, the development of a secondary infection was associated with significantly lower presenting IL-6 and IL-10 levels and no difference in TNF-α levels. Furthermore, geriatric patients who died had elevated IL-6 and IL-10 and decreased TNF-α levels compared with geriatric patients who lived. Compared with the young cohort, IL-6 and IL-10 levels were similar between geriatric patients who died and young patients who lived. However, geriatric patients who lived, compared with young patients who lived, had significantly lower IL-6 and IL-10. There was no such relation noted with TNF-α.

CONCLUSIONS

A lowered inflammatory response in geriatric patients is associated with the development of a subsequent infection. However, geriatric patients exhibiting inflammatory responses as robust as their younger counterparts have increased mortality. Redefining our understanding of an appropriate geriatric inflammatory response to trauma will help future therapy, thereby improving morbidity and mortality.

Evaluation of Probability of Survival using APACHE II & TRISS Method in Orthopaedic Polytrauma Patients in a Tertiary Care Centre

AIM

The aim of the study was to assess the ability of Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II scoring system and Trauma and Injury Severity Score (TRISS) method to evaluate chances of survival of orthopaedic polytrauma patients.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

It is a retrospective study carried out at a tertiary care teaching hospital situated in a hilly terrain. The medical records of 535 polytrauma patients admitted to ICU from January 2012 to April 2015 were examined of which only 95 were included into the study. The APACHE II scores were calculated from data at the time of admission, on day 1 after admission and on day 5. Data from casualty department was used to calculate TRISS. For each patient APACHE II and TRISS was used to calculate their probability of death. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to assess the ability of APACHE II and TRISS to predict mortality.

RESULTS

In the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, the areas under the curve for TRISS, APACHE II on admission and APACHE II on day one of admission scoring system was 0.831, 0.706, 0.885 respectively. Sensitivity and specificity for TRISS was 83.64 and 77.50 respectively while for APACHE II score on day one of admission was 90.91 and 72.50.

CONCLUSION

The results from the present study showed that APACHE II score on day one of admission was relatively a better predictor than TRISS score and a far better predictor than APACHE II on admission in evaluating probability of survival of a patient.

Using population-based critical care data to evaluate trauma outcomes

BACKGROUND

The analysis of mortality is an integral part of the evaluation of trauma care. When specific data are not available, general prediction models can be used to adjust for case mix. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of conducting a population-based analysis of trends in trauma mortality, using critical care audit data, and to investigate whether such data could provide a benchmark for the assessment of service reconfiguration.

METHODS

Retrospective cohort study of adult trauma patients, requiring admission to a critical care unit in Scotland, 2002-2011, using nationally collected data. Results are presented as standardised mortality ratios of observed mortality divided by APACHE II predicted mortality. Tests for trends in numbers and ratios over time were performed using linear regression.

FINDINGS

4503 patients were identified. There was a significant increase in the number of trauma patients admitted per year (p = 0.011). The median predicted probability of in-hospital death was 7% (interquartile range 1-13%), against an actual mortality was 11.6%. There was no significant change in the standardised mortality ratios of trauma patients (p = 0.1224).

CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrated the feasibility of utilising critical care unit audit data for analysing outcomes from trauma care. It also showed the potential of such an approach to establish a baseline against which to compare the impact of future service reconfiguration. In contrast to healthcare systems with regionalised trauma care, there appears to have been little change in the mortality of trauma patients requiring critical care unit admission in Scotland.

Comparison of APACHE II and three abbreviated APACHE II scores for predicting outcome among emergency trauma patients

OBJECTIVE

to compare the ability of the APACHE II score and three different abbreviated APACHE II scores: simplified APACHE II (s-APACHE II), Rapid Acute Physiology score (RAPS) and Rapid Emergency Medicine score to evaluate in-hospital mortality of trauma patients at the emergency department (ED).

METHODS

retrospective analysis of a prospective cohort study. All patients' victims of trauma admitted to the ED, during a 5 months period. For all entries to the ED, APACHE II score was calculated. APACHE II system was abbreviated by excluding the laboratory data to calculate s-APACHE II score for each patient. Individual data were reanalyzed to calculate RAPS and REMS. APACHE II score and its subcomponents were collected, and in-hospital mortality was assessed. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curve was used to determine the predictive value of each score.

RESULTS

163 patients were analyzed. In-hospital mortality rate was 10.4%. s-APACHE II, RAPS and REMS scores were correlated with APACHE II score (r2= 0.96, r2= 0.82, r2= 0.92; p < 0.0001). Scores had similar accuracy in predicting mortality ([AUROC 0.777 [95% CI 0.705 to 0.838] for APACHE II, AUROC 0.788 [95% CI 0.717 to 0.848] for s-APACHE II, AUROC 0.806 [95% CI 0.737 to 0.864] for RAPS, AUROC 0.761 [95% CI 0.688 to 0.824] for REMS.

CONCLUSION

abbreviated APACHE II scores have similar ability to evaluate in-hospital mortality of emergency trauma patients in comparison to APACHE II score.

Validation of the Estimation of Physiologic Ability and Surgical Stress (E-PASS) score for maintenance hemodialysis patients undergoing elective abdominal surgery

AIMS

This study assessed the validity of the Estimation of Physiologic Ability and Surgical Stress (E-PASS) score in maintenance hemodialysis patients undergoing elective abdominal surgery.

METHODS

We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 73 hemodialysis patients who underwent elective gastrointestinal surgery. The main outcomes analyzed were the E-PASS score and postoperative course, which were defined by mortality and morbidity. The discriminative capability of the E-PASS score was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis.

RESULTS

The overall mortality rate observed was 2.7% (2 patients) and the morbidity rate was 36.9%. There were no significant differences in the comprehensive risk score, preoperative score or surgical stress score for patients with or without complications (p = 0.556, 0.639 and 0.168, respectively). Subsequent ROC curve analysis demonstrated poor predictive accuracy for morbidity. When the results in our study population were compared with those in Haga's study population, our population exhibited a highly significant rightward shift (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

The E-PASS score was a poor predictor of complications because maintenance hemodialysis patients already have relatively high risk factors. This scoring system should not be applied in such a special group with high risk factors.

Sex- and diagnosis-dependent differences in mortality and admission cytokine levels among patients admitted for intensive care

OBJECTIVES

To investigate the role of sex on cytokine expression and mortality in critically ill patients.

DESIGN

A cohort of patients admitted to were enrolled and followed over a 5-year period.

SETTING

Two university-affiliated hospital surgical and trauma ICUs.

PATIENTS

Patients 18 years old and older admitted for at least 48 hours to the surgical or trauma ICU.

INTERVENTIONS

Observation only.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS

Major outcomes included admission cytokine levels, prevalence of ICU-acquired infection, and mortality during hospitalization conditioned on trauma status and sex. The final cohort included 2,291 patients (1,407 trauma and 884 nontrauma). The prevalence of ICU-acquired infection was similar for men (46.5%) and women (44.5%). All-cause in-hospital mortality was 12.7% for trauma male patient and 9.1% for trauma female patient (p = 0.065) and 22.9% for nontrauma male patients and 20.6% for nontrauma female patients (p = 0.40). Among trauma patients, logistic regression analysis identified female sex as protective for all-cause mortality (odds ratio, 0.57). Among trauma patients, men had significantly higher admission serum levels of interleukin-2, interleukin-12, interferon-γ, and tumor necrosis factor-α, and among nontrauma patients, men had higher admission levels of interleukin-8 and tumor necrosis factor-α.

CONCLUSIONS

The relationship between sex and outcomes in critically ill patients is complex and depends on underlying illness. Women appear to be better adapted to survive traumatic events, while sex may be less important in other forms of critical illness. The mechanisms accounting for this gender dimorphism may, in part, involve differential cytokine responses to injury, with men expressing a more robust proinflammatory profile.

The ability of two scoring systems to predict in-hospital mortality of patients with moderate and severe traumatic brain injuries in a Moroccan intensive care unit

Aim of Study:

We aim to assess and to compare the predicting power for in-hospital mortality (IHM) of the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation-II (APACHE-II) and the Simplified Acute Physiology Score-II (SAPS-II) for traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Patients and Methods:

This retrospective cohort study was conducted during a period of 2 years and 9 months in a Moroccan intensive care unit. Data were collected during the first 24 h of each admission. The clinical and laboratory parameters were analyzed and used as per each scoring system to calculate the scores. Univariate and multivariate analyses through regression logistic models were performed, to predict IHM after moderate and severe TBIs. Areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUROC), specificities and sensitivities were determined and also compared.

Results:

A total of 225 patients were enrolled. The observed IHM was 51.5%. The univariate analysis showed that the initial Glasgow coma scale (GCS) was lower in nonsurviving patients (mean GCS = 6) than the survivors (mean GCS = 9) with a statistically significant difference (P = 0.0024). The APACHE-II and the SAPS-II of the nonsurviving patients were higher than those of the survivors (respectively 20.4 ± 6.8 and 31.2 ± 13.6 for nonsurvivors vs. 15.7 ± 5.4 and 22.7 ± 10.3 for survivors) with a statistically significant difference (P = 0.0032 for APACHE-II and P = 0.0045 for SAPS-II). Multivariate analysis: APACHE-II was superior for predicting IHM (AUROC = 0.92).

Conclusion:

The APACHE-II is an interesting tool to predict IHM of head injury patients. This is particularly relevant in Morocco, where TBI is a greater public health problem than in many other countries.

Association between trauma patients' severity and critical care nursing workload in China

The correlation between patients' severity and nursing workload for multiple trauma patients within the first 24 h of admission was explored in this study. Multiple trauma adult patients (n = 229) admitted in the emergency rescue room of a public hospital in China over a 1 year period were enrolled in this study. The worst values of the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation-II scores and the Nursing Activity Score were collected during the first 24 h after admission. The predicted number of registered nurses was calculated for the corresponding severity groups. In the results, one-way ANOVA revealed that the Nursing Activity Score in the seven severity groups differed significantly. The total Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation-II score had a positive correlation with the Nursing Activity Score. The predicted number of registered nurses required was 0.6 for the low group, 0.7 for the moderate group, 1.0 for the severe group, and 1.1 for the extremely severe group. Patients' illness severity is an important indicator of nursing workload, especially in nurse staff allocation within the emergency department.

Diarrhoea in the ICU: respective contribution of feeding and antibiotics

Introduction

Diarrhoea is frequently reported in the ICU. Little is known about diarrhoea incidence and the role of the different risk factors alone or in combination. This prospective observational study aims at determining diarrhoea incidence and risk factors in the first 2 weeks of ICU stay, focusing on the respective contribution of feeding, antibiotics, and antifungal drugs.

Methods

Out of 422 patients consecutively admitted into a mixed medical–surgical ICU during a 2-month period, 278 patients were included according to the following criteria: ICU stay >24 hours, no admission diagnosis of gastrointestinal bleeding, and absence of enterostomy or colostomy. Diarrhoea was defined as at least three liquid stools per day. Diarrhoea episodes occurring during the first day in the ICU, related to the use of laxative drugs or Clostridium difficile infection, were not analysed. Multivariate and stratified analyses were performed to determine diarrhoea risk factors, and the impact of the combination of enteral nutrition (EN) with antibiotics or antifungal drugs.

Results

A total of 1,595 patient-days were analysed. Diarrhoea was observed in 38 patients (14%) and on 83 patient-days (incidence rate: 5.2 per 100 patient-days). The median day of diarrhoea onset was the sixth day, and 89% of patients had ≤4 diarrhoea days. The incidence of C. difficile infection was 0.7%. Diarrhoea risk factors were EN covering >60% of energy target (relative risk = 1.75 (1.02 to 3.01)), antibiotics (relative risk = 3.64 (1.26 to 10.51)) and antifungal drugs (relative risk = 2.79 (1.16 to 6.70)). EN delivery per se was not a diarrhoea risk factor. In patients receiving >60% of energy target by EN, diarrhoea risk was increased by the presence of antibiotics (relative risk = 4.8 (2.1 to 13.7)) or antifungal drugs (relative risk = 5.0 (2.8 to 8.7)).

Conclusion

Diarrhoea incidence during the first 2 weeks in a mixed population of patients in a tertiary ICU is 14%. Diarrhoea risk factors are EN covering >60% of energy target, use of antibiotics, and use of antifungal drugs. The combination of EN covering >60% of energy target with antibiotics or antifungal drugs increases the incidence of diarrhoea.

Protective effect of periplaneta americana extract on intestinal mucosal barrier function in patients with sepsis

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the effect of the periplaneta americana extract on the intestinal mucosal barrier and prognostic implications in patients with sepsis.

METHODS

Sixty and six patients with sepsis were assigned randomly to treatment group (32 cases) and control group (32 cases). The extractfrom periplaneta americana plus conventional medication for sepsis was administered to the treatment group, while the control group only received conventional treatment. The gastrointestinal function scores and acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II (APACHE II) scores of all subjects were documented at baseline, at days 1, 3 and 7 after treatment respectively and their blood endotoxin was tested at the same time points as well. The incidence of death was recorded for both groups throughout the trial.

RESULTS

At days 3 and 7 after treatment, gastrointestinal function score, APACHE II, and endotoxin level in treatment group was better than that in control group and the difference between them was significant (both P < 0.05). Although the incidence of death in treatment group was less than that in control group, the difference between the two groups was not significant (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSION

The extract of periplaneta americana had protective effect on intestinal mucosal barrier and could improve the condition and prognosis in patients with sepsis.

Stratification of patients in long-distance, international, fixed-wing aircraft

INTRODUCTION

A growing number of individuals with significant medical histories travel for business and holidays. Precise anticipation and stratification of transport-relevant illness severity in the planning stage of an air medical evacuation is crucial for mission success and patient safety.

METHODS

We developed a staging system (ie, Stratification of Air Medical Transport by Expression of Symptoms in Patients [STEP]) and applied it to 356 patients transported by a fixed wing aircraft between January 2010 and June 2011. Patients were stratified before transport, and the transport team performed independent staging of each patient during the actual transport. Data on transport modes, transport time, age, sex, diagnosis, the need for mechanical ventilation, and transport-related complications were collected. Data were analyzed for significant differences in STEP categories between operations staging and staging by the flight crew and for the correlation between operations STEP staging and actual transport acuity.

RESULTS

Complete datasets were available in 353 of 356 patients. Differences between staging by operations and flight crew were documented in 31 cases (P = .809); in 18 of them, the flight crew considered the patient to be more severely affected than previously estimated. Decisions for specific transport mode and configuration were found to be adequate in all but 3 cases (99.15%).

CONCLUSION

STEP is a useful tool to assess patient's illness/injury severity in the planning stage of a long distance, international, air ambulance transport and assists in choosing the appropriate mode and configuration of transport.

Feasibility and early outcomes of intensivist-led critical care after major trauma in the Korean ICU

PURPOSE

Substantial evidence supports the benefits of an intensivist model of critical care delivery. However, currently, this mode of critical care delivery has not been widely adopted in Korea. We hypothesized that intensivist-led critical care is feasible and would improve ICU mortality after major trauma.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A trauma registry from May 2009 to April 2011 was reviewed retrospectively. We evaluated the relationship between modes of ICU care (open vs. intensivist) and in-hospital mortality following severe injury [Injury Severity Score (ISS)>15]. An intensivist-model was defined as ICU care delivered by a board-certified physician who had no other clinical responsibilities outside the ICU and who is primarily available to the critically ill or injured patients. ISS and Revised Trauma Score were used as measure of injury severity. The Trauma and Injury Severity Score methodology was used to calculate each individual patient's probability of survival.

RESULTS

Of the 251 patients, 57 patients were treated by an intensivist [intensivist group (IG)] while 194 patients were not [non-intensivist group (NIG)]. The ISS of IG was significantly higher than that for NIG (26.5 vs. 22.3, p=0.023). The hospital mortality rate for IG was significantly lower than that for NIG (15.8% and 27.8%, p<0.001).

CONCLUSION

The intensivist model of critical care is feasible, and there is room for improvement in the care of major trauma patients. Although trauma systems take time to mature, future studies are needed to evaluate the best model of critical care delivery for severely injured patients in Korea.

Does Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II Provide a Valid Metric to Directly Compare Disease Severity in Trauma versus Surgical Intensive Care Unit Patients?

The Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score has never been validated to risk-adjust between critically ill trauma (TICU) and general surgical (SICU) intensive care unit patients, yet it is commonly used for such a purpose. To study this, we evaluated risk of death in TICU and SICU patients with pneumonia. We hypothesized that mortality for a given APACHE II would be significantly different and that using APACHE II to directly compare TICU and SICU patients would not be appropriate. We conducted a retrospective review of patients admitted to the TICU or SICU at a tertiary medical center over an 18-month period with pneumonia. Admission APACHE II scores, in-hospital mortality, demographics, and illness characteristics were recorded. One hundred eighty patients met inclusion criteria, 116 in the TICU and 64 in the SICU. Average APACHE II scores were not significantly different in the TICU versus SICU (25 vs 24; P = 0.4607), indicating similar disease severity; overall mortality rates, however, were significantly different (24 vs 50%; P = 0.0004). Components of APACHE II, which contributed to this mortality differential, were Glasgow Coma Score, age, presence of chronic health problems, and operative intervention. APACHE II fails to provide a valid metric to directly compare the severity of disease between TICU and SICU patients with pneumonia. These groups represent distinct populations and should be separated when benchmarking outcomes or creating performance metrics in ICU patients. Improved severity scoring systems are needed to conduct clinically relevant and methodologically valid comparisons between these unique groups.

Prediction of length of ICU stay using data-mining techniques: an example of old critically Ill postoperative gastric cancer patients

OBJECTIVE

With the background of aging population in China and advances in clinical medicine, the amount of operations on old patients increases correspondingly, which imposes increasing challenges to critical care medicine and geriatrics. The study was designed to describe information on the length of ICU stay from a single institution experience of old critically ill gastric cancer patients after surgery and the framework of incorporating data-mining techniques into the prediction.

METHODS

A retrospective design was adopted to collect the consecutive data about patients aged 60 or over with a gastric cancer diagnosis after surgery in an adult intensive care unit in a medical university hospital in Shenyang, China, from January 2010 to March 2011. Characteristics of patients and the length their ICU stay were gathered for analysis by univariate and multivariate Cox regression to examine the relationship with potential candidate factors. A regression tree was constructed to predict the length of ICU stay and explore the important indicators.

RESULTS

Multivariate Cox analysis found that shock and nutrition support need were statistically significant risk factors for prolonged length of ICU stay. Altogether, seven variables entered the regression model, including age, APACHE II score, SOFA score, shock, respiratory system dysfunction, circulation system dysfunction, diabetes and nutrition support need. The regression tree indicated comorbidity of two or more kinds of shock as the most important factor for prolonged length of ICU stay in the studied sample.

CONCLUSIONS

Comorbidity of two or more kinds of shock is the most important factor of length of ICU stay in the studied sample. Since there are differences of ICU patient characteristics between wards and hospitals, consideration of the data-mining technique should be given by the intensivists as a length of ICU stay prediction tool.

A prospective investigation of long-term cognitive impairment and psychological distress in moderately versus severely injured trauma intensive care unit survivors without intracranial hemorrhage

BACKGROUND

The primary objective was to prospectively determine the 12-month prevalence of cognitive impairment and psychologic difficulties in moderately versus severely injured adult trauma intensive care unit (TICU) survivors without intracranial hemorrhage.

METHODS

We conducted a prospective cohort study in which patients were followed for 1 year after hospital discharge. A total of 173 patients from the Vanderbilt TICU who had an Injury Severity Score (ISS) of >15 (indicative of moderately severe trauma) were enrolled between July 2006 and June 2007. Patients were screened for delirium on a daily basis in the TICU by study personnel via the confusion assessment method of the ICU, and preexisting cognitive impairment was assessed through a surrogate-based evaluation using the short form of the Informant Questionnaire for Cognitive Decline in the Elderly. Of these patients, 108 were evaluated 1 year after hospital discharge with a comprehensive battery of neuropsychological tests and depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) instruments. Cognitive impairment was defined as having two neuropsychological test scores 1.5 SD below the mean or one neuropsychological test score 2 SD below the mean.

RESULTS

Fifty-nine patients (55%) demonstrated cognitive impairment at 12-month follow-up, with three of these patients (5.5%) having preexisting impairment. Clinically significant symptoms of depression and PTSD occurred in 40% and 26% of patients, respectively. No significant differences in cognitive impairment (59% vs. 50%), depressive symptoms (35% vs. 44%), and symptoms of PTSD (22% vs. 28%) were identified between moderately (ISS 15-25) and severely (ISS>25) injured TICU survivors, respectively (all p>0.05). In addition, multivariate logistic regression analysis found that moderately injured trauma patients had a similar rate of cognitive impairment when compared with those with severe injury at 12-month follow-up (p=0.25).

CONCLUSION

Long-term cognitive impairment is highly prevalent in TICU survivors without intracranial hemorrhage as are psychologic difficulties. Injury severity, concussion status, and delirium duration were not risk factors for the development of neuropsychological deficits in this cohort. Individuals with moderately severe injuries seem to be as likely as their more severely injured counterparts to experience marked cognitive impairment and psychologic difficulties; thus, screening efforts should focus on this potentially overlooked patient group.

Using the E-PASS scoring system to estimate the risk of emergency abdominal surgery in patients with acute gastrointestinal disease

PURPOSE

The Estimation of Physiologic Ability and Surgical Stress (E-PASS) scoring system, which quantifies a patient's reserve and surgical stress, is used to predict morbidity and mortality in patients before elective gastrointestinal surgery. We conducted this study to clarify whether the E-PASS scoring system is useful for assessing the risks of emergency abdominal surgery.

METHODS

The subjects of this retrospective study were 51 patients who underwent emergency gastrointestinal surgery at a public general hospital. The main outcomes were the E-PASS scores and the postoperative course, defined by mortality and morbidity.

RESULTS

Postoperative complications developed in 15 of the 51 patients (29.4%). The E-PASS score was significantly higher in the patients with postoperative complications than in those without (0.61 ± 0.31 vs 0.20 ± 0.35, respectively; n = 36). The morbidity rates were significantly lower in the patients with a value less than 0.5 than in those with a value more than 0.5 (17.1% and 56.3%, respectively; P < 0.01). There were 7 operative deaths among the 16 patients with a high score, versus none among the 9 patients with a low score (P < 0.01). Three patients underwent laparoscopic-assisted bowel resection with a good postoperative course, with scores of less than 0.5.

CONCLUSIONS

The E-PASS scoring system is useful for surgical decision making and evaluating whether patients will tolerate emergency gastrointestinal surgery. Minimally invasive therapy would assist in lowering the risk of complications.

Diagnosis-dependent relationships between cytokine levels and survival in patients admitted for surgical critical care

BACKGROUND

Death after trauma, infection, or other critical illness has been attributed to unbalanced inflammation, in which dysregulation of cytokines leads to multiple organ dysfunction and death. We hypothesized that admission cytokine profiles associated with death would differ based on admitting diagnosis.

STUDY DESIGN

This 5-year study included patients admitted for trauma or surgical intensive care for more than 48 hours at 2 academic, tertiary care hospitals between October 2001 and May 2006. Cytokine analysis for interleukin (IL)-1, -2, -4, -6, -8, -10, -12, interferon-gamma, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha was performed using ELISA on specimens drawn within 72 hours of admission. Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare median admission cytokine levels between alive and deceased patients. Relative risks and odds of death associated with admission cytokines were generated using univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression models, respectively.

RESULTS

There were 1,655 patients who had complete cytokine data: 290 infected, nontrauma; 343 noninfected, nontrauma; and 1,022 trauma. Among infected patients, nonsurvivors had higher median admission levels of IL-2, -8, -10, and granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor; noninfected, nontrauma patients had higher IL-6, -8, and IL-10; and nonsurviving trauma patients had higher IL-4, -6, -8, and TNF-alpha. IL-4 was the most significant predictor of death and carried the highest relative risk of dying in trauma patients, and IL-8 in nontrauma, noninfected patients. In infected patients, no cytokine independently predicted death.

CONCLUSIONS

Cytokine profiles of certain disease states may identify persons at risk of dying and allow for selective targeting of multiple cytokines to prevent organ dysfunction and death.