Emergency air medical services for patients with head injury

Data quality of Glasgow Coma Scale and Systolic Blood Pressure in scientific studies involving physician-staffed emergency medical services: Systematic review

BACKGROUND

Emergency physicians on-scene provide highly specialized care to severely sick or injured patients. High-quality research relies on the quality of data, but no commonly accepted definition of EMS data quality exits. Glasgow Coma Score (GCS) and Systolic Blood Pressure (SBP) are core physiological variables, but little is known about the quality of these data when reported in p-EMS research. This systematic review aims to describe the quality of pre-hospital reporting of GCS and SBP data in studies where emergency physicians are present on-scene.

METHODS

A systematic literature search was performed using CINAHL, Cochrane, Embase, Medline, Norart, Scopus, SweMed + and Web of Science, in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines. Reported data on accuracy of reporting, completeness and capture were extracted to describe the quality of documentation of GCS and SBP. External and internal validity assessment was performed by extracting a set of predefined variables.

RESULTS

We included 137 articles describing data collection for GCS, SBP or both. Most studies (81%) were conducted in Europe and 59% of studies reported trauma cases. Reporting of GCS and SBP data were not uniform and may be improved to enable comparisons. Of the predefined external and internal validity data items, 26%-45% of data were possible to extract from the included papers.

CONCLUSIONS

Reporting of GCS and SBP is variable in scientific papers. We recommend standardized reporting to enable comparisons of p-EMS.

Impact of a routine neurosurgical dispatch on emergency air medical transport and outcome of patients with intracranial hemorrhage

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE

Emergency air medical transport (EAMT) of patients in remote areas with neurological emergencies to higher-level facilities is an integral part of the regionalized healthcare system. EAMT is safe and feasible for head injuries. Debates persist on the high cost, safety, and risk of EAMT, thereby calling for alternatives.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective cohort study by including all patients with intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) who visited the Kinmen Hospital from January 2006 to December 2016. Routine neurosurgical dispatch (RNSD) implemented since 2009, dispatches neurosurgeons to Kinmen. EAMT and 90-day mortality were assessed.

RESULTS

We enrolled 560 patients: 173 pre-stage and 387 post-stage. RNSD resulted in less EAMT deployment ([adjusted odds ratio AOR] = 0·23, p < 0·001) and lower 90-day mortality ([adjusted hazard ratio AHR] 0·66, p = 0·043). RNSD resulted in decreased EAMT among all subgroups, especially in age ≥81 years (AOR 0.03, p < 0.001), age 41-60 years (AOR 0.10, p < 0.001), traumatic intracranial hemorrhage (TICH) (AOR 0·11, p < 0·001), and Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) 9-12 (AOR 0.14, p 0.001). The risk of 90-day mortality was higher in male (AHR 1.81, p = 0·006), GCS 3-8 (AHR 35.52, p < 0·001) and GCS 9-12 (AHR 7.46, p < 0·01) and lower in age 21-40 years (AHR 0.46, p = 0.034).

CONCLUSION

Incorporating RNSD with EAMT is a plausible alternative to EAMT with a significant decrease in EAMT and decreased 90-day mortality in patients with ICH compared with non-neurosurgical care with EAMT. Despite a 34% decrease in 90-day mortality after RNSD, patient characteristics such as disease severity, age, and sex still dictated patient outcomes.

Clinical predictors of outcomes in patients undergoing emergency air medical transport from Kinmen to Taiwan

Emergency air medical transport (EAMT) is indispensable for acutely or critically ill patients in remote areas. We determined patient-level and transport-specific factors associated with all-cause mortality after EAMT.We conducted a population-based, retrospective cohort study using a prospective registry consisting of clinical/medical records. Study inclusion criteria consisted of all adults undergoing EAMT from Kinmen hospital to the ED of Taipei Veterans General Hospital (TVGH) between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2012. The primary outcome assessments were 7-day and 30-day mortality.A total of 370 patients transported to TVGH were enrolled in the study with a mean age of 54.5 ± 21.5 (SD) years and with a male predominance (71.6%). The average in-transit time was 1.4 ± 0.4 hours. The 7-day, 30-day, and in-hospital mortality rates were 10.3%, 14.1%, and 14.9%. Among them 33.5% (124/370) were categorized under neurological etiologies, whereas 24.9% (90/370) cardiovascular, followed by 16.2% (60/370) trauma patients. Independent predictors associated with 7-day all-cause mortality were age (odds ratio [OR] 1.043, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.016-1.070), Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) (OR 0.730, 95% CI 0.650-0.821), and hematocrit level (OR 0.930, 95% CI 0.878-0.985). Independent predictors associated with 30-day all-cause mortality were age (OR 1.028, 95% CI 1.007-1.049), GCS (OR 0.686, 95% CI 0.600-0.785), hematocrit (OR 0.940, 95% CI 0.895-0.988), hemodynamic instability (OR 5.088 95% CI 1.769-14.635), and endotracheal intubation (OR 0.131 95% CI 0.030-0.569). The 7-day and 30-day mortality were not significantly related to transport-specific factors, such as length of flight, type of paramedic crew on board, or day and season of transport. Clinical patient-level factors, as opposed to transport-level factors, were associated with 7- and 30-day all-cause mortality in patients undergoing interfacility EAMT from Kinmen to Taiwan.

Clinical research of mortality in emergency air medical transport

INTRODUCTION

EAMT in Taiwan has experienced increasing demand in the past few years. The objective is to analyze the trend of EAMT in the past six years and mortality rate within three days of patients undergoing interfacility transport in Taiwan.

MATERIAL AND METHOD

We conducted a retrospective review of patients who were airlifted from remote islands to main island between 2006 and 2011. Main outcome measures are EAMT number (EAMT-N), EAMT per thousand population (EAMT frequency, EAMT-F), number of mortality (Mor-N), and mortality rate within three days after EAMT (Mor-R).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Overall mortality rate is 7.54% in 1684 airlifted patients. Acute myocardial infarction (AMI, 26.3%) and traumatic brain injury (TBI, 25.8%) comprise the majority in diagnosis (52.1%). However, Mor-R in these two categories is significantly low in AMI (3.5%) and TBI (5.1%).

CONCLUSION

The present study demonstrates that physician density is not related to EAMT-N but to physician number. As general population ages (10%), the average age of patient who underwent EAMT doubled (21%). This study also leaves room for discussion regarding futile medical care. The results can be used as a reference for increasing utilization of EAMT in current National Health Care Scheme.

Translational research of telecare for the treatment of hepatitis C

Objective. Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a serious health problem in Taiwan. The high dropout rate due to side effects limits the efficacy of treatment. The objective of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of telecare for the treatment of chronic hepatitis. Material and Methods. Two hundred and ninety-eight patients randomly chose either of the two support programs. Group 1 was offered public health nurse consultation at outpatient clinic. Group 2 was offered telecare program with 24 hours of consultation services via a health communication center. All patients were treated with standard therapy and followed up for 72 weeks. Results. Normalization of serum biochemistry was noted in both Group 1 (150 patients) and Group 2 (148 patients). The most common types of side effect in both groups were influenza-like symptoms. Patient compliance was 88% (Group 1) and 94.6% (Group 2). Total dropout cases were 18 (12%) in Group 1 and 8 (5.4%) in Group 2. The program costs were 232,632 USD (Group 1) and 112,500 USD (Group 2). Conclusion. Telecare system with health care communication center model is significant in reducing dropout rate and is more effective with easy access.