Prehospital and Intrahospital Temporal Intervals in Patients Requiring Emergent Trauma Craniotomy. A 6-Year Observational Study in a Level 1 Trauma Center

Time from injury to operative intervention in traumatic intracranial hematoma: A systematic literature review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

The outcomes in traumatic intracranial hematoma (TICH) have not improved significantly despite advances in trauma care. A modifiable factor in TICH management is time to operation room (TOR). TOR has become a key marker in Traumatic brain injury care despite a lack of contemporary evidence. This study aimed to determine the timing of TICH evacuation and its association with mortality and neurological outcomes.

METHODS

A systematic review of PubMed, OVID MEDLINE, CINAHL, and Web of Science. Included studies reported data on adult patients with acute TICH who underwent surgical evacuation. The primary outcome was TOR and its association with mortality or functional neurological recovery.

RESULTS

From 1838 articles screened, 17 were included. Eight studies reported TOR as a continuous variable, ranging between 3 and 7.1 h. Three studies found better outcomes with shorter TOR, five found no difference, and one found worse outcomes with shorter TOR. Five articles were included in meta-analysis of mortality in patients undergoing operative decompression less than or greater than 4 h from injury which found lower mortality in the >4-h group, OR = 1.53. Longitudinal regression analysis showed no difference in TOR over the 33-year span of articles included.

CONCLUSION

There is limited data available on TOR in TICH, with equivocal results on the effect of timing on outcomes. TOR has not decreased over the last 4 decades. The unvalidated 4-h cut-off seems to be associated with better survival. Contemporary assessment of this potentially important performance indicator is required.

Time to traumatic intracranial hematoma evacuation: contemporary standard and room for improvement

PURPOSE

Traumatic intracranial hematoma (TICH) is a neurosurgical emergency with high mortality and morbidity. The time to operative decompression is a modifiable but inconsistently reported risk factor for TICH patients?

OUTCOMES

We aimed to provide contemporary time to evacuation data and long-term trends in timing of TICH evacuation in a trauma system.

METHODS

A 13-year retrospective cohort study ending in 2021 at a trauma system with one level-1 trauma center included all patients undergoing urgent craniotomy or craniectomy for evacuation of TICH. Demographics, injury severity and key timeframes of care were collected. Subgroups analyzed were polytrauma versus isolated head injury, direct admissions versus transfers and those who survived versus those who died. Linear regression of times from injury to operating room was performed.

RESULTS

Seventy-eight TICH patients (Age: 35 (22-56); 58 (74%) males; ISS: 25(25-41); AIS head: 5 (4-5); mortality: 21 (27%) patients) were identified. Initial GCS was 8 (3.25-14) which decreased to 3 (3-7) by arrival in the trauma center. There were 46 (59%) patients intubated prior to arrival. Median time from injury to operation was 4.88 (3.63-6.80) hours. Linear regression of injury to OR showed increasing times to operative intervention for direct admissions to the trauma center over the study period (p=0.04). There was no associated change in mortality or Glasgow outcome score over the same time.

CONCLUSION

This contemporary data shows timing from injury to evacuation is approaching 5 hours. Over the 13-year study period the time to operative intervention significantly increased for direct admissions. This study will guide our institutions response to TICH presentations in the future. Other trauma systems should critically appraise their results with the same reporting standard.

Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury in a Geographically Dispersed Population: A Relationship Between Distance to Definitive Neurosurgical Treatment and Outcome

BACKGROUND

There are limited data on the association between transport distance and outcomes in pediatric patients with severe traumatic brain injuries (sTBIs), despite children having to travel further to pediatric trauma centers (PTCs).

OBJECTIVE

To assess whether distance from a PTC is associated with outcomes in children who undergo cranial surgery after sTBI.

METHODS

Children with sTBI who underwent craniectomy/craniotomy at our PTC between 2010 and 2019 were identified retrospectively. Of these 92 patients, 83 sustained blunt injury and underwent surgery within 24 hours. The distance from injury location to PTC was based on injury zip code and calculated as Euclidean distance. Variables associated with transport, including distance, time, and rural-urban disparity, were analyzed for correlation with poor outcome.

RESULTS

Of the 83 patients identified, 81 had injury location information. Forty patients were injured within 30 miles and 41 were injured ≥30 miles from the PTC. Injury severity and pediatric trauma scores were not significantly different between groups. Sixty-eight children (82%) had a satisfactory outcome and 10 children (12%) died. There was a nonsignificant association between distance traveled and poor outcome, even when the cohort was stratified into those with subdural hematomas and those with nonabusive injuries.

CONCLUSIONS

Regardless of the distance from the PTC at which their injury occurred, most children in this cohort made a moderate to good recovery. Children injured at greater distances from the PTC did not have worse outcomes; however, studies with larger cohorts are needed to more definitively assess prehospital pediatric transport systems in this population.

What are the demographic and clinical differences between those older adults with traumatic brain injury who receive a neurosurgical intervention to those that do not? A systematic literature review with narrative synthesis

OBJECTIVES

This review aimed to identify the demographic and clinical differences between those older adults admitted directly under neurosurgical care and those that were not, and whether EMS clinicians could use these differences to improve patient triage.

METHODS

The authors searched for papers that included older adults who had suffered a TBI and were either admitted directly under neurosurgical care or were not. Titles and abstracts were screened, shortlisting potentially eligible papers before performing a full-text review. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was used to assess the risk of bias.

RESULTS

A total of nine studies were eligible for inclusion. A high abbreviated injury score head, Marshall score or subdural hematoma greater than 10 mm were associated with neurosurgical care. There were few differences between those patients who did and did not receive neurosurgical intervention.

CONCLUSIONS

Absence of guidelines and clinician bias means that differences between those treated aggressively and conservatively observed in the literature are fraught with bias. Further work is required to understand which patients would benefit from an escalation of care and whether EMS can identify these patients so they are transported directly to a hospital with the appropriate services on-site.

Severe traumatic brain injury management in Tanzania: analysis of a prospective cohort

OBJECTIVE

Given the high burden of neurotrauma in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), in this observational study, the authors evaluated the treatment and outcomes of patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) accessing care at the national neurosurgical institute in Tanzania.

METHODS

A neurotrauma registry was established at Muhimbili Orthopaedic Institute, Dar-es-Salaam, and patients with severe TBI admitted within 24 hours of injury were included. Detailed emergency department and subsequent medical and surgical management of patients was recorded. Two-week mortality was measured and compared with estimates of predicted mortality computed with admission clinical variables using the Corticoid Randomisation After Significant Head Injury (CRASH) core model.

RESULTS

In total, 462 patients (mean age 33.9 years) with severe TBI were enrolled over 4.5 years; 89% of patients were male. The mean time to arrival to the hospital after injury was 8 hours; 48.7% of patients had advanced airway management in the emergency department, 55% underwent cranial CT scanning, and 19.9% underwent surgical intervention. Tiered medical therapies for intracranial hypertension were used in less than 50% of patients. The observed 2-week mortality was 67%, which was 24% higher than expected based on the CRASH core model.

CONCLUSIONS

The 2-week mortality from severe TBI at a tertiary referral center in Tanzania was 67%, which was significantly higher than the predicted estimates. The higher mortality was related to gaps in the continuum of care of patients with severe TBI, including cardiorespiratory monitoring, resuscitation, neuroimaging, and surgical rates, along with lower rates of utilization of available medical therapies. In ongoing work, the authors are attempting to identify reasons associated with the gaps in care to implement programmatic improvements. Capacity building by twinning provides an avenue for acquiring data to accurately estimate local needs and direct programmatic education and interventions to reduce excess in-hospital mortality from TBI.

Regional, Racial, and Mortality Disparities Associated With Neurosurgeon Staffing at Level I Trauma Centers

BACKGROUND

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) occurs in approximately 30% of trauma patients. Because neurosurgeons hold expertise in treating TBI, increased neurosurgical staffing may improve patient outcomes. We hypothesized that TBI patients treated at level I trauma centers (L1TCs) with ≥3 neurosurgeons have a decreased risk of mortality vs. those treated at L1TCs with <3 neurosurgeons.

METHODS

The Trauma Quality Improvement Program database (2010-2016) was queried for patients ≥18 years with TBI. Patient characteristics and mortality were compared between ≥3 and <3 neurosurgeon-staffed L1TCs. A multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to identify risk factors associated with mortality.

RESULTS

Traumatic brain injury occurred in 243 438 patients with 5188 (2%) presenting to L1TCs with <3 neurosurgeons and 238 250 (98%) to L1TCs with ≥3 neurosurgeons. Median injury severity score (ISS) was similar between both groups (17, P = .09). There were more Black (37% vs. 12%, P < .001) and Hispanic (18% vs. 12%, P < .001) patients in the <3 neurosurgeon group. Nearly 60% of L1TCs with <3 neurosurgeons are found in the South. Mortality was higher in the <3 vs. the ≥3 group (12% vs. 10%, P < .001). Patients treated in the <3 neurosurgeon group had a higher risk for mortality than those treated in the ≥3 neurosurgeon group (odds ratio (OR) 1.13, 95% confidence intervals (CI) 1.01-1.26, P = .028).

DISCUSSION

There exists a significant racial disparity in access to neurosurgeon staffing with additional disparities in outcomes based on staffing. Future efforts are needed to improve this chasm of care that exists for trauma patients of color.

A scoping review of worldwide studies evaluating the effects of prehospital time on trauma outcomes

BACKGROUND

Annually, over 1 billion people sustain traumatic injuries, resulting in over 900,000 deaths in Africa and 6 million deaths globally. Timely response, intervention, and transportation in the prehospital setting reduce morbidity and mortality of trauma victims. Our objective was to describe the existing literature evaluating trauma morbidity and mortality outcomes as a function of prehospital care time to identify gaps in literature and inform future investigation.

MAIN BODY

We performed a scoping review of published literature in MEDLINE. Results were limited to English language publications from 2009 to 2020. Included articles reported trauma outcomes and prehospital time. We excluded case reports, reviews, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, comments, editorials, letters, and conference proceedings. In total, 808 articles were identified for title and abstract review. Of those, 96 articles met all inclusion criteria and were fully reviewed. Higher quality studies used data derived from trauma registries. There was a paucity of literature from studies in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), with only 3 (3%) of articles explicitly including African populations. Mortality was an outcome measure in 93% of articles, predominantly defined as "in-hospital mortality" as opposed to mortality within a specified time frame. Prehospital time was most commonly assessed as crude time from EMS dispatch to arrival at a tertiary trauma center. Few studies evaluated physiologic morbidity outcomes such as multi-organ failure.

CONCLUSION

The existing literature disproportionately represents high-income settings and most commonly assessed in-hospital mortality as a function of crude prehospital time. Future studies should focus on how specific prehospital intervals impact morbidity outcomes (e.g., organ failure) and mortality at earlier time points (e.g., 3 or 7 days) to better reflect the effect of early prehospital resuscitation and transport. Trauma registries may be a tool to facilitate such research and may promote higher quality investigations in Africa and LMICs.

Prehospital Conditions and Outcomes After Craniotomy for Traumatic Brain Injury Performed Within 72 Hours in Central Cameroon: A Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the most common neurosurgical condition globally. In Cameroon, there are 572 cases of TBI per 100,000 people, but <40% of Cameroonians live within 4 hours of a neurosurgical facility. We sought to understand the clinical outcomes at a neurosurgical center in Central Cameroon.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study was conducted at the largest neurosurgical center of Cameroon, the Yaounde Central Hospital. Data included 100 consecutive patients undergoing an intervention 72 hours after their injury from February 1, 2015 to February 1, 2019. Patients with missing data or undergoing surgery >72 hours after injury were excluded. Analyses of covariance were performed, and a P value >0.05 was considered significant. A Kaplan-Meier survival curve was computed.

RESULTS

The patients had a mean age of 31.3 ± 17.4 years, with a male predominance of 91.0%, and the principal mechanism of injury was road traffic accidents (68.0%). Only 11% arrived via ambulance, and 36.0% were admitted <3 hours after the traumatic event. The postoperative mortality was 15.0%, mean survival was 25.0 postoperative days (95% confidence interval, 23.42-26.52), and the mean Glasgow Outcome Scale score at 28 days was 3.9 ± 1.4.

CONCLUSIONS

Most patients with TBI undergoing neurosurgery 72 hours after injury in Cameroon arrive at the hospital late and have a high mortality risk during the first postoperative week. Investments in prehospital care should be made to improve surgical outcomes.

Association of time to craniectomy with survival in patients with severe combat-related brain injury

OBJECTIVEIn combat and austere environments, evacuation to a location with neurosurgery capability is challenging. A planning target in terms of time to neurosurgery is paramount to inform prepositioning of neurosurgical and transport resources to support a population at risk. This study sought to examine the association of wait time to craniectomy with mortality in patients with severe combat-related brain injury who received decompressive craniectomy.METHODSPatients with combat-related brain injury sustained between 2005 and 2015 who underwent craniectomy at deployed surgical facilities were identified from the Department of Defense Trauma Registry and Joint Trauma System Role 2 Registry. Eligible patients survived transport to a hospital capable of diagnosing the need for craniectomy and performing surgery. Statistical analyses included unadjusted comparisons of postoperative mortality by elapsed time from injury to start of craniectomy, and Cox proportional hazards modeling adjusting for potential confounders. Time from injury to craniectomy was divided into quintiles, and explored in Cox models as a binary variable comparing early versus delayed craniectomy with cutoffs determined by the maximum value of each quintile (quintile 1 vs 2-5, quintiles 1-2 vs 3-5, etc.). Covariates included location of the facility at which the craniectomy was performed (limited-resource role 2 facility vs neurosurgically capable role 3 facility), use of head CT scan, US military status, age, head Abbreviated Injury Scale score, Injury Severity Score, and injury year. To reduce immortal time bias, time from injury to hospital arrival was included as a covariate, entry into the survival analysis cohort was defined as hospital arrival time, and early versus delayed craniectomy was modeled as a time-dependent covariate. Follow-up for survival ended at death, hospital discharge, or hospital day 16, whichever occurred first.RESULTSOf 486 patients identified as having undergone craniectomy, 213 (44%) had complete date/time values. Unadjusted postoperative mortality was 23% for quintile 1 (n = 43, time from injury to start of craniectomy 30-152 minutes); 7% for quintile 2 (n = 42, 154-210 minutes); 7% for quintile 3 (n = 43, 212-320 minutes); 19% for quintile 4 (n = 42, 325-639 minutes); and 14% for quintile 5 (n = 43, 665-3885 minutes). In Cox models adjusted for potential confounders and immortal time bias, postoperative mortality was significantly lower when time to craniectomy was within 5.33 hours of injury (quintiles 1-3) relative to longer delays (quintiles 4-5), with an adjusted hazard ratio of 0.28, 95% CI 0.10-0.76 (p = 0.012).CONCLUSIONSPostoperative mortality was significantly lower when craniectomy was initiated within 5.33 hours of injury. Further research to optimize craniectomy timing and mitigate delays is needed. Functional outcomes should also be evaluated.

Emergent and Urgent Craniotomies in Pediatric Patients: Resource Utilization and Cost Analysis

BACKGROUND

Pediatric neurosurgeons are occasionally tasked with performing surgery expeditiously to preserve a child's neurologic faculties and life.

OBJECTIVE

This study examines the etiologies, outcomes, and costs for urgent or emergent craniotomies at a Level I Pediatric Trauma center over a 7-year time period.

METHODS

A retrospective review was conducted for each patient who underwent an emergent or urgent craniotomy within 24 hours of presentation between January 2010 and April 2017. Demographic, clinical, and surgical details were recorded for a total of 48 variables. Any readmission within 90 days was analyzed. Hospital charges for each admission and readmission were collected and adjusted for inflation to October 2018 values.

RESULTS

Among the 223 children who underwent urgent or emergent craniotomies, the majority were admitted for traumatic injuries (n = 163, 73.1%). The most common traumatic mechanism was fall (n = 51, 22.9%), and the most common non-traumatic cause was tumor (n = 21, 9.4%). Overall, craniotomies were typically performed for hematoma evacuation of one type or combination (n = 115, 51.6%) during off-peak times (n = 178, 79.8%). Seventy-seven (34.5%) subjects experienced 1 or more postoperative events, 22 of whom returned to the operating room. There were 13 (5.8%) and 33 (14.8%) readmissions within 30 days and 90 days of discharge, respectively. Non-trauma patients (compared with trauma patients) and polytrauma (compared with isolated head injury) had greater healthcare needs, resulting in higher charges.

CONCLUSION

Most urgent or emergent pediatric craniotomies were performed for the treatment of traumatic injuries involving hematoma evacuation, but non-traumatic patients were more complex requiring greater resources.

Importance of effusion of blood under the dura mater in forensic medicine: A STROBE - compliant retrospective study

Subdural hemorrhage is commonly associated with mechanical brain injury and has a correspondingly high mortality rate. Subdural hematomas may immediately provoke symptoms or may be initially asymptomatic, with further symptoms evolving rapidly and fatally.The data regarding forensic autopsy of victims were obtained from The State Forensic Medicine Service of Lithuania between the years 2013 and 2016. A retrospective study was performed including 110 patients, whose cause of death was subdural hemorrhage. 95% confidence intervals were calculated.It was calculated, that in cases of sudden death, after subdural hemorrhage was diagnosed, a higher concentration of ethyl alcohol in blood (mean 2.22 ± 1.3%) demanded a smaller amount of blood under the dura matter (mean 81.6 ± 60.5 g) in order for the patient to die. It was also noted that hospitalized patients with subdural hemorrhage had a smaller concentration of blood ethyl alcohol (mean 1.33 ± 1%) and a larger amount of blood under the dura (mean 135.6 ± 82.9 g).Due to the toxic effect of ethyl alcohol, even a small amount (81.6 ± 60.5 g) of blood under the dura matter can determine a sudden death.