Resuscitation for major trauma

Management of a road traffic accident poly-trauma patient in a limited regional resource hospital setting in Tanzania: Review of literature and case report

INTRODUCTION AND IMPORTANCE

Poly-trauma is among the top ten leading causes of mortality and morbidity in developing countries. Road traffic injuries are the major cause of mortality in the overall burden of deaths related to injuries. The aim of this publication is to show how important are the principles of management in saving life even in austere limited resource settings.

CASE PRESENTATION

We herein present a case of a 17-year-old male who presented to our emergency department about an hour after being involved in motor traffic accident in a semiconscious state, in hypovolemic shock and sustained multiple injuries. He had multiple limb and ribs fractures and blunt abdominal injury. He was rushed to the hospital where he was resuscitated at the emergency department and admitted in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). He was scheduled for surgery the following day. His post-operative recovery was uneventful and was discharged after one month.

CLINICAL DISCUSSION

The scarce resources and efforts spent on these patients prove to be futile in many situations because of delayed admission, lack of proper pre-hospital care and associated complications which cause irreversible damage. Management of a Poly-trauma patient should start from the scene of accident, during transportation and finally in the hospital by following all the principles of poly-trauma management using a multi-disciplinary approach.

CONCLUSION

Timely diagnosis and proper management of a Poly-trauma patient can save life even in limited resource Centers.

Trauma and critical care III: chest trauma

Patients requiring intensive care for chest trauma are often severely injured and may have suffered trauma elsewhere. The single largest cause of significant blunt chest trauma is road traffic accidents (RTAs). RTAs account for 70-80% of such injuries. Falls and acts of violence are other causative mechanisms. Blast injuries can also result in significant blunt thoracic trauma. Penetrating chest trauma comprises a broad spectrum of injuries and severity. Particular challenges occur in patients with associated polytrauma, as well as those with a combination of blunt and penetrating chest trauma. Chest injury is the most important injury in polytrauma patients with reported incidences of 45-65% and an associated mortality of up to 60%. The treatment of these patients can be prolonged and the initial injury may become of secondary importance to the effects of systemic inflammatory response syndrome, acute lung injury (ALI), nosocomial infection and intercurrent multiorgan dysfunction syndrome (MODS). Multiply-injured patients with thoracic injuries require significantly longer periods of mechanical ventilation and longer intensive care unit lengths of stay compared with nonthoracic injury trauma patients. The use of a variety of therapeutic interventions may have to be considered during management of the disease process.

Clinical and critical care concerns of cranio-facial trauma: A retrospective study in a tertiary care institute

Background and Objectives:

Maxillofacial trauma is commonly associated with other injuries, predominantly head injuries. The predictors of outcome in such concomitant injuries have been studied the least. The present study aims at the evaluation of types of injury, management and outcome of patients sustaining maxillofacial trauma and concomitant cranial injuries.

Materials and Methods:

A retrospective study was carried out in the department of anesthesiology and intensive care. A case series of 129 patients was evaluated who were admitted in ICU (Intensive Care Unit) with maxillofacial trauma and head injuries. The data was then compiled systematically and analyzed using SPSS windows and value of P < 0.05 was considered significant and P < 0.001 as highly significant.

Results:

Among the 129 patients, majority of them had roadside accidents (RSA > 90%) and male gender predominance with male to female ratio of 5: 1. Fracture maxilla and nasal bones were the most commonly encountered injuries (51.93%) followed by mandibular fractures (39.53%) and fracture of zygomatic bones (28.68%). Eighty five patients (65.90%) required mechanical ventilation, tracheostomy was needed in 29 (22.48%) patients and 81 (62.8%) patients were operated for head injuries as well. Majority of the victims were aged between 15 and 40 years.

Conclusions:

Maxillofacial trauma and cranial injuries are common among young males and so is the nature of injuries, that is, RSA. Besides facial injuries, head injuries are important determinant of outcome in such patients. Timely resuscitation and surgical interventions at specialized centers are of prime importance as far as a better prognosis is concerned in such injuries.

Designing, managing and improving the operative and intensive care in polytrauma

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT

Polytrauma is a leading cause of mortality in the developing countries and efforts from various quarters are required to deal with this increasing menace.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

An attempt has been made by the coordinated efforts of the intensive care and trauma team of a newly established tertiary care institute in designing and improving the trauma care services to realign its functions with national policies by analyzing the profile of polytrauma victims and successfully managing them.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A retrospective analysis was carried out among the 531 polytrauma admissions in the emergency department. The information pertaining to age and gender distribution, locality, time to trauma and initial resuscitation, cause of injury, type of injury, influence of alcohol, drug addiction, presenting clinical picture, Glasgow Coma score on admission and few other variables were also recorded. The indications for various operative interventions and intensive care unit (ICU) admissions were analyzed thoroughly with a concomitant improvement of our trauma care services and thereby augmenting the national policies and programs. A statistical analysis was carried out with chi-square and analysis of variance ANOVA tests, using SPSS software version 10.0 for windows. The value of P<0.05 was considered significant and P<0.0001 as highly significant.

RESULTS

Majority of the 531 polytrauma patients hailed from rural areas (63.65%), riding on the two wheelers (38.23%), and predominantly comprised young adult males. Fractures of long bones and head injury was the most common injury pattern (37.85%) and 51.41% of the patients presented with shock and hemorrhage. Airway management and intubation became necessary in 42.93% of the patients, whereas 52.16% of the patients were operated within the first 6 hours of admission for various indications. ICU admission was required for 45.76% of the patients because of their deteriorating clinical condition, and overall,ionotropic support was administered in 55.93% of the patients for successful resuscitation.

CONCLUSIONS

There is an urgent need for proper implementation ofpre-hospital and advanced trauma life support measures at grass-root level. Analyzing the profile of polytrauma victims at a national level and simultaneously improving the trauma care services at every health center are very essential to decrease the mortality and morbidity. The improvement can be augmented further by strengthening the rural health infrastructure, strict traffic rules, increasing public awareness and participation and coordination among the various public and private agencies in dealing with polytrauma.

Operational critical care. Intensive care and trauma

Trauma management involves good prehospital, emergency, surgical, anaesthetic and intensive care decision-making. Optimal outcome depends on keeping abreast of the latest thinking in an ever-changing and increasingly technology-rich environment. The intensive care unit needs to represented as early as possible in the damage-control resuscitation phase. Improved trauma system care has resulted in an increasing number of multiply injured military patients surviving their initial trauma. These patients require intensive care and are at risk from sepsis and multiple organ failure. Attention to detail is important, preservation of organ function, infection control and nutrition to maintain muscle strength allowing normal metabolic function to return. Multiply injured patients often require lengthy periods of mechanical ventilation and a variety of therapeutic interventions may have to be considered during management of the disease process. As we are now seeing more survivors in the military trauma system the focus now needs to be morbidity reduction in order for these survivors to be best prepared for their rehabilitation phase of care.

[Traumatic thoracic aorta rupture: preclinical assessment, diagnosis and treatment options]

Traumatic aortic rupture is a life-threatening injury which is frequently associated with blunt thoracic trauma or found coincidentally in heavily traumatized patients. Depending on the degree of disruption of the damaged aortic wall, vascular injury is associated with a high primary mortality rate and a significant risk of secondary aortic rupture. Early clinical signs which may indicate a ruptured thoracic aorta are left sided thoracic pain, reduced ventilation, tachycardia and dyspnoe as well as hypotension in the lower extremities. The primary aim for emergency treatment is to maintain vital organ function and to hemodynamically stabilize the patient. Surgical treatment was previously performed by either direct aortic suture or segmental alloplastic graft interposition using the clamp and sew technique with or without extra-anatomic shunts or extracorporeal circulation. However, endovascular stent graft implantation has now become another treatment option for traumatic aortic rupture. According to the reported data and our own experience there is increasing evidence that endovascular aortic repair might become the treatment of choice for patients with traumatic aortic rupture, with the option of an early, less invasive intervention thus avoiding thoracotomy. Regular follow-up is necessary to detect possible stent graft migration or leakage which could require additional endovascular or open surgical re-interventions.

[Pre-clinical management of shock patients]

The preclinical diagnosis of shock is still based on the patient's history, the physical examination, the injury pattern and a few hemodynamic parameters available in the emergency set-up. The clinical picture is characterised by hypotension and tachycardia, tachypnoe and dyspnoea as well as cerebral impairment. Results from recent clinical trials indicate, that a adapted and specific therapeutic approach for the various shock forms is necessary. In case of traumatic hypovolemic-hemorrhagic shock it is of particular relevance if penetrating trauma and/or uncontrolled bleeding exists. Under these conditions an immediate definite surgical treatment is required ("scoop and run") and a moderate hypotension should be tolerated. ("treat and run"). Fluid substitution and therapy with catecholamines should be used conservatively. In all other forms of shock the treatment approach can and should be more aggressive in order to improve microvascular perfusion as early as possible. Besides adequate fluid resuscitation in a combination of crystalloid and colloid solutions catecholamines and-under specific circumstances-also vasopressin should be used. Of utmost importance in the pre-clinical management of patients in shock is the optimal selection of the centre that the patient is referred to in order to establish the fastest and best possible definite treatment for the patient.