Medication-related complications in the trauma patient

Home Medication Regimens Increase in Complexity After Admission for Fall in the Older Trauma Patient

BACKGROUND

Hospitalization for the older trauma patient is an opportunity to assess polypharmacy. We hypothesized that medication regimen complexity (RxCS) and pain medication prescriptions (PRxs) would increase in older home-going patients admitted for a fall.

METHODS

We retrospectively chart reviewed patients ≥45 years old admitted for a fall at a level 1 trauma center who were discharged home with full medication documentation. RxCS was compared pre-admission and post-discharge with Wilcoxon signed-rank tests; opioid and non-opioid PRxs were compared with Fisher's exact test, α = .05.

RESULTS

103 patients met inclusion criteria; 58% were ≥65 years old. RxCS (9 [.5-13] to 11 [4.5-15], P < .01) increased on discharge. Opioid PRx rates increased significantly in all age groups. Non-opioid PRx rates increased significantly for patients <65 but not for patients ≥65.

CONCLUSIONS

Admission for a fall was associated with increases in RxCS, while PRx changes were age-dependent. Providers should recognize that admissions for older patients who fall after trauma are underutilized opportunities to address polypharmacy in high-risk patients.

Paracetamol, ketorolac, and morphine in post-trauma headache in emergency department: A double blind randomized clinical trial

Introduction:

Headache is one of the most common complaints of patients after head trauma. The aim of this study was the comparison of the analgesic effects of intravenous ketorolac, morphine, and paracetamol in patients with headache following head trauma.

Methods:

This clinical trial was performed on 105 referred patients to emergency unit with headache after head trauma. Patients were randomly divided into three groups of intravenous paracetamol (15 mg/kg in 100 mL normal saline), intravenous ketorolac (30 mg/kg in 100 mL normal saline), and intravenous morphine (0.1 mg/kg in 100 mL normal saline). Headache severity and side effects of drugs were assessed at baseline and 15, 30, and 60 min after intervention.

Results:

Headache severity score at baseline was similar among groups. After 15 min, headache severity score in paracetamol group was significantly lower than that in morphine and ketorolac groups (3.7 vs. 4.6 and 4.5, respectively). After 30 min, the score in paracetamol and ketorolac groups was significantly lower than that in morphine group (1.9 and 2.4 vs. 3.2, respectively). After 60 min, headache severity score in three groups was similar (1.6 in morphine and ketorolac groups and 1.5 in paracetamol group). The incidence of side effects in morphine group was significantly more than that in paracetamol and ketorolac groups.

Conclusion:

In emergency department, intravenous paracetamol and ketorolac obtain a faster and more effective onset compared with morphine for headache after head trauma.

Pre-injury polypharmacy predicts mortality in isolated severe traumatic brain injury patients

BACKGROUND

The use of 5 or more medications is defined as polypharmacy (PPM). The clinical impact of PPM on the isolated severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) patient has not been defined.

METHODS

A retrospective cohort study was performed at our academic level 1 trauma center examining patients with isolated TBI. Pre-injury medications were reviewed, and inhospital mortality was the primary measured outcome.

RESULTS

There were 698 patients with an isolated TBI over the 5-year study period; 177 (25.4%) patients reported pre-injury PPM. There were 18 (10.2%) deaths in the PPM cohort and 24 (4.6%) deaths in the non-PPM cohort (P < .0001). Stepwise logistic regression analysis revealed a 2.3 times greater risk of mortality in the PPM patients (P = .019).

CONCLUSIONS

Pre-injury PPM increases mortality in patients with isolated severe TBI. This knowledge may provide opportunities for intervention in this population.

Comorbidity-Polypharmacy Score as Predictor of Outcomes in Older Trauma Patients: A Retrospective Validation Study

INTRODUCTION

Traditional injury severity assessment is insufficient in estimating the morbidity and mortality risk for older (≥45 years) trauma patients. Commonly used tools involve complex calculations or tables, do not consider all comorbidities, and often rely on data that are not available early in the trauma patient's hospitalization. The comorbidity-polypharmacy score (CPS), a sum of all pre-injury medications and comorbidities, was found in previous studies to independently predict morbidity and mortality in this older patient population. However, these studies are limited by relatively small sample sizes. Consequently, we sought to validate previous research findings in a large, administrative dataset.

METHODS

A retrospective study of patients ages≥45 years was performed using an administrative trauma database from St. Luke's University Hospital's Level I Trauma Center. The study period was from 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2013. Abstracted data included patient demographics, injury mechanism and severity [injury characteristics and severity score (ISS)], Glasgow coma scale (GCS), hospital and intensive care unit lengths of stay (HLOS and ILOS, respectively), morbidity, post-discharge destination, and in-hospital mortality. Univariate analyses were conducted with mortality, all-cause morbidity, and discharge destination as primary end-points. Variables reaching statistical significance (p≤0.20) were included in a multivariate logistic regression model. Data are presented as adjusted odds ratios (AORs), with p<0.05 denoting statistical significance.

RESULTS

A total of 5863 patient records were analyzed. Average patient age was 68.5±15.3 years (52% male, 89% blunt mechanism, mean GCS 14.3). Mean HLOS and ILOS increased significantly with increasing CPS (p<0.01). Independent predictors of mortality included age (AOR 1.05, p<0.01), CPS (per-unit AOR 1.08, p<0.02), GCS (AOR 1.43 per-unit decrease, p<0.01), and ISS (per-unit 1.08, p<0.01). Independent predictors of all-cause morbidity included age (AOR 1.02, p<0.01), GCS (AOR per-unit decrease 1.08, p<0.01), ISS (per-unit AOR 1.09, p<0.01), and CPS (per-unit AOR 1.04, p<0.01). CPS did not independently predict need for discharge to a facility.

CONCLUSIONS

This study confirms that CPS is an independent predictor of all-cause morbidity and mortality in older trauma patients. However, CPS was not independently associated with need for discharge to a facility. Prospective multicenter studies are needed to evaluate the use of CPS as a predictive and interventional tool, with special focus on correlations between specific pre-existing conditions, pharmacologic interactions, and morbidity/mortality patterns.

Comorbidity polypharmacy score and its clinical utility: A pragmatic practitioner's perspective

Modern medical management of comorbid conditions has resulted in escalating use of multiple medications and the emergence of the twin phenomena of multimorbidity and polypharmacy. Current understanding of how the polypharmacy in conjunction with multimorbidity influences trauma outcomes is limited, although it is known that trauma patients are at increased risk for medication-related adverse events. The comorbidity-polypharmacy score (CPS) is a simple clinical tool that quantifies the overall severity of comorbidities using the polypharmacy as a surrogate for the "intensity" of treatment necessary to adequately control chronic medical conditions. Easy to calculate, CPS is derived by counting all known pre-injury comorbid conditions and medications. CPS has been independently associated with mortality, increased risk for complications, lower functional outcomes, readmissions, and longer hospital stays. In addition, CPS may help identify older trauma patients at risk of post-emergency department undertriage. The goal of this article was to review and refine the rationale for CPS and to provide an evidence-based outline of its potential clinical applications.

Comorbidity-polypharmacy score predicts readmission in older trauma patients

BACKGROUND

Hospital readmissions are considered to be a measure of quality of care, correlate with worse outcomes, and may soon lead to decreased reimbursement. The comorbidity-polypharmacy score (CPS) is the sum of the number of preinjury medications and comorbidities, and may estimate patient frailty more effectively than patient age. This study evaluates the association between CPS and readmission.

METHODS

Medical records for trauma patients ≥45 y evaluated between January 1 and December 31, 2008, at our American College of Surgeons-verified level 1 trauma center were reviewed to obtain information on demographics, injuries, preinjury comorbidities, and medications, and occurrences of readmission to our facility within 30 d of discharge. Chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis testing was used to evaluate differences between readmitted and nonreadmitted patients, with multiple logistic regression used to evaluate the contribution of independent risk factors for readmission.

RESULTS

A total of 879 patients were included; their ages ranged from 45-103 y (median 58), injury severity scores from 0-50 y (median 5), and CPS from 0-39 y (median 7). A total of 76 patients (8.6%) were readmitted to our facility within 30 d of discharge. The readmitted cohort had higher CPS (median, 9.5, range 0-32, P = 0.031) and injury severity score (median, 9, range 1-38, P = 0.045), but no difference in age (median, 59.5, range 47-99, P = 0.646). Logistic regression demonstrated independent association of higher CPS with increased risk of readmission, with each CPS point increasing readmission likelihood by 3.5% (P = 0.03).

CONCLUSIONS

CPS appears to correlate well with readmissions within 30 d. Frailty defined by CPS was a significantly stronger predictor of readmission than was patient age. Early recognition of elevated CPS may improve discharge planning and help guide interventions to decrease readmission rates in older trauma patients.

Pre-injury polypharmacy as a predictor of outcomes in trauma patients

Background:

One of the hallmarks of modern medicine is the improving management of chronic health conditions. Long-term control of chronic disease entails increasing utilization of multiple medications and resultant polypharmacy. The goal of this study is to improve our understanding of the impact of polypharmacy on outcomes in trauma patients 45 years and older.

Materials and Methods:

Patients of age ≥45 years were identified from a Level I trauma center institutional registry. Detailed review of patient records included the following variables: Home medications, comorbid conditions, injury severity score (ISS), Glasgow coma scale (GCS), morbidity, mortality, hospital length of stay (LOS), intensive care unit (ICU) LOS, functional outcome measures (FOM), and discharge destination. Polypharmacy was defined by the number of medications: 0–4 (minor), 5–9 (major), or ≥10 (severe). Age- and ISS-adjusted analysis of variance and multivariate analyses were performed for these groups. Comorbidity–polypharmacy score (CPS) was defined as the number of pre-admission medications plus comorbidities. Statistical significance was set at alpha = 0.05.

Results:

A total of 323 patients were examined (mean age 62.3 years, 56.1% males, median ISS 9). Study patients were using an average of 4.74 pre-injury medications, with the number of medications per patient increasing from 3.39 for the 45–54 years age group to 5.68 for the 75+ year age group. Age- and ISS-adjusted mortality was similar in the three polypharmacy groups. In multivariate analysis only age and ISS were independently predictive of mortality. Increasing polypharmacy was associated with more comorbidities, lower arrival GCS, more complications, and lower FOM scores for self-feeding and expression-communication. In addition, hospital and ICU LOS were longer for patients with severe polypharmacy. Multivariate analysis shows age, female gender, total number of injuries, number of complications, and CPS are independently associated with discharge to a facility (all, P < 0.02).

Conclusion:

Over 40% of trauma patients 45 years and older were receiving 5 or more medications at the time of their injury. Although these patients do not appear to have higher mortality, they are at increased risk for complications, lower functional outcomes, and longer hospital and intensive care stays. CPS may be useful when quantifying the severity of associated comorbid conditions in the context of traumatic injury and warrants further investigation.

Comorbidity-polypharmacy score: a novel adjunct in post-emergency department trauma triage

OBJECTIVE

Post-emergency department triage of older trauma patients continues to be challenging, as morbidity and mortality for any given level of injury severity tend to increase with age. The comorbidity-polypharmacy score (CPS) combines the number of pre-injury medications with the number of comorbidities to estimate the severity of comorbid conditions. This retrospective study examines the relationship between CPS and triage accuracy for older (≥45y) patients admitted for traumatic injury.

METHODS

Patients aged 45y and older presenting to level 1 trauma center from 2005 to 2008 were included. Basic data included patient demographics, injury severity score, morbidity and mortality, and functional outcome measures. CPS was calculated by adding total numbers of comorbid conditions and pre-injury medications. Patients were divided into three triage groups: undertriage (UT), appropriate triage (AT), and overtriage (OT). UT criteria included initial admission to the floor or step-down unit followed by an unplanned transfer to intensive care unit (ICU) within 24h of admission. OT was defined as initial ICU admission for <1d without stated need for ICU level of care (i.e., lack of evidence for tracheal intubation or mechanical ventilation, injury-related hemorrhage, or other traditional ICU indications, such as intracranial bleeding). All other patients were presumed to be correctly triaged. The three triage groups were then analyzed looking for contributors to mistriage.

RESULTS

Charts for 711 patients were evaluated (mean age, 63.5y; 55.7% male; mean ISS, 9.02). Of those, 11 (1.55%) met criteria for UT and 14 (1.97%) for OT. The remaining 686 patients had no evidence of mistriage. The three groups were similar in terms of injury severity and GCS. The groups were significantly different with respect to CPS, with UT CPSs (14.9±6.80) being nearly three times higher than OT CPSs (5.14±3.48). There were more similarities between AT and OT groups, with the UT group being characterized by greater number of complications and lower functional outcomes at discharge (all, P<0.05). The UT group had significantly higher mortality (27%) than the AT and OT groups (6% and 0%, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

In the era of medication reconciliation, CPS is easy to obtain and calculate in patients who are not critically injured. This study suggests that CPS may be a promising adjunct in identifying older trauma patients who are more likely to be undertriaged. The significance of our findings is especially important when considering that injury severity in the UT group was similar to that in the other groups. Further evaluation of CPS as a triage tool in acute trauma is warranted.