Treatment of penetrating trauma of the extremities: ten years' experience at a Dutch level 1 trauma center

Iatrogenic Vascular Injuries in Resource-Limited Setting: A 4-Year Experience Monocentric Retrospective Study

Background

Iatrogenic vascular injuries (IVIs) due to diagnostic and therapeutic interventions are known but rare or probably under-reported. We present our four-year findings on patients with IVIs after catheterization or surgery who underwent vascular surgical repairs in a resource-limited setting.

Methods

A retrospective case series study between Jun 2018 and Sep 2022 of 35 patients diagnosed with IVIs and treated surgically at our hospital was included. The data on IVIs including patient characteristics, causes and type of injury, treatment, and outcomes were collected and analyzed.

Results

The mean age was 37.12± 17.0 years, and most patients (65.7%) were male. Of the 35 IVIs, 21 were caused by percutaneous procedures, while 14 occurred intraoperatively and affected various arteries and veins. The main injured vessels were the femoral artery (20%) and direct blood vessel puncture made by non-qualified specialists (42.9%) during dialysis cannulation was the main cause. The intraoperative IVI affected the inferior vena cava in three patients, the aorta in two patients, the external iliac artery in four, the tibial and popliteal arteries in four, and the internal carotid artery in one. The following types of repairs were recorded: direct suture of the vessel with or without endarterectomy (71.4%), synthetic patch placement (25.7%), ligation (8.6%), bypass or interposition graft (14.3%), and thromboembolectomy (5.7%). Vascular repair was successful in 32 (91.4%) patients while three patients (8.6%) were expired. Complications occurred in 7 (20%) patients, of which superficial wound infections were the common complication (11.6%) and were treated with proper antibiotic therapy.

Conclusion

Prompt identification of IVIs, as well as proper triage for future treatment, can enhance patient outcomes. Our data showed that non-qualified specialists seem to be responsible for the majority of IVIs. For that, we emphasize the importance of performing vascular procedures by a qualified specialist with adequate training.

Impact of time and distance on outcomes following tourniquet use in civilian and military settings: A scoping review

BACKGROUND

The last two decades have seen the reintroduction of tourniquets into guidelines for the management of acute limb trauma requiring hemorrhage control. Evidence supporting tourniquet application has demonstrated low complication rates in modern military settings involving rapid evacuation timeframes. It is unclear how these findings translate to patients who have prolonged transport times from injury in rural settings. This scoping review investigates the relationship between time and distance on metabolic complications, limb salvage and mortality following tourniquet use in civilian and military settings.

METHODS

A systematic search strategy was conducted using PubMed, Embase, and SafetyLit databases. Study characteristics, setting, mechanism of injury, prehospital time, tourniquet time, distance, limb salvage, metabolic response, mortality, and tourniquet removal details were extracted from eligible studies. Descriptive statistics were recorded, and studies were grouped by ischemia time (< 2 h, 2-4 h, or > 4 h).

RESULTS

The search identified 3103 studies, from which 86 studies were included in this scoping review. Of the 86 studies, 55 studies were primarily in civilian environments and 32 were based in military settings. One study included both settings. Blast injury was the most common mechanism of injury sustained by patients in military settings (72.8% [5968/8200]) followed by penetrating injury (23.5% [1926/8200]). In contrast, in civilian settings penetrating injury was the most common mechanism (47.7% [1633/3426]) followed by blunt injury (36.4% [1246/3426]). Tourniquet time was reported in 66/86 studies. Tourniquet time over four hours was associated with reduced limb salvage rates (57.1%) and higher mortality rates (7.1%) compared with a tourniquet time of less than two hours. The overall limb salvage and mortality rates were 69.6% and 6.7% respectively. Metabolic outcomes were reported in 28/86 studies with smaller sample sizes and inconsistencies in which parameters were reported.

CONCLUSION

This scoping review presents literature describing comparatively safe tourniquet application when used for less than two hours duration. However, there is limited research describing prolonged tourniquet application or when used for protracted distances, such that the impact of tourniquet release time on metabolic outcomes and complications remains unclear. Prospective studies utilizing the development of an international database to provide this dataset is required.

Characteristics of fatal penetrating injury; data from a retrospective cohort study in three urban regions in the Netherlands

INTRODUCTION

Penetrating injury (PI) is a relatively rare mechanism of trauma in the Netherlands. Nevertheless, injuries can be severe with high morbidity and mortality rates. The aim of this study is to assess fatalities due to PI and evaluate the demographic parameters, mechanism of injury and the resulting injury patterns of this group of patients in three Dutch regions.

METHODS

Patients suffering fatal PI (stab- and gunshot injuries), in the period between July 1st 2013 and July 1st 2019, in the region of Amsterdam, Utrecht and The Hague were included. Data were collected from the electronic registration system (Formatus) of the regional departments of Forensic Medicine.

RESULTS

During the study period 283 patients died as the result of PI. The mean age was 44 years (SD 16.9), 83% was male and psychiatric history was reported in 22%. Over 60% of the injuries were due to assault and 35% was self-inflicted. Almost half of the incidents took place at home (47%). Injuries were most frequently to the head (24%) and chest (16%). Mortality was due to exsanguination (chest 27%, multiple body region's 17%, neck 9% and extremities 8%) and traumatic brain injury (21%). Up to 40% of the patients received medical treatment, surgical intervention was performed in 25%. The injuries to the extremities suggest a (potentially) preventable death rate of over 8%. Over 70% of the total population died at the scene.

CONCLUSION

Fatal PI most often involves the relatively young, male, and psychiatric patient. Self-inflicted fatal PI accounted for 35%, addressing the importance of suicide prevention programs. Identification of preventable deaths needs more awareness to reduce the number of fatal PI.

Circumferential intimal tear with thrombosis of right superficial femoral artery due to penetrating injury by bull horn: A case report

In agrarian countries where bulls are used for farming and stock breeding, bull horn injuries are common. Bull horn injuries range from blunt trauma to penetrating injuries, which can cause massive hemorrhage. Vascular injuries to the limbs by goring bull horn injury usually involve transection of vessels but rarely cause intimal tear with thrombus formation. Here, we report an unusual case of a 33-year-old male with circumferential intimal tear with thrombosis in the subintimal region of the right superficial femoral artery without transection of the vessel following penetrating injury to the right thigh caused by a bull's horn. There was a pulse deficit above the popliteal artery, and Doppler ultrasonography revealed decreased flow indicative of underlying femoral vessel injury for which the wound was surgically explored. It was followed by right superficial femoral arteriotomy at the site of the thrombus with the evacuation of a 6 cm long clot, revealing a 6 cm long endothelial injury in the same vessel. Next, an interposition reversed saphenous graft was placed in the same location. Following this, Doppler ultrasonography was done that revealed restoration of blood flow to the site of thrombosis. Thus, in a case of bull horn injury, thrombosis should be ruled out with prompt surgical wound exploration despite the presence of an intact vessel.

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Bull horn injury to extremities can cause intimal tears with subintimal thrombosis, partially impeding blood flow.

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Diagnostic dilemma can occur due to contrasting radiological and clinical findings in injuries with vascular occlusion.

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Surgical wound exploration without CECT scan can be considered a diagnostic and therapeutic approach for revascularization.

Operative management of non-iatrogenic pediatric and adolescence peripheral arterial trauma: An experience from a resource challenged setting

OBJECTIVES

To evaluates the management and outcome of non-iatrogenic pediatric and adolescence extremity arterial injuries in a resource-challenged setting.

METHODS

A retrospective study of the surgical management for non-iatrogenic extremity arterial trauma in pediatric and adolescence during the period from January 2008 to December 2015. This study was performed in two different countries at tertiary referral university and teaching hospitals having a specialized emergency and trauma centers. A thorough study of each patient record was collected from these centers including, the original demographic data and their clinical presentations. Operative data of each patient was also reported.

RESULTS

During the 8-year period of the study, 149 pediatric and adolescent extremity arterial trauma patients were treated. They were 93.3% male, and 6.7% female, respectively. The age ranged from 2 to 18 years with a mean of 10.25 ± 4.05 years. Lower extremity arterial trauma was recorded in 51%, while 49% were having upper extremity injuries. Primary repair with end-to-end vascular anastomosis was performed in 51.7%, while an interposition reversed saphenous vein graft was performed in 48.3%. The operative procedures were performed by an experienced vascular surgeon and well-trained pediatric surgeons and general surgeons. Pseudoaneurysms was recorded in 9% of cases. Fasciotomy was performed in 15% of cases.

CONCLUSION

Treatment of pediatric and adolescent extremity arterial injuries with primary end-to-end vascular anastomoses or with the use of an interposition reversed saphenous vein graft is a reliable, feasible, and more cost-effectiveness technique with good results. Moreover, it should be adopted for all vascular trauma patients, whenever possible.

Selective non-operative management for penetrating extremity trauma: A paradigm shift in management?

BACKGROUND

Selective non-operative management (SNOM) has been proposed as a safe and adequate strategy for penetrating extremity trauma (PET) management. This may reduce unwarranted surgical exploration and enhance cost-effectiveness. Our experience at a UK major trauma centre advocates SNOM-PET as a viable and safe strategy for selected patients. A PET management algorithm is proposed.

METHODS

A retrospective review was undertaken for isolated PET from October 2015 to October 2016. Examination findings were recorded as positive if neurovascular or tendon deficits were elicited. Surgical exploration was recorded as positive if neurovascular or tendon injuries were found. Diagnostic statistics were employed for upper limb (UL) and lower limb (LL) examinations.

RESULTS

One hundred sixty patients [112 UL and 48 LL PET injuries] were included. Fifty-six out of 112 (50%) patients with UL PET had no examination findings. Twenty-three out of 56 (41%) patients had negative surgical explorations and 33 of 56 (59%) patients had positive surgical explorations. Thirty-four out of 48 patients with LL PET had no examination findings. All 34 patients had negative surgical explorations. The sensitivity (0.61 vs 1.00, p = 0.005), specificity (0.82 vs 0.97, p = 0.043) and negative predictive value (NPV; 0.41 vs 1.00, p < 0.001) were lower for UL PET than for LL PET examinations. There were no statistically significant differences in sensitivity, specificity as well as NPV and positive predictive value between plastic surgery residents and emergency medicine residents for UL and LL examinations.

CONCLUSION

This is the first UK evaluation of SNOM-PET. It may be safely utilised for LL PET. UL PET should be surgically explored. SNOM-PET may avoid unwarranted surgical exploration, associated complications and cost.

Two-team management of vascular injuries concomitant with osteo-articular injuries in 36 patients over six years

BACKGROUND

Patients with both vascular and osteoarticular injuries require multidisciplinary management. Vascular injuries may be function- and/or life-threatening. The lower limbs are predominantly affected. Traffic, domestic, and work-related accidents contribute most of the cases. The primary objective of this study was to describe the management of patients with concomitant vascular and osteo-articular injuries, with special attention to the rates of amputation and fasciotomy. The secondary objective was to suggest a management sequence to optimise our surgical practice.

HYPOTHESIS

The management sequence is a crucial consideration in patients with both vascular and osteo-articular injuries.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

A 6-year, retrospective, observational study was conducted in patients with concomitant vascular and osteo-articular injuries.

RESULTS

The study included 36 patients with a mean age of 40.6±22.1 years. The main sources of injury were traffic accidents (n=19, 52.8%), crush injury (n=8, 22.2%), and falls (n=5, 13.9%). A compound fracture was present in 20 (55.6%) patients. Evidence of ischaemia in 25 (69.4%) patients, and bleeding in 11 (30.6%) patients. Pre-operative imaging, by ultrasonography or computed tomography, was performed in 27 (75.0%) patients. The lower limb was involved in 30 (83.3%) patients, who had osteoarticular injuries to the femur and leg combined with injury to the popliteal artery. Fasciotomy was performed in 11 (30.6%) patients and secondary amputation in 7 (19.4%) patients. The limb salvage rate was 80.6%. Median patient survival was 9.3 [0-74.8] months.

DISCUSSION

Coordinated work by two surgical teams is crucial to manage concomitant vascular and osteo-articular injuries. The management sequence must be defined clearly. Computed tomography angiography is the investigation of choice and should be performed at the slightest suspicion of vascular injury.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

IV, retrospective observational study.

Reassessing the utility of CT angiograms in penetrating injuries to the extremities

BACKGROUND

Computed tomography angiography has become routine in the management of penetrating trauma to the extremity. Our objective was to evaluate the efficacy of physical examination findings compared with computed tomography angiography for detection of clinically significant vascular injuries associated with penetrating trauma to the extremity.

METHODS

This was a retrospective chart review of patients presenting to a single level 1 trauma center from January 2013-June 2016. Patients with penetrating trauma to the extremity and no hard signs of vascular injury were included. Physical examination and computed tomography angiography findings were analyzed, with particular focus given to missed injuries.

RESULTS

We identified 393 patients with penetrating trauma to the extremity without hard signs of vascular injury. Computed tomography angiography was performed in 114 patients (29%). Four patients with distal pulses documented on their initial trauma surveys were found to have vascular injuries on computed tomography angiography, although 3 of these injuries were identified on repeat physical examination. One additional patient had a delayed presentation of a pseudoaneurysm. No mortality or limb loss resulted from these injuries. Total hospital charges for computed tomography angiography amounted to over $700,000.

CONCLUSION

Patients with penetrating trauma to the extremity and no hard signs of vascular injury do not require computed tomography angiography for identification of clinically relevant vascular injuries that require emergent operative repair. Serial physical examination appears to provide accurate detection of vascular injury requiring procedural intervention.

The Second Look after Fights: Why Wounds Might Not Only Be Superficial

Introduction. We present a case of intraosseous foreign body penetration due to knife attack and its emergency service management. Case. Seventeen-year-old patient was admitted to the emergency department with a knife cut over the right knee. In the local wound exploration during the extension position of the knee, deep tissue penetration was not observed. Therefore, the patient was discharged after a primary wound saturation without any radiographic evaluation. During the second admission, the detailed anamnesis revealed that the injury occurred while the knee was in the flexion and the radiographic examination displayed a broken knifepoint in the sagittal plane of the femur's medial patellar region penetrated in the intraosseous tissue. Conclusion. Intraosseous foreign body cases due to the knife attacks are quite rare. There is no algorithm, indicating the necessity of radiographic examination in the stab wounds. Local wound exploration of stab wounds should be done in accordance with the mechanism of injury.

Assessing the risk: Scoring systems for outcome prediction in emergency laparotomies

Emergency laparotomy is the commonest emergency surgical procedure in most hospitals and includes over 400 diverse surgical procedures. Despite the evolution of medicine and surgical practices, the mortality in patients needing emergency laparotomy remains abnormally high. Although surgical risk assessment first started with the ASA Physical Status score in 1941, efforts to find an ideal scoring system that accurately estimates the risk of mortality, continues till today. While many scoring systems have been developed, no single scoring system has been validated across multiple centers and geographical locations. While some scoring systems can predict the risk merely based upon preoperative findings and parameters, some rely on intra-operative assessment and histopathology reports to accurately stratify the risk of mortality. Although most scoring systems can potentially be used to compare risk-adjusted mortality across hospitals and amongst surgeons, only those which are based on preoperative findings can be used for risk prognostication and identify high-risk patients before surgery for an aggressive treatment. The recognition of the fact, that in the absence of outcome data in these patients, it would be impossible to evaluate the impact of quality improvement initiatives on risk-adjusted mortality, hospital groups and surgical societies have got together and started to pool data and analyze it. Appropriate scoring systems for emergency laparotomies would help in risk prognostication, risk-adjusted audit and assess the impact of quality improvement initiative in patient care across hospitals. Large multi-centric studies across varied geographic locations and surgical practices need to assess and validate the ideal and most apt scoring system for emergency laparotomies. While APACHE-II and P-POSSUM continue to be the most commonly used scoring system in emergency laparotomies,studies need to compare them in their ability to predict mortality and explore if either has a higher sensitivity and specificity than the other.

Vascular trauma in the Amazon - the challenge of great distances

OBJECTIVE

to evaluate the incidence of unfavorable outcomes in vascular trauma patients and their possible correlation to the distance between the city where the injury was sustained and the hospital where the patient received definitive treatment.

METHODS

descriptive and retrospective study. Data were collected from medical records of patients submitted to surgical procedures for arterial or venous injuries from February 2011 to February 2013 at the only trauma center providing vascular surgery in a vast area of the Amazon region. Trauma date, patient gender and age, mechanism and anatomic topography of injury, surgical management, need for surgical re-intervention, hospitalization period, postoperative complications, mortality and limb amputation rates were analyzed. The incidence of unfavorable outcomes was assessed according to the distance between the city where the vascular injury was sustained and the trauma center.

RESULTS

One hundred seventy-three patients with 255 vascular injuries were analyzed; 95.95% were male (p<0.05), mean age of 28.92 years; 47.4% were caused by firearm projectiles (p<0.05); topographic distribution: 45.66% lower limbs (p<0.05), 37.57% upper limbs, 6.94% abdominal, 5.2% thoracic and 4.62% were cervical vascular injuries; 51.42% of patients required hospitalization for seven days or less (p<0.05); limb amputation was necessary in 15.6% and the overall mortality was 6.36%.

CONCLUSION

distances greater than 200 Km were associated to longer hospitalization period; distances greater than 300 Km were associated to increased limb amputation probability; severe vascular trauma have an increased death probability when patients need to travel more than 200 Km for surgical treatment.

[Treatment of gunshot fractures of the lower extremity: Part 1: Incidence, importance, case numbers, pathophysiology, contamination, principles of emergency and first responder treatment]

Gunshot wounds are rare in Germany and are mostly the result of suicide attempts or improper handling of weapons. The resulting injuries involve extensive tissue damage and complications which are thus unique and require a differentiated approach. As trauma centers may be confronted with gunshot wounds at any time, treatment principles must be understood and regularly reevaluated. Due to Bundeswehr operations abroad and the treatment of patients from other crisis regions a total of 85 gunshot wounds in 64 patients were treated between 2005 and 2011. In the majority of cases the lower extremities were affected and we were able to carry out treatment to preserve the extremities. In this article we report on our experiences and the results of treatment of gunshot wounds to the lower extremities. This part of the article deals with the epidemiology and pathophysiology of gunshot wounds to the lower extremities. By means of an evaluation of microbiological findings in a subgroup of patients involved in a civil war (n=10), the problem of multidrug resistant pathogen contamination, colonization and infection is discussed. In addition to a description of initial and emergency treatment of gunshot wounds, measures required for further treatment and decontamination are presented. Finally, the results are discussed with reference to the literature in this field.