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Seidenfaden SC, Pedersen CK, Juul N, Kirkegaard H, Bøtker MT. Patients suffering traumatic brain injury: patient characteristics, prehospital triage, primary referral and mortality - A population-based follow-up study. Scand J Trauma Resusc Emerg Med 2024; 32:58. [PMID: 38898534 PMCID: PMC11186223 DOI: 10.1186/s13049-024-01229-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2023] [Accepted: 06/04/2024] [Indexed: 06/21/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a potential high-risk condition, but appropriate care pathways, including prehospital triage and primary referral to a specialised neurosurgical centre, can improve neurological outcome and survival. The care pathway starts with layman triage, wherein the patient or bystander decides whether to contact a general practitioner (GP) or emergency services (1-1-2 call) as an entryway into the health care system. The GP or 112-health care professional then decides on the level of urgency and dispatches emergency medical services (EMS) when needed. Finally, a decision is made regarding referral of the TBI patient to a specialised neurotrauma centre or a local hospital. Recent studies have shown that injuries are generally more severe in patients entering the health care system through EMS (112-calls) than through GPs; however, no information exists on whether mortality and morbidity outcomes differ depending on the referral choice. The aim of this study was to examine triage pathways, including the method of entry into the health care system, as well as patient characteristics and place of primary referral, to determine the associated 30-day and 1-year mortality rates in TBI patients with confirmed intracranial lesions. METHODS This retrospective observational population-based follow-up study was conducted in the Central Denmark Region from 1 February 2017 to 31 January 2019. We included all adult patients who contacted hospitals and were ascribed a predefined TBI ICD-10 diagnosis code in the Danish National Patient Register. The obtained TBI cohort was merged with prehospital data from the Prehospital Emergency Medical Services, Central Denmark Region, and vital status from the Danish Civil Registration System. Binary logistic regression analysis of mortality was conducted. In all patients with TBI (including concussions), the primary outcome was primary referral to a specialised centre based on mode of entry ('GP/HCP', '112-call' or 'Unreferred') into the health care system. In the subgroup of patients with confirmed intracranial lesions, the secondary outcomes were the relative risk of death at day 30 and 1 year based on the place of primary referral. RESULTS Of 5,257 first TBI hospital contacts of adult patients included in the cohort, 1,430 (27.2%) entered the health care system via 1-1-2 emergency medical calls. TBI patients triaged by 112-calls were more likely to receive the highest level of emergency response (15.6% vs. 50.3%; p < 0.001) and second-tier resources and were more frequently referred directly to a specialised centre than were patients entering through GPs or other health care personnel. In the subgroup of 1188/5257 (22.4%) patients with confirmed intracranial lesions, we found no difference in the risk ratio of 30 day (RR 1.04 (95%CI 0.65-1.63)) or 1 year (RR 0.96 (95%CI 0.72-1.25)) all-cause mortality between patients primarily referred to a regional hospital or to a specialised centre when adjusting for age, sex, comorbidities, antiplatelet/anticoagulant treatment and type of intracranial lesions. CONCLUSION TBI patients mainly enter the health system by contact with GPs or other health care professionals. However, patients entering through 112-calls are more frequently triaged directly to specialised centres. We were unable to demonstrate any significant difference in the adjusted 30-day and 1-year mortality based on e primary referral to a specialised centre. The inability to demonstrate an effect on mortality based on primary referral to a specialised centre may reflect a lack of clinical data in the registries used. Considerable differences may exist in nondocumented baseline characteristics (i.e., GCS, blood pressure and injury severity) between the groups and may limit conclusions about differences in mortality. Further research providing high-quality evidence on the effect of primary referral is needed to secure early neurosurgical interventions in TBI patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sophie-Charlott Seidenfaden
- Research & Development, Prehospital Emergency Medical Services, Central Denmark Region, Brendstrupgårdsvej 7, Aarhus N, Denmark.
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Incuba Skejby, bld. 2, Palle Juul-Jensens Blvd. 82, Aarhus, Denmark.
- Department of Anaesthesiology, Randers Regional Hospital, Skovlyvej 15, Randers, Denmark.
| | - Claus Kjaer Pedersen
- Department of Cardiology, Aarhus University Hospital, Palle Juul-Jensens Blvd. 99, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Niels Juul
- Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care, Section North, Neurointensive Care Unit, Aarhus University Hospital, Palle Jull-Jensens Blvd.161, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Hans Kirkegaard
- Research & Development, Prehospital Emergency Medical Services, Central Denmark Region, Brendstrupgårdsvej 7, Aarhus N, Denmark
- Research Center for Emergency Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital, and Aarhus University, Palle Juul-Jensens Blvd. 99, Aarhus, Denmark
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Incuba Skejby, bld. 2, Palle Juul-Jensens Blvd. 82, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Morten Thingemann Bøtker
- Research & Development, Prehospital Emergency Medical Services, Central Denmark Region, Brendstrupgårdsvej 7, Aarhus N, Denmark
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Incuba Skejby, bld. 2, Palle Juul-Jensens Blvd. 82, Aarhus, Denmark
- Department of Anaesthesiology, Randers Regional Hospital, Skovlyvej 15, Randers, Denmark
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Ramage L, McLachlan S, Williams K. Determining the top research priorities in UK prehospital critical care: a modified Delphi study. Emerg Med J 2023; 40:271-276. [PMID: 36650041 PMCID: PMC10086275 DOI: 10.1136/emermed-2022-212622] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2022] [Accepted: 12/12/2022] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Prehospital critical care is a rapidly evolving field. There is a paucity of evidence relating to its practice, with limited progress in answering those research questions identified over a decade ago. It is vital that evidence gaps are identified and addressed. This study aimed to define the current research priorities in UK prehospital critical care. METHODS This modified national Delphi study was coordinated by the Pre-HOspital Trainee Operated research Network and conducted in four rounds between October 2021 and April 2022. Rounds 1 and 2 were conducted online with clinicians involved in prehospital critical care delivery and non-clinical prehospital researchers. Rounds 3 and 4 were completed online by a subject matter expert (SME) panel. RESULTS In round 1, 78 participants submitted 394 research questions relating to prehospital critical care delivery in the UK. These were refined and categorised into 192 questions, which were scored for importance in round 2. Fifty questions were discussed and scored by the SME panel in round 3. Round 4 created a ranked top 20 list. The top research priority was 'Which cardiac arrest patients should critical care teams be dispatched to; how do we identify these patients during the emergency call?'. Other priorities included dispatch optimisation, out-of-hospital medical cardiac arrest management, optimising resuscitation in haemorrhagic shock, improving traumatic brain injury outcomes and optimising management of traumatic cardiac arrest. CONCLUSIONS This modified Delphi study identified 20 research priorities where efforts should be concentrated to develop collaborative prehospital critical care research within the UK over the next 5 years.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa Ramage
- Pre-Hospital Trainee Operated Research Network (PHOTON), London, UK
- Essex and Herts Air Ambulance, Earls Colne, Colchester, UK
| | - Sarah McLachlan
- Essex and Herts Air Ambulance, Earls Colne, Colchester, UK
- Anglia Ruskin University, Chelmsford, UK
| | - Kristian Williams
- Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust, Saint Asaph, UK
- Bangor University, Bangor, UK
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Differences between the dispatch priority assessments of emergency medical dispatchers and emergency medical services: a prospective register-based study in Finland. Scand J Trauma Resusc Emerg Med 2023; 31:8. [PMID: 36797760 PMCID: PMC9936687 DOI: 10.1186/s13049-023-01072-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2022] [Accepted: 02/07/2023] [Indexed: 02/18/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Responsive and efficient emergency medical services (EMS) require accurate telephone triage. In Finland, such services are provided by Emergency Response Centre Agency (ERC Agency). In 2018, a new Finnish computer-assisted emergency dispatch system was introduced: the Emergency Response Integrated Common Authorities (ERICA). After the introduction of ERICA, the appropriateness of EMS dispatch has not been investigated yet. The study´s objective is to determine the consistency between the priority triage of the emergency medical dispatcher (EMD) and the on-scene priority assessment of the EMS, and whether the priority assessment consistency varied among the dispatch categories. METHODS This was a prospective register-based study. All EMS dispatches registered in the Tampere University Hospital area from 1 August 2021 to 31 August 2021 were analysed. The EMD's mission priority triaged during the emergency call was compared with the on-scene EMS's assessment of the priority, derived from the pre-set criteria. The test performance levels were measured from the crosstabulation of true or false positive and negative values of the priority assessment. Statistical significance was analysed using the chi-square test and the Kruskal-Wallis H test, and p-values < 0.05 were considered significant. RESULTS Of the 6416 EMS dispatches analysed in this study, 36% (2341) were urgent according to the EMD's dispatch priority, and of these, only 29% (688) were urgent according to the EMS criteria. On the other hand, 64% (4075) of the dispatches were non-urgent according to the EMD's dispatch priority, of which 97% (3949) were non-urgent according to the EMS criteria. Moreover, there were differences between the EMD and EMS priority assessments among the dispatch categories (p < 0.001). The overall efficiency was 72%, sensitivity 85%, specificity 71%, positive predictive value 29%, and negative predictive value 97%. CONCLUSION While the EMD recognised the non-urgent dispatches with high consistency with the EMS criteria, most of the EMD's urgent dispatches were not urgent according to the same criteria. This may diminish the availability of the EMS for more urgent missions. Thus, measures are needed to ensure more accurate and therefore, more efficient use of EMS resources in the future.
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Differences in time-critical interventions and radiological examinations between adult and older trauma patients: A national register-based study. J Trauma Acute Care Surg 2022; 93:503-512. [PMID: 35137729 PMCID: PMC9488941 DOI: 10.1097/ta.0000000000003570] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Older trauma patients are reported to receive lower levels of care than younger adults. Differences in clinical management between adult and older trauma patients hold important information about potential trauma system improvement targets. The aim of this study was to compare prehospital and early in-hospital management of adult and older trauma patients, focusing on time-critical interventions and radiological examinations. METHODS Retrospective analysis of the Norwegian Trauma Registry for 2015 through 2018. Trauma patients 16 years or older met by a trauma team and with New Injury Severity Score of 9 or greater were included, dichotomized into age groups 16 years to 64 years and 65 years or older. Prehospital and emergency department clinical management, advanced airway management, chest decompression, and admission radiological examinations was compared between groups applying descriptive statistics and appropriate statistical tests. RESULTS There were 9543 patients included, of which 28% (n = 2711) were 65 years or older. Older patients, irrespective of injury severity, were less likely attended by a prehospital doctor/paramedic team (odds ratio [OR], 0.64; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.57-0.71), conveyed by air ambulance (OR, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.58-0.73), and transported directly to a trauma center (OR, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.79-0.94). Time-critical intervention and primary survey radiological examination rates only differed between age groups among patients with New Injury Severity Score of 25 or greater, showing lower rates for older adults (advanced airway management: OR, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.47-0.76; chest decompression: OR, 0.46; 95% CI, 0.25-0.85; x-ray chest: OR, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.39-0.75; x-ray pelvis: OR, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.57-0.84). However, for the patients attended by a doctor/paramedic team, there were no management differences between age groups. CONCLUSION Older trauma patients were less likely to receive advanced prehospital care compared with younger adults. Older patients with very severe injuries received fewer time-critical interventions and radiological examinations. Improved dispatch of doctor/paramedic teams to older adults and assessment of the impact the observed differences have on outcome are future research priorities. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Therapeutic/Care Management; Level III.
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Chauhan V, Bhoi S. What's New in Emergencies, Trauma, and Shock: Helicopter Emergency Medical Service in Trauma - Triage Versus Speed. J Emerg Trauma Shock 2022; 15:1-2. [PMID: 35431484 PMCID: PMC9006711 DOI: 10.4103/jets.jets_29_22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2022] [Accepted: 03/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/04/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Vivek Chauhan
- Department of Medicine, Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India E-mail:
| | - Sanjeev Bhoi
- Department of Emergency Medicine, JP Narayan Apex Trauma Center, AIIMS, New Delhi, India
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