Permissive hypotension in traumatic brain injury with blunt aortic injury: How low can we go?

Close surveillance imaging is unnecessary for patients with grade I blunt thoracic aortic injury

BACKGROUND

No evidence-based recommendations exist for imaging surveillance of grade I blunt thoracic aortic injuries (BTAI). We aimed to evaluate the natural history of these injuries to provide guidance for follow-up imaging.

METHODS

Patients that presented to our trauma center from 2008 to 2021 with grade I BTAI were retrospectively evaluated. CT angiography images were assessed for initial injury grade and subsequent stability, improvement, worsening, or resolution.

RESULTS

Of 83 patients who had grade I injuries and repeat imaging, 57.8% had complete resolution, 20.5% had improvement, and 18.1% had stability of their injury. Only seven patients (8.4%) demonstrated worsening of their injury. Six patients had eventual resolution and one underwent endovascular repair that would not have been performed under current practice patterns.

CONCLUSIONS

Since grade I injuries do not worsen to require later surgical intervention, early surveillance imaging is not necessary and further imaging may not be necessary at all.

Permissive Hypotension and Trauma: Can Fluid Restriction Reduce the Incidence of ARDS?

Emergency care, including the resuscitation of patients involved in traumatic events, has evolved over the years. A prior practice of utilizing large volumes of crystalloids has been found to contribute to complications such as coagulopathy, fluid overload, and adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). In contrast, permissive hypotension is a method of fluid restriction that allows for low blood pressure and mean arterial pressure during the resuscitation period. When permissive hypotension occurs and fluids are restricted in trauma patients, the incidence of ARDS can be reduced significantly with improvement in patient outcomes. Using evidence, nurse practitioners in the emergency department have an important role in evaluating and updating protocols such as permissive hypotension.

Permissive Hypotension: Potentially Harmful in the Elderly? A National Trauma Data Bank Analysis

Permissive hypotension is a component of damage control resuscitation that aims to provide a directed, controlled resuscitation, while countering the “lethal triad.” This principle has not been specifically studied in elderly (ELD) trauma patients (≥55 years). Given the ELD population's lack of physiologic reserve and risk of inadequate perfusion with “normal” blood pressures, we hypothesized that utilized a permissive hypotension strategy in ELD trauma patients would result in worse outcomes compared with younger patients (18–54 years). A retrospective review of National Trauma Data Bank reports from 2009 and 2010, identifying critically ill patients undergoing a “damage control laparotomy,” was performed to determine the effect of age and systolic blood pressure on outcome. Logistic regression analysis, including evaluation of an interaction between age and admission blood pressure, was performed on mortality using admission demographics, physiology, injury severity, mechanism of injury, and in-hospital complications. Although there was a higher likelihood of death with greater age, lower admission systolic blood pressure, lower Glasgow Coma Score, increased injury severity score, and acute renal failure, a synergistic effect of age and blood pressure on mortality was not identified. Permissive hypotension appears to be a possible management strategy in ELD trauma patients.