Incidence, clinical predictors and outcome of acute renal failure among North Indian trauma patients

Renal pelvicalyceal rupture secondary to extraperitoneal pelvic packing (EPP) in the unstable trauma patient

Presented here is the case of an 86-year-old man who was found to have right-sided pelvicalyceal rupture and anuric renal failure, secondary to obstructive uropathy caused by life-saving extraperitoneal pelvic packing (EPP) in the settling of severe trauma. In efforts to control haemorrhage in this haemodynamically unstable patient, EPP placement deviated from the recognised method of three extraperitoneal packs bilaterally with seven surgical packs placed. Progress postoperative imaging revealed right-sided hydroureteronephrosis with obstruction evident at the level of the extraperitoneal pelvic packs, identified by delayed contrast excretion from the preceding CT angiography imaging. Urology performed bilateral retrograde pyelograms at his relook laparotomy, timed after removal of his extraperitoneal packs and haemostasis, which showed impression of the surgical pack on the distal ureter but no persisting obstruction or short-term complications. Anuric renal failure improved, and renal function returned to near premorbid levels on day 4 postoperatively.

Evaluation of Continuous Infusion Vancomycin Administration in a Critically Ill Trauma Population

Vancomycin is a first-line antibiotic for empiric treatment of gram-positive infections in the trauma intensive care unit. When dosed intermittently, difficulties arise from trough collection and drug monitoring. The objective of this study was to evaluate time to goal vancomycin levels comparing a continuous infusion protocol when compared to standard intermittent infusion dosing. This was a retrospective cohort of patients admitted to the trauma intensive care unit between July 2011 and July 2015 receiving vancomycin for at least 48 hours. In this cohort of 150 patients, continuous infusion vancomycin had a decreased time to goal vancomycin level (2.5 vs 3.8 days, P ≤ .05) with a higher incidence of target attainment (60% vs 40%, P ≤ .05). This reflected in a decrease in average number of blood samples per patient (1 vs 3, P ≤ .05) and shorter duration of therapy (3.8 vs 6.8 days, P ≤ .05). Patients receiving continuous infusion vancomycin also experienced less nephrotoxicity (21% vs 43%, P ≤ .05). Patients in the intermittent infusion group had more missed levels and doses, with only 1 in every 3 patients receiving all intended doses on time. Vancomycin continuous infusion resulted in a decrease in time to goal therapeutic vancomycin levels, number of blood samples required, and therapy duration. Larger trials are needed to validate these outcomes in broad patient groups and to validate the clinical implication and potential cost savings of these results.

Utilizing electronic health records to predict acute kidney injury risk and outcomes: workgroup statements from the 15(th) ADQI Consensus Conference

The data contained within the electronic health record (EHR) is "big" from the standpoint of volume, velocity, and variety. These circumstances and the pervasive trend towards EHR adoption have sparked interest in applying big data predictive analytic techniques to EHR data. Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a condition well suited to prediction and risk forecasting; not only does the consensus definition for AKI allow temporal anchoring of events, but no treatments exist once AKI develops, underscoring the importance of early identification and prevention. The Acute Dialysis Quality Initiative (ADQI) convened a group of key opinion leaders and stakeholders to consider how best to approach AKI research and care in the "Big Data" era. This manuscript addresses the core elements of AKI risk prediction and outlines potential pathways and processes. We describe AKI prediction targets, feature selection, model development, and data display.