Interpretation of Post-operative Distal Humerus Radiographs After Internal Fixation: Prediction of Later Loss of Fixation

PURPOSE

Stable fixation of distal humerus fracture fragments is necessary for adequate healing and maintenance of reduction. The purpose of this study was to measure the reliability and accuracy of interpretation of postoperative radiographs to predict which implants will loosen or break after operative treatment of bicolumnar distal humerus fractures. We also addressed agreement among surgeons regarding which fracture fixation will loosen or break and the influence of years in independent practice, location of practice, and so forth.

METHODS

A total of 232 orthopedic residents and surgeons from around the world evaluated 24 anteroposterior and lateral radiographs of distal humerus fractures on a Web-based platform to predict which implants would loosen or break. Agreement among observers was measured using the multi-rater kappa measure.

RESULTS

The sensitivity of prediction of failure of fixation of distal humerus fracture on radiographs was 63%, specificity was 53%, positive predictive value was 36%, the negative predictive value was 78%, and accuracy was 56%. There was fair interobserver agreement (κ = 0.27) regarding predictions of failure of fixation of distal humerus fracture on radiographs. Interobserver variability did not change when assessed for the various subgroups.

CONCLUSIONS

When experienced and skilled surgeons perform fixation of type C distal humerus fracture, the immediate postoperative radiograph is not predictive of fixation failure. Reoperation based on the probability of failure might not be advisable.

TYPE OF STUDY/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Diagnostic III.

Algorithm for activation of coagulation support treatment in multiple injured patients--cohort study

BACKGROUND

Early recognition and management of trauma related coagulopathy improves the outcome. Trauma facilities should implement an algorithm to identify the bleeding trauma patient with coagulopathy.

OBJECTIVE

The scope of the paper is to identify the indicators of early coagulopathy and to optimize the indications for thromboelastometry and coagulation support.

DESIGN

Cohort study based on data from trauma registry.

SETTING

Data of 493 major trauma patients treated in GH Celje from 2006 to 2014 were included into The TraumaRegister DGU^® (TR-DGU).

PATIENTS

Patients were selected for inclusion into TR-DGU according to the following criteria: polytraumatized patients with Injury severity score (ISS) ≥ 18, patients with injuries to single region with AIS 5, patients with major injuries to a single region and abnormal vital signs. All patients that were dead on arrival to hospital, patients presented to hospital >24 h after the injury, and head injuries that occurred with a low energy mechanism in patients on anticoagulation drugs were excluded.

MEASUREMENTS

Two groups were formed (with or without coagulopathy). Mortality, morbidity, length of mechanical ventilation, ICU and hospital stay were used as outcome and compared between the groups. A coagulopathy prediction model (CPM) was developed to identify the patients who were at high risk of coagulopathy.

RESULTS

Coagulopathy was present in 51 % of patients. Severe injuries to the torso and limbs, infusion of >1000 ml of fluids in the prehospital settings, and hypotension were included into CPM. If all three criteria were present, the sensitivity of the model to predict coagulopathy was 93 %. By adding the blood gas analysis (BE ≤ -5), the specificity increased to 81.7 %.

LIMITATIONS

Shortcomings of our analysis are mainly related to the quality of data in the registry that may not be comparable to a clinical trial where data are collected specifically to address a given issue.

CONCLUSIONS

The Criteria for activation of coagulation support treatment remain centre dependent. In our settings the CPM is the tool to select patients for ROTEM^® analysis. By adding data from blood gas analysis, treatment of coagulopathy is justifiable before complete test results are available.

Improved prediction from revised injury severity classification (RISC) over trauma and injury severity score (TRISS) in an independent evaluation of major trauma patients

The usefulness of the Revised Injury Severity Classification (RISC) analysis was compared with that of the Trauma and Injury Severity Score (TRISS) for evaluating the quality of treatment of severely injured patients at the General Hospital Celje, Slovenia. Over a period of 2 years, data from a cohort of 155 patients treated at the General Hospital Celje were included in the Traumaregister Deutsche Gesellschaft für Unfallchirurgie. The structure of the patient group was compared with that in the registry, and TRISS and RISC analyses were performed. The M statistic (0.83) showed a good match of the distribution of probability of survival between groups. Evaluation of RISC (area under the curve [AUC] 0.94, Hosmer-Lemeshow test 3.5) demonstrated the efficacy of this method in the patient group. TRISS (AUC 0.89, Hosmer-Lemeshow test 21.1) was not a reliable instrument for analysis of treatment of major trauma patients. We believe that RISC should replace TRISS for evaluation of the treatment of major trauma patients.

[Aortic valve insufficiency due to rupture of the cusp in a patient with multiple trauma]

Lesions of the heart valve caused by blunt chest trauma is rare, but when it does occur it can significantly injure the patient. On the basis of autopsy studies, research shows that heart valves are injured in less than 5% of patients who have died due to impact thoracic trauma. Among the heart valves, the aortic valve is the most often lacerated, which has been proved by relevant autopsy and clinical studies. Aortic valve lesions can be the only injury, but it is possible that additional heart or large vessel injuries are also present (myocardial contusion, rupture of the atrial septum, aortic rupture, rupture of the left common carotid artery). The force that causes such an injury is often great and often causes injuries to other organs and organ systems. In a multiple trauma patient, it is very important to specifically look for heart-related injuries because it is possible that they may be overlooked or missed by the surgeon, because of other obvious injuries. We describe the case of a 41-year-old man with multiple trauma who was diagnosed with aortic valve insufficiency due to rupture of the left coronary cusp 6 weeks after a road accident. Valvuloplasty was performed. Seven years later the patient is free of symptoms and is in good physical condition. Echocardiography showed normal dimensions of the heart chambers, a normal thickness of the heart walls, and normal systolic and diastolic function of the left ventricle. Heart valves are morphologically normal, and only an unimportant aortic insufficiency was noticed by echocardiography.