Damage Control Resuscitation.

Damage control resuscitation (DCR) is a strategy for resuscitating patients from hemorrhagic shock to rapidly restore homeostasis. Efforts are focused on blood product transfusion with whole blood or component therapy closely approximating whole blood, limited use of crystalloid to avoid dilutional coagulopathy, hypotensive resuscitation until bleeding control is achieved, empiric use of tranexamic acid, prevention of acidosis and hypothermia, and rapid definitive surgical control of bleeding. Patients receiving uncrossmatched Type O blood in the emergency department and later receiving cumulative transfusions of 10 or more red blood cell units in the initial 24-hour post-injury (massive transfusion) are widely recognized as being at increased risk of morbidity and mortality due to exsanguination. Ideally, these patients should be rapidly identified, however anticipating transfusion needs is challenging. Useful indicators of massive transfusion reviewed in this guideline include: systolic blood pressure <110 mmHg, heart rate > 105 bpm, hematocrit <32%, pH < 7.25, injury pattern (above-the-knee traumatic amputation especially if pelvic injury is present, multi-amputation, clinically obvious penetrating injury to chest or abdomen), >2 regions positive on Focused Assessment with Sonography for Trauma (FAST) scan, lactate concentration on admission >2.5, admission international normalized ratio ≥1.2-1.4, near infrared spectroscopy-derived StO2 < 75% (in practice, rarely available), BD > 6 meq/L. Unique aspects of out-of-hospital DCR (point of injury, en-route, and remote DCR) and in-hospital (Medical Treatment Facilities: Role 2b/Forward surgical teams - role 3/ combat support hospitals) are reviewed in this guideline, along with pediatric considerations.

Retrograde urethrocystography impairs computed tomography diagnosis of pelvic arterial hemorrhage in the presence of a lower urologic tract injury.

BACKGROUND: There is controversy about the appropriate sequence of urologic investigation in patients with pelvic fracture. Use of retrograde urethrography or cystography may interfere with regular pelvic CT scanning for arterial extravasation. STUDY DESIGN: We performed a retrospective study at a regional trauma center in Toronto, Canada. Included were adult blunt trauma patients with pelvic fractures and concomitant bladder or urethral disruption who underwent initial pelvic CT before operation or hospital admission. Exposure of interest was whether retrograde urethrography (RUG) and cystography were performed before pelvic CT scanning. Main outcomes measures were indeterminate or false negative initial CT examinations for pelvic arterial extravasation. RESULTS: Sixty blunt trauma patients had a pelvic fracture and either a urethral or bladder rupture. Forty-nine of these patients underwent initial CT scanning. Of these 49 patients, 23 had RUG or conventional cystography performed before pelvic CT scanning; 26 had cystography after regular CT examination. Performing cystography before CT was associated with considerably more indeterminate scans (9 patients) and false negatives (2 patients) for pelvic arterial extravasation (11 of 23 versus 0 of 26, p < 0.001) compared with performing urologic investigation after CT. In the presence of pelvic arterial hemorrhage, indeterminate or false negative CT scans for arterial extravasation were associated with a trend toward longer mean times to embolization compared with positive scans (p=0.1). CONCLUSIONS: Extravasating contrast from lower urologic injuries can interfere with the CT assessment for pelvic arterial extravasation, delaying angiographic embolization.