Hypothermia as an Outcome Predictor Tool in Pediatric Trauma: A Propensity-Matched Analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Hypothermia is an independent risk factor for mortality in adult trauma patients. Two small studies have shown similar results in pediatric trauma patients. Temperature is not included in any pediatric trauma assessment scores. This study sought to compare mortality and various descriptive outcomes between pediatric hypothermic and normothermic trauma patients. METHODS: Data were obtained from the National Trauma Database from 2009 to 2012. Patients meeting inclusion criteria were stratified by presence of isolated head injury, head injury with multiple trauma, and absence of head injury. These groups were then subdivided into hypothermic (temperature ≤36°C) and normothermic groups. We used propensity score matching to 1:1 match hypothermic and normothermic patients. Mortality, neurosurgical interventions, endotracheal intubation, blood transfusion, length of stay, laparotomy, thoracotomy, conversion of cardiac rhythm, and time receiving mechanical ventilation were evaluated. RESULTS: Data from 3,011,482 patients were obtained. There were 414,562 patients who met the inclusion criteria. In all patients meeting inclusion criteria, hypothermia was a significant risk factor in all outcomes measured. Following stratification and 1:1 matching, in all groups, hypothermia was associated with increased mortality (P < 0.0001), increased rate of endotracheal intubation (P < 0.0002), increased need for blood transfusion (P < 0.0025), and conversion of cardiac rhythm (P < 0.0027). CONCLUSION: Hypothermia has been shown to be a significant prognostic indicator in the pediatric trauma patient with further potential application. Future studies are indicated to evaluate the incorporation of hypothermia into the Pediatric Trauma Score not only to help predict injury severity and mortality but also to improve appropriate and expeditious patient transfer to pediatric trauma centers and potentially facilitate earlier intervention.

Development and Validation of a Controlled Vocabulary: An OWL Representation of Organizational Structures of Trauma Centers and Trauma Systems.

In trauma care and trauma care research there exists an implementation gap regarding a consistent controlled vocabulary to describe organizational aspects of trauma centers and trauma systems. This paper describes the development and evaluation of a controlled vocabulary for trauma care organizations. We give a detailed description of the involvement of domain experts in the domain analysis workflow and the authoring of definitions and additional term descriptions. Finally, the paper details the evaluation methodology to assess the initial version of the controlled vocabulary. The results of the evaluation show that our development process yields terms most of which find approval from domain experts not involved in the development. In addition, our evaluation tools resulted in valuable domain expert input to optimize the controlled vocabulary.

Impact of a statewide trauma system on the triage, transfer, and inpatient mortality of injured patients.

BACKGROUND: In 2009, Arkansas implemented a statewide trauma system to address the high rates of mortality and morbidity due to trauma. The principal objective of the Arkansas Trauma System is to transport patients to the appropriate facility based on the injuries of the patients. This study evaluated four metrics that were crucial to system health. These measures included: treatment location, scene triage, admission to nondesignated facilities, and inpatient mortality. Furthermore, the authors sought to quantify how the system is selective toward the severely injured regarding triage and treatment location. The authors hypothesized that system implementation should increase the proportion of patients, particularly the severely injured, treated at Level I/II facilities. The system should increase the proportion of patients, especially the severely injured, admitted to Level I/II facilities directly from the scene. The system should result in fewer patients admitted to nondesignated facilities. Lastly, system implementation should result in fewer inpatient deaths. METHODS: A pre-post study design was used for this evaluation. Data from the Arkansas Hospital Discharge data set (2007 through 2012) identified patients who were admitted as a result of their injuries. The ICD-MAP software was used to categorize those with and without severe injuries based on an Injury Severity Score of 16 or greater or head Abbreviated Injury Scale score of 3 or greater. RESULTS: The results indicate that while there was an overall increase in odds of patients being admitted to Level I/II facilities, those with severe injuries were associated with an even greater odds of admission to Level I/II facilities (p < 0.0001). System implementation was also associated with more severely injured patients admitted to Level I/II facilities from the scene. There were also fewer patients admitted to nondesignated hospitals after system implementation (p < 0.0001). System implementation was associated with fewer inpatient deaths (p = 0.02). CONCLUSION: Two years after implementation, the trauma system showed significant progress. The measures evaluated in this study are believed to support the effectiveness of the trauma system. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic study, level IV.

Injured Children Receive Twice the Radiation Dose at Nonpediatric Trauma Centers Compared With Pediatric Trauma Centers.

BACKGROUND: Use of cranial CT scans in children has been increasing, in part due to increased awareness of sports-related concussions. CT is the largest contributor to medical radiation exposure, a risk factor for cancer. Long-term cancer risks of CT scans can be two to three times higher for children than for adults because children are more radiosensitive and have a longer lifetime in which to accumulate exposure from multiple scans. STUDY AIM: To compare the radiation exposure injured children receive when imaged at nonpediatric hospitals (NPHs) versus pediatric hospitals. METHODS: Injured children younger than 18 years who received a CT scan at a referring hospital during calendar years (CYs) 2010 and 2013 were included. Patient-level factors included demographics, mode of transportation, and Injury Severity Score, and hospital-level factors included region of state, radiology services, and hospital type and size. Our primary outcome of interest was the effective radiation dose. RESULTS: Four hundred eighty-seven children were transferred to the pediatric trauma center during CYs 2010 and 2013, with a median age of 7.2 years (interquartile range 5-13). The median effective radiation dose received at NPHs was twice that received at the pediatric trauma center (3.8 versus 1.6 mSv, P < .001). Results were confirmed in independent and paired analyses, after controlling for mode of transportation, emergency department disposition, level of injury severity, and at the NPH trauma center level, hospital type, size, region, and radiology services location. CONCLUSION: NPHs have the potential to substantially reduce the medical radiation received by injured children. Pediatric CT protocols should be considered.

Pediatric vascular injuries: Are we preparing trainees appropriately to meet our needs?

BACKGROUND: There is no required competency for pediatric vascular injury in surgical training. We sought to describe changes over time for surgical specialists operating on pediatric vascular trauma injuries at a pediatric trauma center. METHODS: Charts were retrospectively reviewed for vascular trauma injuries at a freestanding children's hospital between 1993 and 2015. Data were collected on mechanism, injured vessel(s), operation(s) performed, and specialists performing operation. Surgical specialists were compared over time. RESULTS: Ninety-four patients (median age = 12) underwent 101 pediatric vascular trauma operations. There were significant differences in frequency of types of operations (primary repairs, graft repairs, and ligations) performed by pediatric, vascular, and orthopedic surgeons (P < .001). The proportion of operations performed by vascular surgeons increased and those performed by pediatric surgeons decreased significantly over time. CONCLUSIONS: Various surgical specialists manage pediatric vascular trauma. With expansion of integrated residency programs, surgical specialists managing these patients in the future should be trained in both pediatric and vascular surgery.

The Clinical Impact of a Web-Based Image Repository on Radiation Exposure in Injured Children.

PURPOSE: The long-term cancer risks for children exposed to radiologic images can be two to three times higher than for adults because children are more sensitive to radiation and have a longer lifetime in which to accumulate exposure from CT scans. Injured children often undergo repeat CT imaging if they are transferred from non-pediatric hospitals to a Level I pediatric trauma center (PTC). This study determined the impact of a statewide web-based image repository (WBIR) on repeat imaging among transferred injured children. METHODS: All injured children who underwent CT imaging and were transferred to the PTC in 2010 (pre-WBIR) and 2013 (post-WBIR) were included. Patient-level factors studied included demographics, body region of scan, Injury Severity Score, and Emergency Department (ED) disposition. Change from pre to post on rate of repeat imaging was assessed. RESULTS: Two hundred fifty-four and 233 children, with a median age of 7.3 years, were transferred to the Children's Hospital in 2010 and 2013, respectively. Repeat imaging levels at the PTC were lower post-WBIR than pre-WBIR (20% versus 33%, odds ratio [OR] 0.54, P = .005). Images of the head decreased most significantly (60% versus 33%, OR 0.33). Images performed at Level II and III trauma centers were repeated less often after WBIR. CONCLUSIONS: The WBIR significantly reduced repeat imaging among injured children transferred to a PTC, especially children transferred from Level II and Level III trauma centers, children with lower-acuity injuries, and children with initial scans of the head. Radiation savings are expected to be beneficial to children.

Use of a Novel Accounting and Grouping Method for Major Trunk Injury-Analysis of Data from a Statewide Trauma Financial Survey.

Major trunk trauma is common and costly, but comparisons of costs between trauma centers (TCs) are rare. Understanding cost is essential to improve quality, manage trauma service lines, and to facilitate institutional commitment for trauma. We have used results of a statewide trauma financial survey of Levels I to IV TC to develop a useful grouping method for costs and clinical characteristics of major trunk trauma. The trauma financial survey collected billing and clinical data on 75 per cent of the state trauma registry patients for fiscal year 2012. Cost was calculated by separately accounting for embedded costs of trauma response and verification, and then adjusting reasonable costs from the Medicare cost report for each TC. The cost-to-charge ratios were then recalculated and used to determine uniform cost estimates for each patient. From the 13,215 patients submitted for the survey, we selected 1,094 patients with major trunk trauma: lengths of stay ≥ 48 hours and a maximum injury of AIS ≥3 for either thorax or abdominal trauma. These patients were then divided into three Injury Severity Score (ISS) groups of 9 to 15, 16 to 24, or 25+ to stratify patients into similar injury groups for analysis of cost and cost drivers. For abdominal injury, average total cost for patients with ISS 9 to 15 was $17,429. Total cost and cost per day increased with severity of injury, with $51,585 being the total cost for those with ISS 25. Similar trends existed for thoracic injury. Use of the Medicare cost report and cost-to-charge ratios to compute uniform costs with an innovative grouping method applied to data collected across a statewide trauma system provides unique information regarding cost and outcomes, which affects quality improvement, trauma service line management, and decisions on TC participation.

OOSTT: a Resource for Analyzing the Organizational Structures of Trauma Centers and Trauma Systems.

Organizational structures of healthcare organizations has increasingly become a focus of medical research. In the CAFÉ project we aim to provide a web-service enabling ontology-driven comparison of the organizational characteristics of trauma centers and trauma systems. Trauma remains one of the biggest challenges to healthcare systems worldwide. Research has demonstrated that coordinated efforts like trauma systems and trauma centers are key components of addressing this challenge. Evaluation and comparison of these organizations is essential. However, this research challenge is frequently compounded by the lack of a shared terminology and the lack of effective information technology solutions for assessing and comparing these organizations. In this paper we present the Ontology of Organizational Structures of Trauma systems and Trauma centers (OOSTT) that provides the ontological foundation to CAFÉ's web-based questionnaire infrastructure. We present the usage of the ontology in relation to the questionnaire and provide the methods that were used to create the ontology.

Determining the hospital trauma financial impact in a statewide trauma system.

BACKGROUND: There have been no comprehensive studies across an organized statewide trauma system using a standardized method to determine cost. STUDY DESIGN: Trauma financial impact includes the following costs: verification, response, and patient care cost (PCC). We conducted a survey of participating trauma centers (TCs) for federal fiscal year 2012, including separate accounting for verification and response costs. Patient care cost was merged with their trauma registry data. Seventy-five percent of the 2012 state trauma registry had data submitted. Each TC's reasonable cost from the Medicare Cost Report was adjusted to remove embedded costs for response and verification. Cost-to-charge ratios were used to give uniform PCC across the state. RESULTS: Median (mean ± SD) costs per patient for TC response and verification for Level I and II centers were $1,689 ($1,492 ± $647) and $450 ($636 ± $431) for Level III and IV centers. Patient care cost-median (mean ± SD) costs for patients with a length of stay >2 days rose with increasing Injury Severity Score (ISS): ISS <9: $6,787 ($8,827 ± $8,165), ISS 9 to 15: $10,390 ($14,340 ± $18,395); ISS 16 to 25: $15,698 ($23,615 ± $21,883); and ISS 25+: $29,792 ($41,407 ± $41,621), and with higher level of TC: Level I: $13,712 ($23,241 ± $29,164); Level II: $8,555 ($13,515 ± $15,296); and Levels III and IV: $8,115 ($10,719 ± $11,827). CONCLUSIONS: Patient care cost rose with increasing ISS, length of stay, ICU days, and ventilator days for patients with length of stay >2 days and ISS 9+. Level I centers had the highest mean ISS, length of stay, ICU days, and ventilator days, along with the highest PCC. Lesser trauma accounted for lower charges, payments, and PCC for Level II, III, and IV TCs, and the margin was variable. Verification and response costs per patient were highest for Level I and II TCs.

Restraint status improves the predictive value of motor vehicle crash criteria for pediatric trauma team activation.

BACKGROUND: Most trauma centers incorporate mechanistic criteria (MC) into their algorithm for trauma team activation (TTA). We hypothesized that characteristics of the crash are less reliable than restraint status in predicting significant injury and the need for TTA. METHODS: We identified 271 patients (age, <15 y) admitted with a diagnosis of motor vehicle crash. Mechanistic criteria and restraint status of each patient were recorded. Both MC and MC plus restraint status were evaluated as separate measures for appropriately predicting TTA based on treatment outcomes and injury scores. RESULTS: Improper restraint alone predicted a need for TTA with an odds ratios of 2.69 (P = .002). MC plus improper restraint predicted the need for TTA with an odds ratio of 2.52 (P = .002). In contrast, the odds ratio when using MC alone was 1.65 (P = .16). When the 5 MC were evaluated individually as predictive of TTA, ejection, death of occupant, and intrusion more than 18 inches were statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Improper restraint is an independent predictor of necessitating TTA in this single-institution study.

Acute kidney injury is associated with increased in-hospital mortality in mechanically ventilated children with trauma.

BACKGROUND: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is associated with significant morbidity and mortality in patients with critical illness; however, its impact on children with trauma is not fully unexplored. We hypothesized that AKI is associated with increased in-hospital mortality. METHODS: A retrospective review of consecutive mechanically ventilated patients aged 0 years to 20 years from 2004 to 2007 with trauma hospitalized at our institution was performed. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify whether AKI was a risk factor for hospital mortality. RESULTS: Eighty-eight patients met inclusion/exclusion criteria. The study cohort included 58 (66%) males with mean (SD) age of 11.6 (5.5) years (median, 13.25; range, 0.083-19.42 years) and mean (SD) Pediatric Expanded Logical Organ Dysfunction score of 24 (11) (median, 22; range 2-51). Mean pediatric intensive care unit length of stay (median, 11; range, 4-43) and duration of mechanical ventilation (median, 9; range, 3-34), was 13.5 (8.2) days and 11.2 (7.2) days, respectively. The mean (SD) Injury Severity Score for the cohort was 28 (14). Pediatric RIFLE identified those at risk (R), those with injury (I), or those with failure (F) in 30 (51%), 10 (17%), and 12 (21%) patients, respectively. There was a 10% (3 of 30 patients) mortality rate in those at risk, 30% (3 of 10 patients) in those with injury, and 33% (4 of 12 patients) in those with failure. AKI (injury and failure groups) was significantly associated with increased in-hospital mortality. CONCLUSION: Development of AKI (injury or failure) is a significant risk factor associated with in-hospital mortality. Our study highlights the need to consider both urine output as well as creatinine-based components of the pRIFLE criteria to define AKI. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Prognostic and epidemiological study, level II.