Establishment of a swine model of traumatic cardiac arrest induced by haemorrhage and ventricular fibrillation.

OBJECTIVE: To establish and evaluate a swine model of traumatic cardiac arrest (TCA) induced by haemorrhage and ventricular fibrillation. METHODS: Thirteen male pigs were divided into a sham group (n = 5) and TCA group (n = 8). Animals in the sham-operated group underwent intubation and monitoring but not haemorrhage and resuscitation, while animals in the TCA group underwent 40% blood volume haemorrhage over 20 min followed by 5 min of ventricular fibrillation and 5 min of cardiopulmonary resuscitation with fluid resuscitation. RESULTS: Restoration of spontaneous circulation was achieved in seven of eight animals in the TCA group. After resuscitation, the heart rate was significantly increased while the mean arterial pressure and ejection fraction were significantly decreased in the TCA group. The TCA group had significant cardiac and neurological injuries post-resuscitation and had higher serum creatinine and blood lactic acid levels and lower PaO2 than the sham group. Animals in the TCA group also exhibited significantly higher apoptotic indices and caspase-3 protein levels in the heart, brain and kidney than the sham group. CONCLUSION: Animals in this swine model of TCA exhibited high rates of successful resuscitation, significant vital organ injury and prolonged survival. The model is suitable for use in further TCA research.

Regional whole-course trauma care - Experiences from a county-level hospital.

Fifty percent of the deaths caused by severe trauma occur within 1 h after injury. With the concepts of "golden 1 h" and "platinum 10 min", the professionals in the field of emergency trauma treatment have agreed on the necessity of establishing a rapid and efficient trauma rescue system. However, due to the size of the hospital, the population in the neighborhood, the local economic conditions and geographical features, how to establish an optimal trauma rescue system remains an issue. In this paper, we introduced our experiences in a county-level hospital located in middle-and high-income areas.