Evaluation of Current and Future Medical Staff Knowledge on the Course of Trauma Patient Management.

INTRODUCTION: Management of injuries, especially in life-threatening situations, is critical to morbidity and mortality for trauma patients. The qualifications of medical staff and students in medicine, emergency medical services, and nursing help to ensure consistent, high-quality care for patients. The study aimed to assess the knowledge of our staff and learners in the management of trauma patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study was carried out using a proprietary research tool consisting of 47 questions, including six independent variables. The knowledge assessment tool has been divided into five categories according to the degree of difficulty. The questions have been created based on the current guidelines of the ERC 2021, ITLS, PTLS, and TCCC. RESULTS: The study included 295 subjects (medical students, nursing students, students of emergency medical services, physicians, paramedics, and nurses). The vast majority of respondents (79.7%) have never participated in a certified trauma course. Respondents could obtain a total of 117 points for answering all questions. The highest score was 111 points, and the lowest was 26 points. The average score was 63 points. Paramedics received the highest average score of 78 points. The question with the smallest number of correct answers concerned the priority procedure in the case of an electric shock victim. CONCLUSION: Better training in trauma patient management is needed for both current medical staff and students. A certified trauma course is a good source of knowledge and skills, but it would need to be repeated periodically. This would ensure an increase in the competence of medical staff involved in the care of trauma patients.

Thyromental height test as a new method for prediction of difficult intubation with double lumen tube.

BACKGROUND: Predicting difficult intubation is of high clinical interest. METHODS: 237 patients aged ≥18 years were included in the study. Preoperative airway evaluation included: Mallampati test, thyromental distance, sternomental distance and thyromental height test. During direct laryngoscopy Cormack & Lehane classification was graded. We calculated the ROC AUC, sensitivity and specificity for thyromental height test as a primary end point of our study. RESULTS: Only thyromental height test and Cormack-Lehane scale proved significant on occurrence of difficult intubation. The optimal sensitivity and specificity values of thyromental height test were met with a cut off value of 50 mm. With 1 mm increase in thyromental height test, risk of difficult intubation decreased by 7%. CONCLUSION: Thyromental height test is a simple, easy to perform and non-invasive test to predict difficult intubation in patients scheduled for elective double lumen tube intubation during thoracic surgical procedures. With 1 mm above 50 mm increase in thyromental height test the risk of difficult intubation decreased by 7%. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT02988336.