Fracture related infection and sepsis in orthopedic trauma: A review.

Trauma is a leading cause of death in the United States for people under 45. Amongst trauma-related injuries, orthopedic injuries represent a significant component of trauma-related morbidity. In addition to the potential morbidity and mortality secondary to the specific traumatic injury or injuries sustained, sepsis is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in trauma patients as well, and infection related to orthopedic trauma can be especially devastating. Therefore, infection prevention and early recognition of infections is crucial to lowering morbidity and mortality in trauma. Risk factors for fracture-related infection include obesity, tobacco use, open fracture, and need for flap coverage, as well as fracture of the tibia and the degree of contamination. Timely administration of prophylactic antibiotics for patients presenting with open fractures has been shown to decrease the risk of fracture-related infection, and in patients that do experience sepsis from an orthopedic injury, prompt source control is critical, which may include the removal of implanted hardware in infections that occur more than 6 weeks from operative fixation. Given that orthopedic injury constitutes a significant proportion of traumatic injuries, and will likely continue to increase in number in the future, surgeons caring for patients with orthopedic trauma must be able to promptly recognize and manage sepsis secondary to orthopedic injury.

Time to early resuscitative intervention association with mortality in trauma patients at risk for hemorrhage.

BACKGROUND: Hemorrhage is the leading cause of preventable death after injury. Others have shown that delays in massive transfusion cooler arrival increase mortality, while prehospital blood product resuscitation can reduce mortality. Our objective was to evaluate if time to resuscitation initiation impacts mortality. METHODS: We combined data from the Prehospital Air Medical Plasma (PAMPer) trial in which patients received prehospital plasma or standard care and the Study of Tranexamic Acid during Air and ground Medical Prehospital transport (STAAMP) trial in which patients received prehospital tranexamic acid or placebo. We evaluated the time to early resuscitative intervention (TERI) as time from emergency medical services arrival to packed red blood cells, plasma, or tranexamic acid initiation in the field or within 90 minutes of trauma center arrival. For patients not receiving an early resuscitative intervention, the TERI was calculated based on trauma center arrival as earliest opportunity to receive a resuscitative intervention and were propensity matched to those that did to account for selection bias. Mixed-effects logistic regression assessed the association of 30-day and 24-hour mortality with TERI adjusting for confounders. We also evaluated a subgroup of only patients receiving an early resuscitative intervention as defined above. RESULTS: Among the 1,504 propensity-matched patients, every 1-minute delay in TERI was associated with 2% increase in the odds of 30-day mortality (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.020; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.006-1.033; p < 0.01) and 1.5% increase in odds of 24-hour mortality (aOR, 1.015; 95% CI, 1.001-1.029; p = 0.03). Among the 799 patients receiving an early resuscitative intervention, every 1-minute increase in TERI was associated with a 2% increase in the odds of 30-day mortality (aOR, 1.021; 95% CI, 1.005-1.038; p = 0.01) and 24-hour mortality (aOR, 1.023; 95% CI, 1.005-1.042; p = 0.01). CONCLUSION: Time to early resuscitative intervention is associated with morality in trauma patients with hemorrhagic shock. Bleeding patients need resuscitation initiated early, whether at the trauma center in systems with short prehospital times or in the field when prehospital time is prolonged. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic/Care Management; Level III.

Content and Accessibility of Surgical Critical Care Fellowship Websites in the United States.

BACKGROUND: Resident physicians are using the Internet to gather information about graduate medical education programs. The content of fellowship websites has been demonstrated to influence applicants' decisions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the content of the surgical critical care fellowship (SCCF) program websites. METHODS: A list of Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma (EAST) and American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST) SCCF programs was obtained, and compared to the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) list of accredited programs. The accessibility of each website was assessed through Google®. Content areas were assessed for each SCCF website. RESULTS: At the time of this study, 76 SCCF were listed on the EAST website and an additional 14 were supplied by the AAST database. 125 programs were listed in the ACGME database. Of the 76 SCCF listed by EAST, 44 (58%), 32 (42%), and 7 (9%) of SCCF programs had an EAST listing that was 3, 5, or 10 years or more out of date, respectively. Of the 90 SCCF programs listed on EAST or AAST sites, 36 programs (40%) had an inaccurate PD named on their listing. One hundred and nineteen of the 125 (95%) SCCF programs had websites accessible through Google®. Only 25 (20%) programs had a website containing a program description, faculty list, curriculum, and current/past fellows list. CONCLUSIONS: Many SCCF websites lacked information regarding program specifics. Valuable information for potential applicants was inadequate across SCCF websites.

Functional Status is Key to Long-term Survival in Emergency General Surgery Conditions.

INTRODUCTION: Emergency General Surgery (EGS) conditions in older patients constitutes a substantial public health burden due to high morbidity and mortality. We sought to utilize a supervised machine learning method to determine combinations of factors with the greatest influence on long-term survival in older EGS patients. METHODS: We identified community dwelling participants admitted for EGS conditions from the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey linked with claims (1992-2013). We categorized three binary domains of multimorbidity: chronic conditions, functional limitations, and geriatric syndromes (such as vision or hearing impairment, falls, incontinence). We also collected EGS disease type, age, and sex. We created a classification and regression tree (CART) model to identify groups of variables associated with our outcome of interest, three-year survival. We then performed Cox proportional hazards analysis to determine hazard ratios for each group with the lowest risk group as reference. RESULTS: We identified 1960 patients (median age 79 [interquartile range [IQR]: 73, 85], 59.5% female). The CART model identified the presence of functional limitations as the primary splitting variable. The lowest risk group were patient aged ≤81 y with biliopancreatic disease and without functional limitations. The highest risk group was men aged ≥75 y with functional limitations (hazard ratio [HR] 11.09 (95% confidence interval [CI] 5.91-20.83)). Notably absent from the CART model were chronic conditions and geriatric syndromes. CONCLUSIONS: More than the presence of chronic conditions or geriatric syndromes, functional limitations are an important predictor of long-term survival and must be included in presurgical assessment.

What if You Need More Than One? More Acute Care Surgery Procedures Are Associated with Mortality.

Background: It is unknown whether having multiple acute care surgery (ACS) procedures performed in one admission confers additional risk. We hypothesized that having multiple procedures (for example, hernia repair plus bowel resection) would be associated with higher mortality. Patients and Methods: We identified all 2017 National Inpatient Sample admissions with ACS procedures including: colon, small bowel/appendix (SB), hernia, adhesiolysis, peptic ulcer procedures, gallbladder, debridement, other laparotomy, other laparoscopy. The total number of procedures for each admission and common dyad (two-procedure) and triad (three-procedure) combinations were identified. Logistic regression estimated the odds of in-hospital mortality for increasing procedure count and specific dyad and triad combinations, using patients with one procedure as the reference. Results: A total of 216,317 ACS patients (median age, 57, interquartile range [IQR], 43-70; 50.6% female) were included; 2.8% died. Patients with multiple procedures were more likely to die than patients with one procedure (7.4% vs. 1.9%). An increasing number of procedures was associated with higher odds of death (two procedures: odds ratio [OR], 3.0; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.9-3.2] to six or more procedures, OR, 9.5; 95% CI, 4.9-18.5); having more than three procedures was associated with at least fivefold higher odds of death. Specific dyads/triads were associated with particularly high risk of mortality, including ulcer/laparotomy (OR, 15.5; 95% CI, 13.7-17.5) and laparotomy/SB (OR, 8.31; 95% CI, 5.15-13.40). Conclusions: Multiple ACS procedures in one hospitalization confer increased odds of in-hospital mortality. This knowledge enables the ACS providers to better counsel patients by giving more specific expectations regarding mortality based on the number of procedures required or anticipated during an admission.

High Dimensional Multiomics Reveals Unique Characteristics of Early Plasma Administration in Polytrauma Patients With TBI.

OBJECTIVES: The authors sought to identify causal factors that explain the selective benefit of prehospital administration of thawed plasma (TP) in traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients using mediation analysis of a multiomic database. BACKGROUND: The Prehospital Air Medical Plasma (PAMPer) Trial showed that patients with TBI and a pronounced systemic response to injury [defined as endotype 2 (E2)], have a survival benefit from prehospital administration of TP. An interrogation of high dimensional proteomics, lipidomics and metabolomics previously demonstrated unique patterns in circulating biomarkers in patients receiving prehospital TP, suggesting that a deeper analysis could reveal causal features specific to TBI patients. METHODS: A novel proteomic database (SomaLogic Inc., aptamer-based assay, 7K platform) was generated using admission blood samples from a subset of patients (n=149) from the PAMPer Trial. This proteomic dataset was combined with previously reported metabolomic and lipidomic datasets from these same patients. A 2-step analysis was performed to identify factors that promote survival in E2-TBI patients who had received early TP. First, features were selected using both linear and multivariate-latent-factor regression analyses. Then, the selected features were entered into the causal mediation analysis. RESULTS: Causal mediation analysis of observable features identified 16 proteins and 41 lipids with a high proportion of mediated effect (>50%) to explain the survival benefit of early TP in E2-TBI patients. The multivariate latent-factor regression analyses also uncovered 5 latent clusters of features with a proportion effect >30%, many in common with the observable features. Among the observable and latent features were protease inhibitors known to inhibit activated protein C and block fibrinolysis (SERPINA5 and CPB2), a clotting factor (factor XI), as well as proteins involved in lipid transport and metabolism (APOE3 and sPLA(2)-XIIA). CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that severely injured patients with TBI process exogenous plasma differently than those without TBI. The beneficial effects of early TP in E2-TBI patients may be the result of improved blood clotting and the effect of brain protective factors independent of coagulation.

Prehospital plasma is associated with survival principally in patients transferred from the scene of injury: A secondary analysis of the PAMPer trial.

BACKGROUND: We sought to characterize if prehospital transfer origin from the scene of injury (SCENE) or from a referral emergency department (REF) alters the survival benefit attributable to prehospital plasma resuscitation in patients at risk of hemorrhagic shock. METHODS: We performed a secondary analysis of data from a recently completed prehospital plasma clinical trial. All of the enrolled patients from either the SCENE or REF groups were included. The demographics, injury characteristics, shock severity and resuscitation needs were compared. The primary outcome was a 30-day mortality. Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox-hazard regression were used to characterize the independent survival benefits of prehospital plasma for transport origin groups. RESULTS: Of the 501 enrolled patients, the REF group patients (n = 111) accounted for 22% with the remaining (n = 390) originating from the scene. The SCENE group patients had higher injury severity and were more likely intubated prehospital. The REF group patients had longer prehospital times and received greater prehospital crystalloid and blood products. Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed a significant 30-day survival benefit associated with prehospital plasma in the SCENE group (P < .01) with no difference found in the REF group patients (P = .36). The Cox-regression verified after controlling for relevant confounders that prehospital plasma was independently associated with a 30-day survival in the SCENE group patients (hazard ratio 0.59; 95% confidence interval 0.39-0.89; P = .01) with no significant relationship found in the REF group patients (hazard ratio 1.03, 95% confidence interval 0.4-3.0). CONCLUSION: Important differences across the SCENE and REF cohorts exist that are essential to understand when planning prehospital studies. Prehospital plasma is associated with a survival benefit primarily in SCENE group patients. The results are exploratory but suggest transfer origin may be an important determinant of prehospital plasma benefit.

Do new trauma centers provide needed or redundant access? A nationwide analysis.

BACKGROUND: Our prior research has demonstrated that increasing the number of trauma centers (TCs) in a state does not reliably improve state-level injury-related mortality. We hypothesized that many new TCs would serve populations already served by existing TCs, rather than in areas without ready TC access. We also hypothesized that new TCs would also be less likely to serve economically disadvantaged populations. METHODS: All state-designated adult TCs registered with the American Trauma Society in 2014 and 2019 were mapped using ArcGIS Pro (ESRI Inc., Redlands, CA). Trauma centers were grouped as Level 1 or 2 (Lev12) or Level 3, 4 or 5 (Lev345). We also obtained census tract-level data (73,666 tracts), including population counts and percentage of population below the federal poverty threshold. Thirty-minute drive-time areas were created around each TC. Census tracts were considered "served" if their geographic centers were located within a 30-minute drive-time area to any TC. Data were analyzed at the census tract level. RESULTS: A total of 2,140 TCs were identified in 2019, with 256 new TCs and 151 TC closures. Eighty-two percent of new TCs were Levels 3 to 5. Nationwide, coverage increased from 75.3% of tracts served in 2014 to 78.1% in 2019, representing an increased coverage from 76.0% to 79.4% of the population. New TC served 17,532 tracts, of which 87.3% were already served. New Lev12 TCs served 9,100 tracts, of which 91.2% were already served; new Lev345 TCs served 15,728 tracts, of which 85.9% were already served. Of 2,204 newly served tracts, those served by Lev345 TCs had higher mean percentage poverty compared with those served by Lev12 TCs (15.7% vs. 13.2% poverty, p < 0.05). DISCUSSION: Overall, access to trauma care has been improving in the United States. However, the majority of new TCs opened in locations with preexisting access to trauma care. Nationwide, Levels 3, 4, and 5 TCs have been responsible for expanding access to underserved populations. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Prognostic and Epidemiologic; Level IV.

Association of Complex Multimorbidity and Long-term Survival After Emergency General Surgery in Older Patients With Medicare.

Importance: Although nearly 1 million older patients are admitted for emergency general surgery (EGS) conditions yearly, long-term survival after these acute diseases is not well characterized. Many older patients with EGS conditions have preexisting complex multimorbidity defined as the co-occurrence of at least 2 of 3 key domains: chronic conditions, functional limitations, and geriatric syndromes. The hypothesis was that specific multimorbidity domain combinations are associated with differential long-term mortality after patient admission with EGS conditions. Objective: To examine multimorbidity domain combinations associated with increased long-term mortality after patient admission with EGS conditions. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study included community-dwelling participants aged 65 years and older from the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey with linked Medicare data (January 1992 through December 2013) and admissions for diagnoses consistent with EGS conditions. Surveys on health and function from the year before EGS conditions were used to extract the 3 domains: chronic conditions, functional limitations, and geriatric syndromes. The number of domains present were summed to calculate a categorical rank: no multimorbidity (0 or 1), multimorbidity 2 (2 of the 3 domains present), and multimorbidity 3 (all 3 domains present). Whether operative treatment was provided during the admission was also identified. Data were cleaned and analyzed between January 16, 2020, and April 29, 2021. Exposures: Mutually exclusive multimorbidity domain combinations (functional limitations and geriatric syndromes; functional limitations and chronic conditions; chronic conditions and geriatric syndromes; or functional limitations, geriatric syndromes, and chronic conditions). Main Outcomes and Measures: Time to death (up to 3 years from EGS conditions admission) in patients with multimorbidity combinations was analyzed using a Cox proportional hazards model and compared with those without multimorbidity; hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs are presented. Models were adjusted for age, sex, and operative treatment. Results: Of 1960 patients (median [IQR] age, 79 [73-85] years; 1166 [59.5%] women), 383 (19.5%) had no multimorbidity, 829 (42.3%) had 2 multimorbidity domains, and 748 (38.2%) had all 3 domains present. A total of 376 (19.2%) were known to have died in the follow-up period, with a median (IQR) follow-up of 377 (138-621) days. Patients with chronic conditions and geriatric syndromes had a mortality risk similar to those without multimorbidity. However, all domain combinations with functional limitations were associated with significantly increased risk of death: functional limitations and chronic conditions (HR, 1.83; 95% CI, 1.03-3.23); functional limitations and geriatric syndromes (HR, 2.91; 95% CI, 1.37-6.18); and functional limitations, geriatric syndromes, and chronic conditions (HR, 2.08; 95% CI, 1.49-2.89). Conclusions and Relevance: Findings of this study suggest that a patient's baseline complex multimorbidity level efficiently identifies risk stratification groups for long-term survival. Functional limitations are rarely considered in risk stratification paradigms for older patients with EGS conditions compared with chronic conditions and geriatric syndromes. However, functional limitations may be the most important risk factor for long-term survival.

It is time to define an organizational model for the prevention and management of infections along the surgical pathway: a worldwide cross-sectional survey.

BACKGROUND: The objectives of the study were to investigate the organizational characteristics of acute care facilities worldwide in preventing and managing infections in surgery; assess participants' perception regarding infection prevention and control (IPC) measures, antibiotic prescribing practices, and source control; describe awareness about the global burden of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and IPC measures; and determine the role of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 pandemic on said awareness. METHODS: A cross-sectional web-based survey was conducted contacting 1432 health care workers (HCWs) belonging to a mailing list provided by the Global Alliance for Infections in Surgery. The self-administered questionnaire was developed by a multidisciplinary team. The survey was open from May 22, 2021, and June 22, 2021. Three reminders were sent, after 7, 14, and 21 days. RESULTS: Three hundred four respondents from 72 countries returned a questionnaire, with an overall response rate of 21.2%. Respectively, 90.4% and 68.8% of participants stated their hospital had a multidisciplinary IPC team or a multidisciplinary antimicrobial stewardship team. Local protocols for antimicrobial therapy of surgical infections and protocols for surgical antibiotic prophylaxis were present in 76.6% and 90.8% of hospitals, respectively. In 23.4% and 24.0% of hospitals no surveillance systems for surgical site infections and no monitoring systems of used antimicrobials were implemented. Patient and family involvement in IPC management was considered to be slightly or not important in their hospital by the majority of respondents (65.1%). Awareness of the global burden of AMR among HCWs was considered very important or important by 54.6% of participants. The COVID-19 pandemic was considered by 80.3% of respondents as a very important or important factor in raising HCWs awareness of the IPC programs in their hospital. Based on the survey results, the authors developed 15 statements for several questions regarding the prevention and management of infections in surgery. The statements may be the starting point for designing future evidence-based recommendations. CONCLUSION: Adequacy of prevention and management of infections in acute care facilities depends on HCWs behaviours and on the organizational characteristics of acute health care facilities to support best practices and promote behavioural change. Patient involvement in the implementation of IPC is still little considered. A debate on how operationalising a fundamental change to IPC, from being solely the HCWs responsibility to one that involves a collaborative relationship between HCWs and patients, should be opened.

Evaluating the Cost-effectiveness of Prehospital Plasma Transfusion in Unstable Trauma Patients: A Secondary Analysis of the PAMPer Trial.

Importance: Prehospital plasma transfusion is lifesaving for trauma patients in hemorrhagic shock but is not commonly used owing to cost and feasibility concerns. Objective: To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of prehospital thawed plasma transfusion in trauma patients with hemorrhagic shock during air medical transport. Design, Setting, and Participants: A decision tree and Markov model were created to compare standard care and prehospital thawed plasma transfusion using published and unpublished patient-level data from the Prehospital Plasma in Air Medical Transport in Trauma Patients at Risk for Hemorrhagic Shock (PAMPer) trial conducted from May 2014 to October 2017, health care and trauma-specific databases, and the published literature. Prehospital transfusion, short-term inpatient care, and lifetime health care costs and quality of life outcomes were included. One-way, 2-way, and Monte Carlo probabilistic sensitivity analyses were performed across clinically plausible ranges. Data were analyzed in December 2019. Main Outcomes and Measures: Relative costs and health-related quality of life were evaluated by an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio at a standard willingness-to-pay threshold of $100 000 per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY). Results: The trial included 501 patients in the modified intention-to-treat cohort. Median (interquartile range) age for patients in the thawed plasma and standard care cohorts were 44 (31-59) and 46 (28-60) years, respectively. Overall, 364 patients (72.7%) were male. Thawed plasma transfusion was cost-effective with an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of $50 467.44 per QALY compared with standard care. The preference for thawed plasma was robust across all 1- and 2-way sensitivity analyses. When considering only patients injured by a blunt mechanism, the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio decreased to $37 735.19 per QALY. Thawed plasma was preferred in 8140 of 10 000 iterations (81.4%) on probabilistic sensitivity analysis. A detailed analysis of incremental costs between strategies revealed most were attributable to the in-hospital and postdischarge lifetime care of critically ill patients surviving severe trauma. Conclusions and Relevance: In this study, prehospital thawed plasma transfusion during air medical transport for trauma patients in hemorrhagic shock was lifesaving and cost-effective compared with standard care and should become commonplace.

Dose-dependent association between blood transfusion and nosocomial infections in trauma patients: A secondary analysis of patients from the PAMPer trial.

BACKGROUND: The Prehospital Air Medical Plasma (PAMPer) trial demonstrated a survival benefit to trauma patients who received thawed plasma as part of early resuscitation. The objective of our study was to examine the association between blood transfusion and nosocomial infections among trauma patients who participated in the PAMPer trial. We hypothesized that transfusion of blood products will be associated with the development of nosocomial infections in a dose-dependent fashion. METHODS: We performed a secondary analysis of prospectively collected data of patients in the PAMPer trial with hospital length of stay of at least 3 days. Demographics, injury characteristics, and number of blood products transfused were obtained to evaluate outcomes. Bivariate analysis was performed to identify differences between patients with and without nosocomial infections. Two logistic regression models were created to evaluate the association between nosocomial infections and (1) any transfusion of blood products, and (2) quantity of blood products. Both models were adjusted for age, sex, and Injury Severity Score. RESULTS: A total of 399 patients were included: age, 46 years (interquartile range, 29-59 years); Injury Severity Score, 22 (interquartile range, 12-29); 73% male; 80% blunt mechanism; and 40 (10%) deaths. Ninety-three (27%) developed nosocomial infections, including pneumonia (n = 67), bloodstream infections (n = 14), catheter-associated urinary tract infection (n = 10), skin and soft tissue infection (n = 8), Clostridium difficile colitis (n = 7), empyema (n = 6), and complicated intra-abdominal infections (n = 3). Nearly 80% (n = 307) of patients received packed red blood cells (PRBCs); 12% received cryoprecipitate, 69% received plasma, and 27% received platelets. Patients who received any PRBCs had more than a twofold increase in nosocomial infections (odds ratio, 2.15; 95% confidence interval, 1.01-4.58; p = 0.047). The number of PRBCs given was also associated with the development of nosocomial infection (odds ratio, 1.10; 95% confidence interval, 1.05-1.16; p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Trauma patients in the PAMPer trial who received a transfusion of at least 1 U of PRBCs incurred a twofold increased risk of nosocomial infection, and the risk of infection was dose dependent. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic/care management, level IV.

Lactate as a mediator of prehospital plasma mortality reduction in hemorrhagic shock.

BACKGROUND: Prehospital plasma transfusion in trauma reduces mortality. However, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Reduction in shock severity may play a role. Lactate correlates with physiologic shock severity and mortality after injury. Our objective was to determine if prehospital plasma reduces lactate and if this contributes to the mortality benefit of plasma. METHODS: Patients in the Prehospital Air Medical Plasma trial in the upper quartile of injury severity (Injury Severity Score, >30) were included to capture severe shock. Trial patients were randomized to prehospital plasma or standard care resuscitation (crystalloid ± packed red blood cells). Regression determined the associations between admission lactate, 30-day mortality, and plasma while adjusting for demographics, prehospital crystalloid, time, mechanism, and injury characteristics. Causal mediation analysis determined what proportion of the effect of plasma on mortality is mediated by lactate reduction. RESULTS: A total of 125 patients were included. The plasma group had a lower adjusted admission lactate than standard of care group (coefficient, -1.64; 95% confidence interval [CI], -2.96 to -0.31; p = 0.02). Plasma was associated with lower odds of 30-day mortality (odds ratio [OR], 0.27; 95% CI, 0.08-0.90; p = 0.03). When adding lactate to this model, the effect of plasma on 30-day mortality was no longer significant (OR, 0.36; 95% CI, 0.07-1.88; p = 0.23), while lactate was associated with mortality (OR, 1.74 per 1 mmol/L increase; 95% CI, 1.10-2.73; p = 0.01). Causal mediation demonstrated 35.1% of the total effect of plasma on 30-day mortality was mediated by the reduction in lactate among plasma patients. CONCLUSION: Prehospital plasma is associated with reduced 30-day mortality and lactate in severely injured patients. More than one third of the effect of plasma on mortality is mediated by a reduction in lactate. Thus, reducing the severity of hemorrhagic shock appears to be one mechanism of prehospital plasma benefit. Further study should elucidate other mechanisms and if a dose response exists. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic, level II.

Can educational videos reduce opioid consumption in trauma inpatients? A cluster-randomized pilot study.

BACKGROUND: Opioids are often used to treat pain after traumatic injury, but patient education on safe use of opioids is not standard. To address this gap, we created a video-based opioid education program for patients. We hypothesized that video viewing would lead to a decrease in overall opioid use and morphine equivalent doses (MEDs) on their penultimate hospital day. Our secondary aim was to study barriers to video implementation. METHODS: We performed a prospective pragmatic cluster-randomized pilot study of video education for trauma floor patients. One of two equivalent trauma floors was selected as the intervention group; patients were equally likely to be admitted to either floor. Nursing staff were to show videos to English-speaking or Spanish-literate patients within 1 day of floor arrival, excluding patients with Glasgow Coma Scale score less than 15. Opioid use and MEDs taken on the day before discharge were compared. Intention to treat (ITT) (intervention vs. control) and per-protocol groups (video viewers vs. nonviewers) were compared (α = 0.05). Protocol compliance was also assessed. RESULTS: In intention to treat analysis, there was no difference in percent of patients using opioids or MEDs on the day before discharge. In per-protocol analysis, there was no different in percent of patients using opioids on the day before discharge. However, video viewers still on opioids took significantly fewer MEDs than patients who did not see the video (26 vs. 38, p < 0.05). Protocol compliance was poor; only 46% of the intervention group saw the videos. CONCLUSION: Video-based education did not reduce inpatient opioid consumption, although there may be benefits in specific subgroups. Implementation was hindered by staffing and workflow limitations, and staff bias may have limited the effect of randomization. We must continue to establish effective methods to educate patients about safe pain management and translate these into standard practices. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic, Level IV.

Is more better? Do statewide increases in trauma centers reduce injury-related mortality?

OBJECTIVES: Trauma centers are inconsistently distributed throughout the United States. It is unclear if new trauma centers improve care and decrease mortality. We tested the hypothesis that increases in trauma centers are associated with decreases in injury-related mortality (IRM) at the state level. METHODS: We used data from the American Trauma Society to geolocate every state-designated or American College of Surgeons-verified trauma center in all 50 states and the District of Columbia from 2014 to 2018. These data were merged with publicly available IRM data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We used geographic information systems methods to map and study the relationships between trauma center locations and state-level IRM over time. Regression analysis, accounting for state-level fixed effects, was used to calculate the effect of total statewide number of trauma center on IRM and year-to-year changes in statewide trauma center with the IRM (shown as deaths per additional trauma center per 100,000 population, p value). RESULTS: Nationwide between 2014 and 2018, the number of trauma center increased from 2,039 to 2,153. Injury-related mortality also increased over time. There was notable interstate variation, from 1 to 284 trauma centers. Four patterns in statewide trauma center changes emerged: static (12), increased (29), decreased (5), or variable (4). Of states with trauma center increases, 26 (90%) had increased IRM between 2014 and 2017, while the remaining 3 saw a decline. Regression analysis demonstrated that having more trauma centers in a state was associated with a significantly higher IRM rate (0.38, p = 0.03); adding new trauma centers was not associated with changes in IRM (0.02, p = 0.8). CONCLUSION: Having more trauma centers and increasing the number of trauma center within a state are not associated with decreases in state-level IRM. In this case, more is not better. However, more work is needed to identify the optimal number and location of trauma centers to improve IRM. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Epidemiologic, level III; Care management, level III.

Age of thawed plasma does not affect clinical outcomes or biomarker expression in patients receiving prehospital thawed plasma: a PAMPer secondary analysis.

BACKGROUND: Prehospital plasma administration during air medical transport reduces the endotheliopathy of trauma, circulating pro-inflammatory cytokines, and 30-day mortality among traumatically injured patients at risk of hemorrhagic shock. No clinical data currently exists evaluating the age of thawed plasma and its association with clinical outcomes and biomarker expression post-injury. METHODS: We performed a secondary analysis from the prehospital plasma administration randomized controlled trial, PAMPer. We dichotomized the age of thawed plasma creating three groups: standard-care, YOUNG (day 0-1) plasma, and OLD (day 2-5) plasma. We generated HRs and 95% CIs for mortality. Among all patients randomized to plasma, we compared predicted biomarker values at hospital admission (T0) and 24 hours later (T24) controlling for key difference between groups with a multivariable linear regression. Analyses were repeated in a severely injured subgroup. RESULTS: Two hundred and seventy-one patients were randomized to standard-care and 230 to plasma (40% YOUNG, 60% OLD). There were no clinically or statistically significant differences in demographics, injury, admission vital signs, or laboratory values including thromboelastography between YOUNG and OLD. Compared with standard-care, YOUNG (HR 0.66 (95% CI 0.41 to 1.07), p=0.09) and OLD (HR 0.64 (95% CI 0.42 to 0.96), p=0.03) plasma demonstrated reduced 30-day mortality. Among those randomized to plasma, plasma age did not affect mortality (HR 1.04 (95% CI 0.60 to 1.82), p=0.90) and/or adjusted serum markers by plasma age at T0 or T24 (p>0.05). However, among the severely injured subgroup, OLD plasma was significantly associated with increased adjusted inflammatory and decreased adjusted endothelial biomarkers at T0. DISCUSSION: Age of thawed plasma does not result in clinical outcome or biomarker expression differences in the overall PAMPer study cohort. There were biomarker expression differences in those patients with severe injury. Definitive investigation is needed to determine if the age of thawed plasma is associated with biomarker expression and outcome differences following traumatic injury. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II.

Prehospital Blood Product and Crystalloid Resuscitation in the Severely Injured Patient: A Secondary Analysis of the Prehospital Air Medical Plasma Trial.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine whether prehospital blood products reduce 30-day mortality in patients at risk for hemorrhagic shock compared with crystalloid only resuscitation. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Hemorrhage is the primary cause of preventable death after injury. Large volume crystalloid resuscitation can be deleterious. The benefits of prehospital packed red blood cells (PRBCs), plasma, or transfusion of both products among trauma patients is unknown compared with crystalloid. METHODS: Secondary analysis of the multicenter PAMPer trial was performed on hypotensive injured patients from the scene. The trial randomized 27 helicopter bases to prehospital plasma or standard resuscitation. Standard resuscitation at the sites was equally divided between crystalloid and crystalloid + PRBC. This led to 4 prehospital resuscitation groups: crystalloid only; PRBC; plasma; and PRBC+plasma. Cox regression determined the association between resuscitation groups and risk-adjusted 30-day mortality. The dose effect of resuscitation fluids was also explored. RESULTS: Four hundred seven patients were included. PRBC+plasma had the greatest benefit [hazard ratio (HR) 0.38; 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.26-0.55, P < 0.001], followed by plasma (HR 0.57; 95% CI 0.36-0.91, P = 0.017) and PRBC (HR 0.68; 95% CI 0.49-0.95, P = 0.025) versus crystalloid only. Mortality was lower per-unit of PRBC (HR 0.69; 95% CI 0.52-0.92, p = 0.009) and plasma (HR 0.68; 95% CI 0.54-0.88, P = 0.003). Crystalloid volume was associated with increased mortality among patients receiving blood products (HR 1.65; 95% CI 1.17-2.32, P = 0.004). CONCLUSION: Patients receiving prehospital PRBC+plasma had the greatest mortality benefit. Crystalloid only had the worst survival. Patients with hemorrhagic shock should receive prehospital blood products when available, preferably PRBC+plasma. Prehospital whole blood may be ideal in this population.

Pre-Operative Antibiotic Agents for Facial Fractures: Is More than One Day Necessary?

Background: Despite a paucity of evidence, patients with facial fractures often receive long courses of pre-operative antibiotic agents. This study compared the effect of a short versus long pre-operative antibiotic course on the development of post-operative head/neck infections in this population. Patients and Methods: All adult patients admitted between January 2010 and May 2015 to a level 1 trauma center with isolated head/neck injuries who underwent surgery for facial fracture(s) were included. Patients with infections prior to surgery were excluded. Our primary analysis compared head/neck infections between patients given a short (≤24 hours) versus long (>24 hours) course of pre-operative antibiotic agents. Bivariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression (MLR) were performed to identify risk factors for head/neck infections. Results: This study included 188 patients; median age was 38.5 years, 83% were male, 81% had blunt injuries, 51.6% had fractures in multiple facial thirds, and 48.9% required intensive care unit (ICU) admission. One hundred twenty-five (66.5%) patients received a short course and 63 (33.5%) received a long course of pre-operative antibiotic agents. Head/neck infections were higher in the long course group (28.6% vs 15.2%; p = 0.034), but median days to infection were similar. Factors associated with head/neck infections included penetrating injury, mandible fracture, involvement of multiple facial thirds, ICU admission, operative time, and receiving a long pre-operative antibiotic course. Multivariable logistic regression found mandible fracture (odds ratio [OR], 2.9; p = 0.01) and ICU admission (OR, 3.3; p = 0.003) to be independent predictors of head/neck infections (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.706), but pre-operative antibiotic course was not. Patients with isolated mandible fractures (n = 42) had higher rates of head/neck infections in the long course group (29.4% vs 4.0%; p = 0.032), despite similar demographics. Conclusion: Long (>24 hours) course of continuous pre-operative antibiotic prophylaxis before surgery for facial fractures did not reduce the development of head/neck infections.