Operative Management Improves Near-term Survival of Patients With Odontoid Type II Fractures: A Propensity-matched National Registry Analysis.

STUDY DESIGN: National Trauma Data Bank (NTDB) review and propensity-matched analysis. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate differences in clinical outcomes by operative management. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Odontoid type II fractures are the most prevalent cervical fracture. Operative intervention on these fractures is frequently debated; surgical risks are compounded by clinical severity, patient age, and comorbidities. METHODS: This registry review included index admissions for odontoid type II fractures [International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-10 codes beginning with S12.11] from 1/1/2017 to 1/1/2020; patients who died in the emergency department (ED) were excluded. Propensity score techniques were used to match patients 1:1 by surgical management, using a caliper distance of 0.05, after matching on the following covariates that differed significantly between surgical and nonsurgical patients: age, sex, race, cause of injury, transfer status, injury severity score, ED Glasgow coma score, ED systolic blood pressure, presence of transverse ligamentous injury, cervical dislocation, and 8 comorbidities. The following outcomes were analyzed with McNemar tests and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests: near-term survival (discharged from the hospital to locations other than morgue or hospice), intensive care unit (ICU) admission, hospital complications, median hospital length of stay (LOS), and median ICU LOS. RESULTS: There were 16,607 patients, 2916 (17.6%) were operatively managed and 13,691 were nonoperatively managed. Before matching, survival was greater for patients managed operatively compared with nonoperatively (95.0% vs. 88.2%). The matched population consisted of 5334 patients: 2667 patients in the operative group (91.5% of this population) and 2667 well-matched patients in the nonoperative group. After matching, there was a survival benefit for patients who were operatively managed compared with nonoperative management (94.8% vs. 91.4% P <0.001). However, operative management was associated with greater development of complications, ICU admission, and longer hospital and ICU LOS. CONCLUSION: Compared with nonoperative management, operative management demonstrated a significant near-term survival benefit for patients with odontoid type II fractures in select patients. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III.

Rates and risk factors for anastomotic leak following blunt trauma-associated bucket handle intestinal injuries: a multicenter study.

Objectives: The risk factors for anastomotic leak (AL) after resection and primary anastomosis for traumatic bucket handle injury (BHI) have not been previously defined. This multicenter study was conducted to address this knowledge gap. Methods: This is a multicenter retrospective study on small intestine and colonic BHIs from blunt trauma between 2010 and 2021. Baseline patient characteristics, risk factors, presence of shock and transfusion, operative details, and clinical outcomes were compared using R. Results: Data on 395 subjects were submitted by 12 trauma centers, of whom 33 (8.1%) patients developed AL. Baseline details were similar, except for a higher proportion of patients in the AL group who had medical comorbidities such as diabetes, hypertension, and obesity (60.6% vs. 37.3%, p=0.015). AL had higher rates of surgical site infections (13.4% vs. 5.3%, p=0.004) and organ space infections (65.2% vs. 11.7%, p<0.001), along with higher readmission and reoperation rates (48.4% vs. 9.1%, p<0.001, and 39.4% vs. 11.6%, p<0.001, respectively). There was no difference in intensive care unit length of stay or mortality (p>0.05). More patients with AL were discharged with an ostomy (69.7% vs. 7.3%, p<0.001), and the mean duration until ostomy reversal was 5.85±3 months (range 2-12.4 months). The risk of AL significantly increased when the initial operation was a damage control procedure, after adjusting for age, sex, injury severity, presence of one or more comorbidities, shock, transfusion of >6 units of packed red blood cells, and site of injury (adjusted RR=2.32 (1.13, 5.17)), none of which were independent risk factors in themselves. Conclusion: Damage control surgery performed as the initial operation appears to double the risk of AL after intestinal BHI, even after controlling for other markers of injury severity. Level of evidence: III.

Suicide versus homicide firearm injury patterns on trauma systems in a study of the National Trauma Data Bank (NTDB).

Firearm related mortality in the USA surpassed all other developed countries. This study hypothesizes that injury patterns, weapon type, and mortality differ between suicide groups as opposed to homicide. The American College of Surgeons National Trauma Database was queried from January 2017 to December 2019. All firearm related injuries were included, and weapon type was abstracted. Differences between homicide and suicide groups by sex, age, race, and injury severity were compared using a Mann-Whitney test for numerical data and Fisher's exact test for categorical data. The association between weapon type and mortality relative to suicide as opposed to homicide was assessed in Fisher's exact tests. Significance was defined as p < 0.05. There were 100,031 homicide and 11,714 suicide subjects that met inclusion criteria. Homicides were mostly assault victims (97.6%), male (88%), African-American (62%), had less severe injury (mean (ISS) 12.07) and a median age of 20 years old (IQR: 14, 30, p < 0.01). Suicides were mostly male (83%), white (79%), had more severe injury (mean ISS 20.73), and a median age of 36 years old (IQR: 19, 54, p < 0.01). Suicide group had higher odds of head/neck (OR = 13.6) or face (OR = 5.7) injuries, with lower odds of injury to chest (OR = 0.55), abdominal or pelvic contents (OR = 0.25), extremities or pelvic girdle (OR = 0.15), or superficial soft tissue (OR = 0.32). Mortality rate was higher for suicide group (44.8%; 95% confidence interval (CI) 43.9%, 45.7%) compared to the homicide group (11.5%; 95% CI 11.3%, 11.7%). Suicide had higher mortality, more severe injuries, and more head/neck/facial injuries than homicide. Majority of suicides were with handguns.

Correlation between intracranial pressure monitoring for severe traumatic brain injury with hospital length of stay and discharge disposition: a retrospective observational cohort study.

OBJECTIVES: Intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring is recommended for severe traumatic brain injuries (TBI) but some data suggests it may not improve outcomes. The objective was to investigate the effect of ICP monitoring among TBI. METHODS: This retrospective observational cohort study (1/1/2015-6/1/2020) included severe TBI patients. Outcomes [discharge destination, length of stay (LOS)] were compared by ICP monitoring and were stratified by GCS (3 vs. 4-8), α < 0.05. RESULTS: Of the123 patients who met inclusion criteria, 47% received ICP monitoring. There were baseline differences in the two groups characteristics, ICP monitored patients were younger (p = 0.02), had a subarachnoid hemorrhage less often (p = 0.04), and a subdural hematoma more often (p = 0.04) than those without ICP monitors. ICP monitored patients had a significantly longer median LOS (12 vs. 3, p < 0.01) than patients without monitoring. There was a trend towards more ICP monitored patients discharged home (40% vs. 23%, p = 0.06). Among patients with GCS = 3, ICP monitored patients had a longer LOS (p < 0.01) with no significant differences in discharge destinations. For those with a GCS of 4-8, ICP monitoring was associated with a longer LOS (p = 0.01), but fewer were discharged to a skilled nursing facility or long-term care (p = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: For TBI patients, ICP monitoring was associated with an increased LOS, with no significant differences in discharge destinations when compared to those without ICP monitoring. However, among only those with a GCS of 4-8, ICP monitoring was associated with a decreased proportion of patients discharged to a skilled nursing facility or long-term acute care .

Telehealth Delivery of Outpatient Pediatric Surgical Care in Hawai'i: An Opportunity Analysis.

In the state of Hawai'i, nearly all pediatric surgical care is delivered on the main island of O'ahu at the state's primary tertiary children's hospital. Outpatient clinic visits require patients and families to travel to O'ahu. The direct and opportunity costs of this can be significant. The objective of this study was to characterize potential telehealth candidates to estimate the opportunity for telehealth delivery of outpatient pediatric surgical care. A retrospective chart review including all patients transported from neighbor islands for outpatient consultation with a pediatric surgeon on O'ahu over a 4-year period was performed. Each patient visit was examined to determine if the visit was eligible for telehealth services using stringent criteria. Direct, insurance-based costs of the travel necessary were then determined. Demographic data was used to characterize the patients potentially affected. A total of 1081 neighbor island patients were seen in the pediatric surgery clinic over 4 years. Thirty-one percent of these patients met criteria as candidates for telehealth visits. The majority of patients came from Hawai'i and Maui. Most patients were identified as Native Hawaiian or Asian. The average cost per trip was $112.53 per person, leading to a potential direct cost savings of $37,697 over 4 years. Over 30% of outpatient pediatric surgical encounters met stringent criteria as candidates for telehealth delivery of care. Given the significant number of patients that met our criteria, we believe there is an opportunity for direct, travel-based cost savings with the implementation of telehealth delivery of outpatient pediatric surgical care in Hawai'i.