Outcomes of an accelerated care pathway for pediatric blunt solid organ injuries in a public healthcare system.

PURPOSE: An accelerated clinical care pathway for solid organ abdominal injuries was implemented at a level one pediatric trauma center. The impact on resource utilization and demonstration of protocol safety was assessed. METHODS: Data were collected retrospectively on patients admitted with blunt abdominal solid organ injuries from 2012 to 2015. Patients were subdivided into pre- and post-protocol groups. Length of hospital stay (LOS) and failure of non-operative treatment were the primary outcomes of interest. RESULTS: 138 patients with solid organ injury were studied: 73 pre- (2012-2014) and 65 post-protocol (2014-2015). There were no significant differences in age, gender, injury severity score (ISS), injury grade, or mechanism (p>0.05). LOS was shorter post-protocol (mean 5.6 vs. 3.4days; median 5 .0 vs. 3.0days; p=0.0002), resulting in average savings of $5966 per patient. Patients in the protocol group mobilized faster (p<0.0001) and experienced fewer blood draws (p=0.02). On multivariate analysis, protocol group (p<0.001) and ISS (p<0.001) were independently associated with LOS. There were no differences between groups in the need for operation, embolization, or transfusion. CONCLUSION: An accelerated care pathway is safe and effective in the management of pediatric solid organ injuries with early mobilization, less blood draws, and decreased LOS without significant morbidity and mortality. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic, cost effectiveness, level III.

"Awake" laparoscopy for the evaluation of equivocal penetrating abdominal wounds.

BACKGROUND: Diagnostic laparoscopy is useful for the assessment of equivocal penetrating abdominal wounds, and has become the modality of choice for the evaluation of such wounds at our institution. We hypothesised that, in appropriate patients, diagnostic "awake" laparoscopy (AL) could be performed under local anaesthesia in the emergency department (ED), allowing for expedited discharge and potential cost savings. METHODS: Selected haemodynamically stable patients with penetrating abdominal injury underwent AL. Suitability for AL was at the discretion of the attending surgeon. Identification of peritoneal penetration by AL led to exploratory laparotomy in the operating room. Patients with no evidence of peritoneal penetration were discharged from the ED (ALneg). These patients were matched to a cohort of 24 patients who underwent diagnostic laparoscopy in the OR which was negative for peritoneal penetration (DLneg). Length of stay and hospital charges were compared. RESULTS: Over a 30-month period, 15 patients underwent AL without complication. No peritoneal penetration was found in 11 patients. The remaining four patients underwent exploratory laparotomy, of which two were positive for intra-abdominal injury. Mean time to discharge was 7h in the ALneg group versus 18 h in the DLneg group (p=0.0003). Cost savings on hospital charges averaged 2227 US dollars per patient in the ALneg group compared with the DLneg group. CONCLUSIONS: AL may be safely performed in the ED, allowing for expedited patient discharge. Cost savings are achieved by the avoidance of charges inherent to diagnostic laparoscopy performed in the operating room.

Autotransfusion utilization in abdominal trauma.

The purpose of this review is to investigate the utility of autotransfusion in trauma patients in the past 3 years. A retrospective review was conducted of the charts for whom the Haemonetics Cell Saver autotransfusion device (Haemonetics Corp., Natick, MA) was utilized between January 1, 1993, and December 31, 1995. The estimated blood loss and quantity of blood transfused were noted for abdominal trauma patients. Costs of autotransfusion were then compared to estimated blood bank costs for this group. The Haemonetics Cell Saver autotransfusion device was requested for 592 cases from January 1, 1993, to December 31, 1995. Nonorthopedic trauma cases comprised 25 per cent of all autotransfusion cases. One hundred twenty-six patients had isolated abdominal trauma and had a mean estimated blood loss of 4864 +/- 6070 cc. The average volume of intraoperatively salvaged autologous blood transfused (autotransfusion) per patient was 1547 +/- 2359 cc, or a bank blood equivalent of 6.9 units of packed red blood cells. The total cost of autotransfusion in these patients was $63,252.00. Had bank blood been used instead of salvaged autologous blood, the cost would have been $114,523.00; thus, autotransfusion resulted in a savings of $51,271.00. The use of salvaged autologous blood comprised 45 per cent of total blood transfused. On a case-by-case basis, 75 per cent of cases were cost-effective compared to blood bank costs for an equivalent transfusion. Transfusion of intraoperatively salvaged autologous blood (autotransfusion) is a cost-effective, efficient way to provide blood products to operative trauma patients.