Identification and Management of Pelvic Fractures in Prehospital and Emergency Department Settings.

INTRODUCTION: This study aims to describe the characteristics of patients with a pelvic fracture treated at a level 1 trauma center, the proportion of prehospital undertriage and the use of pelvic circumferential compression device (PCCD). METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort study. Prehospital and inhospital medical records of adults (≥16 y old) with a pelvic fracture who were treated at Hopital de l'Enfant-Jesus-CHU de Québec (Quebec City, Canada), a university-affiliated level 1 trauma center, between September 01, 2017 and September 01, 2021 were reviewed. Isolated hip or pubic ramus fracture were excluded. Data are presented using proportions and means with standard deviations. RESULTS: A total of 228 patients were included (males: 62.3%; mean age: 54.6 [standard deviation 21.1]). Motor vehicle collision (47.4%) was the main mechanism of injury followed by high-level fall (21.5%). Approximately a third (34.2%) needed at least one blood transfusion. Compared to those admitted directly, transferred patients were more likely to be male (73.0% versus 51.3%, P < 0.001) and to have a surgical procedure performed at the trauma center (71.3% versus 46.9%, P < 0.001). The proportion of prehospital undertriage was 22.6%. Overall, 17.1% had an open-book fracture and would have potentially benefited from a prehospital PCCD. Forty-six transferred patients had a PCCD applied at the referral hospital of which 26.1% needed adjustment. CONCLUSIONS: Pelvic fractures are challenging to identify in the prehospital environment and are associated with a high undertriage of 22.6%. Reducing undertriage and optimizing the use of PCCD are key opportunities to improve care of patients with a pelvic fracture.

Implementation of lung ultrasonography by general practitioners for lower respiratory tract infections: a feasibility study.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the feasibility of lung ultrasonography (LUS) performed by novice users' general practitioners (GPs) in diagnosing lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) in primary health care settings. DESIGN: A prospective interventional multicenter study (December 2019-March 2020). SETTINGS AND SUBJECTS: Patients aged >3 months, suspected of having LRTI consulting in three different general practices (GPs) (rural, semirural and urban) in France. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Feasibility of LUS by GPs was assessed by (1) the proportion of patients where LUS was not performed, (2) technical breakdowns, (3) interpretability of images by GPs, (4) examination duration and (5) patient perception and acceptability. RESULTS: A total of 151 patients were recruited, and GPs performed LUS for 111 (73.5%) patients (LUS group). In 99.1% (n = 110) of cases, GPs indicated that they were able to interpret images. The median [IQR] exam duration was 4 [3-5] minutes. LRTI was diagnosed in 70.3% and 60% of patients in the LUS and no-LUS groups, respectively (p = .43). After LUS, GPs changed their diagnosis from 'other' to 'LRTI' in six cases (+5.4%, p < .001), prescribed antibiotics for five patients (+4.5%, p = .164) and complementary chest imaging for 10 patients (+9%, p < .001). Patient stress was reported in 1.8% of cases, 81.7% of patients declared that they better understood the diagnosis, and 82% of patients thought that the GP diagnosis was more reliable after LUS. CONCLUSIONS: LUS by GPs using handheld devices is a feasible diagnostic tool in primary health care for LRTI symptoms, demonstrating both effectiveness and positive patient reception. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: Clinicaltrial.gov: NCT04602234, 20/10/2020.

Impact of delayed mobile medical team dispatch for respiratory distress calls: a propensity score matched study from a French emergency communication center.

BACKGROUND: Shortness of breath is a common complaint among individuals contacting emergency communication center (EMCCs). In some prehospital system, emergency medical services include an advanced life support (ALS)-capable team. Whether such team should be dispatched during the phone call or delayed until the BLS-capable paramedic team reports from the scene is unclear. We aimed to evaluate the impact of delayed MMT dispatch until receiving the paramedic review compared to immediate dispatch at the time of the call on patient outcomes. METHODS: A cross-sectional study conducted in Lyon, France, using data obtained from the departmental EMCC during the period from January to December 2019. We included consecutive calls related to adult patients experiencing acute respiratory distress. Patients from the two groups (immediate mobile medical team (MMT) dispatch or delayed MMT dispatch) were matched on a propensity score, and a conditional weighted logistic regression assessed the adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for each outcome (mortality on days 0, 7 and 30). RESULTS: A total of 870 calls (median age 72 [57-84], male 466 53.6%) were sought for analysis [614 (70.6%) "immediate MMT dispatch" and 256 (29.4%) "delayed MMT" groups]. The median time before MMT dispatch was 25.1 min longer in the delayed MMT group (30.7 [26.4-36.1] vs. 5.6 [3.9-8.8] min, p < 0.001). Patients subjected to a delayed MMT intervention were older (median age 78 [66-87] vs. 69 [53-83], p < 0.001) and more frequently highly dependent (16.3% vs. 8.6%, p < 0.001). A higher proportion of patients in the delayed MMT group required bag valve mask ventilation (47.3% vs. 39.1%, p = 0.03), noninvasive ventilation (24.6% vs. 20.0%, p = 0.13), endotracheal intubation (7.0% vs. 4.1%, p = 0.07) and catecholamine infusion (3.9% vs. 1.3%, p = 0.01). After propensity score matching, mortality at day 0 was higher in the delayed MMT group (9.8% vs. 4.2%, p = 0.002). Immediate MMT dispatch at the call was associated with a lower risk of mortality on day 0 (0.60 [0.38;0.82], p < 0.001) day 7 (0.50 [0.27;0.72], p < 0.001) and day 30 (0.56 [0.35;0.78], p < 0.001) CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that the deployment of an MMT at call in patients in acute respiratory distress may result in decreased short to medium-term mortality compared to a delayed MMT following initial first aid assessment.