Postinjury abdominal compartment syndrome does not preclude early enteral feeding after definitive closure.

BACKGROUND: Critically injured patients are susceptible to the abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS), which requires decompressive laparotomy with delayed abdominal closure. Previous work by the University of Texas Houston group showed impaired gut function after resuscitation-associated gut edema. The purpose of this study was to determine if enteral nutrition was precluded by the intra-abdominal hypertension and bowel edema of the ACS. METHODS: Patients developing postinjury ACS from January 1996 to August 2003 at our level-I trauma center were reviewed. Patient demographics, time to definitive abdominal closure, and institution and tolerance of enteral nutrition were evaluated. RESULTS: Thirty-seven patients developed postinjury ACS during the study period; 26 men and 11 women with a mean age of 36 +/- 4 and injury severity score of 33 +/- 4. Mean intra-abdominal pressure before decompression was 32 +/- 3 mm Hg, and concurrent mean peak airway pressure was 50 +/- 4 cm oxygen. Enteral feeding was never started in 12 patients; 4 died within 48 hours of admission, 7 required vasoactive agents until their death, and 1 developed an enterocutaneous fistula requiring parenteral nutrition. Enteral feeding was initiated in the remaining 25 patients: 13 had feeds started within 24 hours of abdominal closure; 5 were fed with open abdomens; and 7 had a delay because of vasopressors (n = 2), multiple trips to the operating room (n = 2), paralytics (n = 2), and increased intra-abdominal pressures (n = 1). Once advanced, enteral feeding was tolerated in 23 (92%) of the 25 patients with attainment of goal feeds in a mean of 3.1 +/- 1 days. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the bowel edema and intra-abdominal hypertension related to the ACS, early enteral feeding is feasible after definitive abdominal closure.

Evaluation of a new technique for bedside percutaneous tracheostomy.

BACKGROUND: Percutaneous tracheostomy as described by Ciaglia is accepted as a safe technique with minimal associated morbidity. Recent modification of the technique to a single-step dilator prompted us to evaluate this in the critically injured patient. METHODS: A comparison of patients undergoing percutaneous tracheostomy was performed. From May 1998 to May 1999, patients underwent surgery using the sequential multidilator technique (MDT), and from July 1999 to July 2000, patients underwent surgery using the single dilation technique (SDT). RESULTS: Ninety-three tracheostomies were performed, 49 MDT and 44 SDT. Time to tracheostomy and total ventilator days was similar between the groups. Three complications occurred. In the MDT group, 1 patient experienced delayed tracheal hemorrhage not requiring transfusion. In the SDT group, 1 patient had transient right lower lobe collapse, and another patient had unexplained extubation requiring emergent cricothyroidotomy. CONCLUSIONS: Percutaneous tracheostomy using the single-step Rhino dilator technique is technically easier than the currently accepted multidilator technique with equivalent complications.

Nutrition support of the trauma patient.

Hypercatabolism after trauma may lead to acute protein malnutrition, ultimately resulting in multiple organ failure. Nutrition support may prevent this sequence. This review addresses the need for early nutrition support, the preferred route of substrate delivery, and the potential advantages of "immune-enhancing" diets.

Early tracheostomy improves outcomes in severely injured children and adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Early tracheostomy has been advocated for adult trauma patients to improve outcomes and resource utilization. We hypothesized that timing of tracheostomy for severely injured children would similarly impact outcomes. METHODS: Injured children undergoing tracheostomy over a 10-year period (2002-2012) were reviewed. Early tracheostomy was defined as post-injury day ≤ 7. Data were compared using Student's t test, Pearson chi-squared test and Fisher exact test. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05 with 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS: During the 10-year study period, 91 patients underwent tracheostomy following injury. Twenty-nine (32%) patients were < 12 years old; of these, 38% received early tracheostomy. Sixty-two (68%) patients were age 13 to 18; of these, 52% underwent early tracheostomy. Patients undergoing early tracheostomy had fewer ventilator days (p=0.003), ICU days (p=0.003), hospital days (p=0.046), and tracheal complications (p=0.03) compared to late tracheostomy. There was no difference in pneumonia (p=0.48) between early and late tracheostomy. CONCLUSION: Children undergoing early tracheostomy had improved outcomes compared to those who underwent late tracheostomy. Early tracheostomy should be considered for the severely injured child. SUMMARY: Early tracheostomy is advocated for adult trauma patients to improve patient comfort and resource utilization. In a review of 91 pediatric trauma patients undergoing tracheostomy, those undergoing tracheostomy on post-injury day ≤ 7 had fewer ventilator days, ICU days, hospital days, and tracheal complications compared to those undergoing tracheostomy after post-injury day 7.

Selective Intrabronchial Air Insufflation for Acute Lobar Collapse in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit.

OVERVIEW: The horseshoe kidney is more prone to blunt abdominal trauma because of its low position and the presence of the isthmus across the midline. This is a rare case of complete transection of a horseshoe kidney at the isthmus due to blunt abdominal trauma with two sites of active extravasation on initial CT imaging. This extravasation was successfully treated by embolization with coils. Superselective embolization may be used for effective, minimally invasive control of active extravasation due to blunt renal trauma, even in kidneys with congenital malformations such as the horseshoe kidney.

One thousand bedside percutaneous tracheostomies in the surgical intensive care unit: time to change the gold standard.

BACKGROUND: Bedside percutaneous tracheostomy (BPT) is a cost-effective alternative to open tracheostomy. Small series have consistently documented minimal morbidity, but BPT has yet to be embraced as the standard of care. Because this has been our preferred technique in the surgical ICU for more than 20 years, we reviewed our experience to ascertain its safety. We hypothesize that BPT has acceptably minimal morbidity, even in high-risk patients. STUDY DESIGN: Patients undergoing BPT from January 1998 to June 2008 were reviewed. High-risk patients were defined as those with cervical collar or halo, cervical spine injuries, systemic heparinization, positive end-expiratory pressure >10 cm H(2)O or fraction of inspired oxygen > 50%. RESULTS: During the study period, 1,000 patients underwent BPT (74% men; mean ± SEM age 46 ± 0.6 years; 70% trauma). BPT was performed 8.9 ± 0.2 days (mean ± SEM) after admission. Patients remained ventilator dependent for an additional 9.7 ± 0.4 days (mean ± SEM). There were 482 (48%) patients undergoing BPT who were considered high-risk: 1 risk category, 273 patients; 2 risk categories, 139 patients; 3 risk categories, 56 patients; 4 risk categories, 12 patients; 5 risk categories, 2 patients. Complications occurred in 14 (1.4%) patients. Early complications included tracheostomy tube misplacement requiring revision (n = 4), bleeding requiring intervention (n = 2), infection (n = 1), and procedure failure requiring cricothyroidotomy (n = 1). Late complications included persistent stoma requiring operative closure (n = 4) and subglottic stenosis (n = 2). There were 6 complications (1.2%) in normal risk and 8 complications (1.7%) in high-risk patients. There were no deaths related to BPT. CONCLUSIONS: BPT in the surgical intensive care unit is a safe procedure, even in high-risk patients. We believe BPT is the new gold standard for patients requiring tracheostomy for mechanical ventilation.

Streptococcus milleri infections of the pleural space: operative management predominates.

BACKGROUND: Management of patients with thoracic empyema ranges from tube thoracostomy drainage, with or without fibrinolytics, to operative intervention, with the optimal intervention remaining uncertain. Streptococcus milleri, typically a benign bacterium colonizing the oropharynx, has recently been reported as a potential pathogen in pneumonia and pleural space disease. Our initial experience indicated this infection, when in the pleural space, was particularly tenacious and often required major operative intervention to eradicate. Therefore, we hypothesized that patients with S milleri pleural space infections often require operative intervention as definitive treatment. METHODS: We reviewed all patients from June 17, 1999 to April 15, 2005 with S milleri infections at our level I academic trauma/acute care surgery department at a safety-net hospital. S milleri infections were diagnosed by thoracentesis, bronchoalveolar lavage, tube thoracostomy fluid, or intraoperative culture. RESULTS: Over the 70-month period evaluated, of 697 patients with S milleri infections, 39 patients had S milleri infections of the pleural space; 26 (67%) patients underwent operative intervention. The majority (72%) were men with a mean age of 46 (range 22 to 63); the underlying etiology in those patients requiring operation was pneumonia (26 patients; 67%), trauma (9 patients; 23%), postoperative infection (2 patients), foreign body ingestion (1 patient), and malignancy (1 patient). The vast majority of patients in the operative group were treated preoperatively with tube thoracostomy (88%) and antibiotics (96%). The average duration of chest tube drainage prior to operation was 4.4 days (95% confidence interval [CI] 2.6 to 6.2) and antibiotic treatment was 6.0 days (95% CI 3.8 to 8.2). Thirteen patients (50%) underwent video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) and 13 patients required thoracotomy. VATS was performed more often when operative intervention occurred early (average hospital day 6.2) compared to initial thoracotomy or conversion from VATS to thoracotomy (average hospital day 9.8). Hospital length of stay was less in the operative group (average 24 days; 95% CI 17 to 31) than in the nonoperative group (34 days; 95% CI 19 to 49), discharge to home was greater in the operative group (77% vs. 16%), and mortality was less in operative group (0% vs. 23%). CONCLUSIONS: Despite attempts at nonoperative management, the majority of patients with a S milleri pleural space infection require operative intervention for definitive therapy. Patients diagnosed with S milleri empyema should be considered for early operative intervention due to the unrelenting nature of their infection. Operative treatment is associated with a shorter hospital length of stay, increased discharge to home, and decreased mortality.