Ecuador’s National Surgical Strengthening Plan: first in Latin America, provides hope for surgical care agenda

Since 2015, there has been a notable increase in global efforts by various stakeholders to promote and advance surgical care policies, as proposed by the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery (LCoGS) namely, the development of the National Surgical Obstetric Anesthesia Planning (NSOAP), a country- driven framework that offers a comprehensive approach to health ministries to enhance their surgical systems. Ecuador has affirmed its position as a leading advocate for surgical care in Latin America. Following a two-year process, Ecuador is the first country in the Region of the Americas to launch an NSSP as a key component of a robust health system, including improving emergency responsiveness and pre- paredness

Is the whole greater than the sum of its parts? The implementation and outcomes of a whole blood program in Ecuador.

BACKGROUND: Hemorrhagic shock is a major cause of mortality in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). Many institutions in LMICs lack the resources to adequately prescribe balanced resuscitation. This study aims to describe the implementation of a whole blood (WB) program in Latin America and to discuss the outcomes of the patients who received WB. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective review of patients resuscitated with WB from 2013 to 2019. Five units of O+ WB were made available on a consistent basis for patients presenting in hemorrhagic shock. Variables collected included gender, age, service treating the patient, units of WB administered, units of components administered, admission vital signs, admission hemoglobin, shock index, Revised Trauma Score in trauma patients, intraoperative crystalloid (lactated Ringer's or normal saline) and colloid (5% human albumin) administration, symptoms of transfusion reaction, length of stay, and in-hospital mortality. RESULTS: The sample includes a total of 101 patients, 57 of which were trauma and acute care surgery patients and 44 of which were obstetrics and gynecology patients. No patients developed symptoms consistent with a transfusion reaction. The average shock index was 1.16 (±0.55). On average, patients received 1.66 (±0.80) units of WB. Overall mortality was 13.86% (14 of 101) in the first 24 hours and 5.94% (6 of 101) after 24 hours. DISCUSSION: Implementing a WB protocol is achievable in LMICs. WB allows for more efficient delivery of hemostatic resuscitation and is ideal for resource-restrained settings. To our knowledge, this is the first description of a WB program implemented in a civilian hospital in Latin America. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV.

A comprehensive five-step surgical management approach to penetrating liver injuries that require complex repair.

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to describe a comprehensive five-step surgical management approach for patients with penetrating liver trauma based on our collective institutional experience. METHODS: A prospective consecutive study of all penetrating liver traumas from January 2003 to December 2011 at a regional Level I trauma center in Cali, Colombia, was conducted. RESULTS: A total of 538 patients with penetrating thoracoabdominal trauma were operated on at our institution. Of these, 146 had penetrating liver injuries that satisfied the inclusion criteria for surgical intervention to manage their hepatic and/or associated injuries. Eighty-eight patients (60%) had an American Association for the Surgery of Trauma-Organ Injury Scale (AAST-OIS) of Grade III (54 patients, 37%), Grade IV (24 patients, 16%), and Grade V (10 patients, 7%). This group of patients required advanced "complex" techniques of hemostasis such as the Pringle maneuver (PM), perihepatic liver packing (PHLP), and/or hepatotomy with selective vessel ligation (SVL). The focus of our study was this subgroup of patients, which we further divided into two as follows: those who required only PM + PHLP (55 patients, 63%) to obtain control of their liver hemorrhage and those who required PM + PHLP + SVL (33 patients, 37%). Of the patients who required PM + PHLP + SVL, 10 (27%) required ligation of major intrahepatic branches, which included suprahepatic veins (n = 4), portal vein (n = 4), retrohepatic vena cava (n = 1), and hepatic artery (n = 1). The remaining 23 patients (73%) required direct vessel ligation of smaller intraparenchymal vessels. The overall mortality was 15.9% (14 of 88), with 71.4% (10 of 14) related to coagulopathy. Mortality rates for Grade III was 3.7% (2 of 54), for Grade IV was 20.8% (5 of 24), and for Grade V was 70% (7 of 10). The mortality in the PM + PHLP + SVL group was higher compared with the PM + PHLP group (12 [36.4%] vs. 2 [3.6%], p = 0.001]. CONCLUSION: For those patients who fail to respond to PM + PHLP and/or those who have AAST-OIS penetrating liver injuries, Grades IV and V would benefit from immediate intraparenchymal exploration and SVL.

Damage control resuscitation: early decision strategies in abdominal gunshot wounds using an easy "ABCD" mnemonic.

BACKGROUND: Early damage-control resuscitation (DCR) indicators have not been clearly discerned in patients with penetrating abdominal trauma. Our objective was to identify these clinical indicators that could standardize a DCR initiation policy in this subset of patients. METHODS: Prospective data collection from January 2003 to October 2010 at a Level I trauma center in Cali, Colombia. All adult (>15 years) patients with abdominal gunshot wounds (GSWs) were included. They were divided into two groups: those who underwent DCR and those who did not. Both groups were compared by demographics, clinical variables, severity scores, and overall mortality. Other scores were compared with our newly devised model using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC). RESULTS: There was a total of 331 abdominal GSWs. Of these, a total of 162 (49%) underwent DCR. The overall mortality was 11.2%. Multivariate analysis identified (A) acidosis (base deficit ≥ 8); (B) blood loss (hemoperitoneum > 1,500 mL); (C) cold (temperature < 35 °C); (D) damage (New Injury Severity Score > 35) as significant clinical indicators that aided in the decision process of early implementation of DCR. The Trauma-Associated Severe Hemorrhage (AUROC, 0.8333), McLaughlin (AUROC, 0.8148), ABC (AUROC, 0.7372) scores and our ABCD mnemonic (AUROC, 0.8745) were all good predictors of DCR, and the difference between them was statistically significant (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: We have identified (A) acidosis (base deficit ≥ 8); (B) blood loss (hemoperitoneum > 1,500 mL); (C) cold (temperature < 35 °C); (D) damage (New Injury Severity Score > 35) as significant clinical indicators that aided in the decision process of early implementation of DCR for patients with abdominal GSWs. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Prognostic/epidemiologic study, level III.