No Link Between Inadvertent Surgical Glove Contamination and Surgical Site Infection in Patients Undergoing Elective Neurosurgical Operations.

INTRODUCTION: Controllable factors associated with surgical site infections (SSIs) have focused on reducing contamination of the surgical field with potential pathogens. The aim of this prospective study is to determine the incidence of glove contamination in a series of elective neurosurgical operations and determine the relationship of such glove contamination to subsequent SSI. We hypothesize that contamination of surgical gloves is associated with subsequent SSI. METHODS: In this prospective quality improvement study, gloves of the surgical team were swabbed for standard culture just prior to wound closure of elective neurosurgical operations. Patient characteristics, surgical details, and occurrence of subsequent SSIs were collected retrospectively from the electronic medical records. Data were analyzed with χ2 with Fisher's exact test and Student's t test. RESULTS: Surgical glove contamination occurred in 10 of 96 elective neurosurgical cases (10.4%). SSIs occurred in 6 cases (6.2%), but no SSI occurred in a case in which surgical glove contamination occurred (P = 1). SSI was associated with younger patient age (P = 0.0448), and surgical glove contamination was associated with less resident experience (P = 0.0354). CONCLUSIONS: Surgical glove contamination identified at the time of wound closure does not correlate with the development of subsequent SSI in elective neurosurgical operations.

Multi-Center Validation of the McGovern Pediatric Blunt Cerebrovascular Injury Screening Score.

Blunt cerebrovascular injury (BCVI) is defined as blunt trauma to the head and neck leading to damage to the vertebral and/or carotid arteries; debate exists regarding which children are considered at high risk for BCVI and in need of angiographic/vessel imaging. We previously proposed a screening tool, the McGovern score, to identify pediatric trauma patients at high risk for BCVI, and we aim to validate the McGovern score by pooling data from multiple pediatric trauma centers. This is a multi-center, hospital-based, cohort study from all prospectively registered pediatric (<16 years of age) trauma patients who presented to the emergency department (ED) between 2003 and 2017 at six Level 1 pediatric trauma centers. The registry was retrospectively queried for patients who received a computed tomography angiogram (CTA) as a screening method for BCVI. Age, length of follow-up, mechanism of injury (MOI), arrival Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score, and focal neurological deficit were recorded. Radiological variables queried were the presence of a carotid canal fracture, petrous temporal bone fracture, and CT presence of infarction. Patients with BCVI were queried for mode of treatment, type of intracranial injury, artery damaged, and BCVI injury grade. The McGovern score was calculated for all patients who underwent CTA across all data groups. A total of 1012 patients underwent CTA; 72 of these patients were found to have BCVI, 51 of which were in the validation cohort. Across all data groups, the McGovern score has a >80% sensitivity (SN) and >98% negative predictive value (NPV). The McGovern score for pediatric BCVI is an effective, generalizable screening tool.

Reliability of an Automated Computerized Hematoma Volumetric Analysis Protocol in Patients with Chronic Subdural Hemorrhage.

BACKGROUND: Hematoma volume in chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH) may predict neurologic deterioration and need for surgical evacuation. Several computer software-assisted methods exist for accurate volume measurements of intracerebral hemorrhage, but no reliable method has been identified for measurement of CSDH volume. METHODS: A total of 30 consecutive patients with CSDH from 2018-2019 admitted to our institution were selected. The noncontrast computed tomography head studies were reviewed by 2 residents. The region of interest method on a Horos Open Source Medical Image Viewer (version 3.3.6) was utilized for volume measurement by each resident (resident-1 and resident-2) independently. Resident-1 repeated the protocol on the same studies 1 month later. We calculated the intra- and interobserver reliability of hematoma volume measurements using the Bland-Altman method. RESULTS: Mean age of the patients was 79 years (range, 50-92 years). For interobserver analysis, resident-1 mean hematoma volume was 85.46 cm3 (range, 6.40-178.63 cm3) and was 87.15 cm3 (range, 8.79-165.97 cm3) for resident-2. The Bland-Altman coefficient of variation was 13.15% (range, 0.07%-46.29%, 97% within the limits of acceptance). For intraobserver analysis, the initial average volume measured by resident-1 was 85.46 cm3 (range, 6.40-178.63 cm3) and subsequent was 95.26 cm3 (range, 10.48-182.99 cm3). The Bland-Altman coefficient of variation was 13.76% (range, 0.81%-48.34%, 97% within the limits of acceptance). CONCLUSIONS: We are reporting inter- and intraobserver reliability for a novel volumetric analysis of CSDH volume using Horos Medical Image Viewer region of interest generated volume calculation. This method is accurate and efficient and could have important clinical and research implications for risk stratification.

Effects of platelet dysfunction and platelet transfusion on outcomes in traumatic brain injury patients.

OBJECTIVE: Platelet inhibition in traumatic brain injury (TBI) may be due to injury or antiplatelet medication use pre-injury. This study aims to identify factors associated with increased platelet arachidonic acid (AA) and adenosine diphosphate (ADP) inhibition and determine if platelet transfusion reduces platelet dysfunction and affects outcome. METHODS: Prospective thromboelastography (TEG) assays were collected on adult patients with TBI with intracranial injuries detected by computed tomography (CT). Outcomes included in-hospital mortality, and CT lesion expansion. RESULTS: Of 153 patients, ADP inhibition was increased in moderate and severe TBI compared to mild TBI (p = 0.0011). P2Y12 inhibiting medications had increased ADP inhibition (p = 0.0077). Admission ADP inhibition was not associated with in-hospital mortality (p = 0.24) or CT lesion expansion (p = 0.94). Mean reduction of ADP inhibition from platelet transfusion (-15.1%) relative to no transfusion (+ 11.7%) was not statistically different (p = 0.0472). CONCLUSIONS: Mild TBI results in less ADP inhibition compared to moderate and severe TBI, suggesting a dose response relationship between TBI severity and degree of platelet dysfunction. Further, study is warranted to determine efficacy and parameters for platelet transfusion in patients with TBI.

Pediatric blunt cerebrovascular injury: the McGovern screening score.

OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to assess the incidence, diagnosis, and treatment of pediatric blunt cerebrovascular injury (BCVI) at a busy Level 1 trauma center and to develop a tool for accurately predicting pediatric BCVI and the need for diagnostic testing. METHODS This is a retrospective cohort study of a prospectively collected database of pediatric patients who had sustained blunt trauma (patient age range 0-15 years) and were treated at a Level 1 trauma center between 2005 and 2015. Digital subtraction angiography, MR angiography, or CT angiography was used to confirm BCVI. Recently, the Utah score has emerged as a screening tool specifically targeted toward evaluating BCVI risk in the pediatric population. Using logistical regression and adding mechanism of injury as a logit, the McGovern score was able to use the Utah score as a starting point to create a more sensitive screening tool to identify which pediatric trauma patients should receive angiographic imaging due to a high risk for BCVI. RESULTS A total of 12,614 patients (mean age 6.6 years) were admitted with blunt trauma and prospectively registered in the trauma database. Of these, 460 (3.6%) patients underwent angiography after blunt trauma: 295 (64.1%), 107 (23.3%), 6 (1.3%), and 52 (11.3%) patients underwent CT angiography, MR angiography, digital subtraction angiography, and a combination of imaging modalities, respectively. The BCVI incidence (n = 21; 0.17%) was lower than that in a comparable adult group (p < 0.05). The mean patient was age 10.4 years with a mean follow-up of 7.5 months. Eleven patients (52.4%) were involved in a motor vehicle collision, with a mean Glasgow Coma Scale score of 8.6. There were 8 patients (38.1%) with carotid canal fracture, 6 patients (28.6%) with petrous bone fracture, and 2 patients (9.5%) with infarction on initial presentation. Eight patients (38.1%) were managed with observation alone. The Denver, modified Memphis, Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma (EAST), and Utah scores, which are the currently used screening tools for BCVI, misclassified 6 (28.6%), 6 (28.6%), 7 (33.3%), and 10 (47.6%) patients with BCVI, respectively, as "low risk" and not in need of subsequent angiographic imaging. By incorporating the mechanism of injury into the score, the McGovern score only misclassified 4 (19.0%) children, all of whom were managed conservatively with no treatment or aspirin. CONCLUSIONS With a low incidence of pediatric BCVI and a nonsurgical treatment paradigm, a more conservative approach than the Biffl scale should be adopted. The Denver, modified Memphis, EAST, and Utah scores did not accurately predict BCVI in our equally large cohort. The McGovern score is the first BCVI screening tool to incorporate the mechanism of injury into its screening criteria, thereby potentially allowing physicians to minimize unnecessary radiation and determine which high-risk patients are truly in need of angiographic imaging.

Coagulopathy in the Setting of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: Truths and Consequences.

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is a common, although poorly-defined clinical entity. Despite its initially mild presentation, patients with mTBI can rapidly deteriorate, often due to significant expansion of intracranial hemorrhage. TBI-associated coagulopathy is the topic of significant clinical and basic science research. Unlike trauma-induced coagulopathy (TIC), TBI-associated coagulopathy does not generally follow widespread injury or global hypoperfusion, suggesting a distinct pathogenesis. Although the fundamental mechanisms of TBI-associated coagulopathy are far from clearly elucidated, several candidate molecules (tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA), tissue factor (TF), and brain-derived microparticles (BDMP)) have been proposed which might explain how even minor brain injury can induce local and systemic coagulopathy. Here, we review the incidence, proposed mechanisms, and common clinical tests relevant to mTBI-associated coagulopathy and briefly summarize our own institutional experience in addition to identifying areas for further research.

The relationship of cortical folding and brain arteriovenous malformations.

BACKGROUND: The pathogenesis of human intracranial arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) is not well understood; this study aims to quantitatively assess cortical folding in patients with these lesions. METHODS: Seven adult participants, 4 male and 3 female, with unruptured, surgically unresectable intracranial AVMs were prospectively enrolled in the study, with a mean age of 42.1 years and Spetzler-Martin grade range of II-IV. High-resolution brain MRI T1 and T2 sequences were obtained. After standard preprocessing, segmentation and registration techniques, three measures of cortical folding, the depth difference index (DDI), coordinate distance index (CDI) and gyrification index (GI)), were calculated for the affected and unaffected hemispheres of each subject as well as a healthy control subject set. RESULTS: Of the three metrics, CDI, DDI and GI, used for cortical folding assessment, none demonstrated significant differences between the participants and previously studied healthy adults. There was a significant negative correlation between the DDI ratio between affected and unaffected hemispheres and AVM volume (correlation coefficient r = -0.74, p = 0.04). CONCLUSION: This study is the first to quantitatively assess human brain cortical folding in the presence of intracranial AVMs and no significant differences between AVM-affected versus unaffected hemispheres were found in a small dataset. We suggest longitudinal, larger human MRI-based cortical folding studies to assess whether AVMs are congenital lesions of vascular development or de novo, dynamic lesions.