Regional ethics of surgeon resuscitation for organ transplantation after lethal injury.

BACKGROUND: Trauma patients may present with nonsurvivable injuries, which could be resuscitated for future organ transplantation. Trauma surgeons face an ethical dilemma of deciding whether, when, and how to resuscitate a patient who will not directly benefit from it. As there are no established guidelines to follow, we aimed to describe resuscitation practices for organ transplantation; we hypothesized that resuscitation practices vary regionally. METHOD: Over a 3-month period, we surveyed trauma surgeons practicing in Levels I and II trauma centers within a single state using an instrument to measure resuscitation attitudes and practices for organ preservation. Descriptive statistics were calculated for practice patterns. RESULTS: The survey response rate was 51% (31/60). Many (81%) had experience with resuscitations where the primary goal was to preserve potential for organ transplantation. Many (90%) said they encountered this dilemma at least monthly. All respondents were willing to intubate; most were willing to start vasopressors (94%) and to transfuse blood (84%) (range, 1 unit to >10 units). Of respondents, 29% would resuscitate for ≥24 hours, and 6% would perform a resuscitative thoracotomy. Respect for patients' dying process and future organ quality were the factors most frequently considered very important or important when deciding to stop or forgo resuscitation, followed closely by concerns about excessive resource use. CONCLUSION: Trauma surgeons' regional resuscitation practices vary widely for this patient population. This variation implies a lack of professional consensus regarding initiation and extent of resuscitations in this setting. These data suggest this is a common clinical challenge, which would benefit from further study to determine national variability, areas of equipoise, and features amenable to practice guidelines.

Decision-Making in Management of the Complex Trauma Patient: Changing the Mindset of the non-trauma Surgeon.

BACKGROUND: European surgeons are frequently subspecialized and trained primarily in elective surgical techniques. As trauma leaders, they may occasionally have to deal with complex polytrauma, advanced management techniques, differing priorities, and the need for multidisciplinary care. There is a lack of expertise, experience, and a low trauma volume, as well as a lack of research, with limited support as to the decision-making and teaching challenges present. We studied what experienced trauma experts describe as the challenges that are specific to the advanced surgical decision-making required, whether civilian, humanitarian, or military. METHODS: Design-based research using combined methods including interviews, reviews of authentic trauma cases, and video-recorded resuscitations performed at a high-volume civilian academic trauma center. RESULTS: Several educational dilemmas were identified: (1) thinking physiologically, (2) the application of damage control resuscitation and surgery, (3) differing priorities and time management, (4) impact of environment, (5) managing limited resources, (6) lack of general surgical skills, (7) different cultural behavior, and (8) ethical issues. CONCLUSION: The challenges presented, and the educational domains identified, constitute a basis for improved development of education and training in complex surgical decision-making. This study contributes new knowledge about the mindset required for decision-making in patients with complex multisystem trauma and competing priorities of care. This is, especially important in countries having a low intensity of trauma in both military and civilian environments, and consequential limited skills, and lack of expertise. Guidelines focused on the same decision-making process, using virtual patients and blended learning, can be developed.

Evidence-Based Care of Geriatric Trauma Patients.

The doubling of the geriatric population over the next 20 years will challenge the existing health care system. Optimal care of geriatric trauma patients will be of paramount importance to the health care discussion in America. These patients warrant special consideration because of altered anatomy, physiology, and the resultant decreased ability to tolerate the stresses imposed by traumatic insult. Despite increased risk for worsened outcomes, nearly half of all geriatric trauma patients will be cared for at nondesignated trauma centers. Effective communication is crucial in determining goals of care and arriving at what patients would consider a meaningful outcome.

[Ethical decisions in surgery. Foundations for a principle-oriented case discussion]. / Ethische Entscheidungen in der Chirurgie. Grundlagen einer prinzipienorientierten Falldiskussion.

BACKGROUND: Due to advanced medical interventions, the multitude of beliefs in our society, and increasing economic pressure, difficult ethical decisions are also part of the surgical care of patients. QUESTION: How can health care personnel address the ethical challenges in a structured, well-founded ethical manner? MATERIALS AND METHODS: Based on the four principles of biomedical ethics beneficence, nonmaleficence, respect for autonomy, and justice, we present a model for the step-wise ethical evaluation of difficult cases. RESULTS: The principle-based model of ethical case discussions consists of five steps: 1) In the medical analysis of the case, the available management strategies are identified, including a detailed description of their benefits and risks. 2) The evaluation starts with the ethical obligations towards the patient: Which treatment strategy is in the patient's best interest? And: Which option does the patient prefer herself after appropriate disclosure? 3) Then it has to be examined whether obligations to third parties (family members, other patients, etc.) have to be taken into account. 4) In the synthesis, the individual evaluations are integrated into an overall assessment of the case; conflicting obligations have to be balanced based on good reasons. 5) A critical review of the case concludes the case discussion. The application of the model is exemplified based on a surgical case discussion. CONCLUSION: Difficult ethical decisions can be supported by structured case discussions, in which all medical disciplines and professional groups involved in the care of the patient should participate.

[Changing the therapeutic goal in critically ill patients. Ethical analysis of a surgical case]. / Änderung des Therapieziels bei kritisch Kranken. Ethische Analyse eines chirurgischen Falles.

We report on a 32-year-old patient, who developed septic shock, toxic shock-like syndrome, and multiple organ failure following nectrotizing fasciitis. Amputations had to be performed on all extremities. Subsequently, she developed secondary sclerosing cholangitis. Treatment goals had to be reassessed, since long-term survival seemed doubtful and, in the best case, burdened with severe handicap. We discuss the evaluation of the treatment goals, utilizing a structured model of goal-setting. In the first step the treatment goal is identified based on the patient's wishes. This goal's realistic achievability is verified considering scientific evidence and medical experience. The benefit of the aspired goal is set in relation to risks and burden of the necessary treatment measures in a third step. The resulting benefit-risk ratio must be evaluated by the patient or her representative. Treatment goals have to be reevaluated if the assessment of achievability or the benefit-risk ratio are disadvantageous. In this case, the initial therapeutic goal was retained. After an extraordinarily prolonged and complex therapy including reconstructive surgery the patient is now living independently at home.

Service: 2010 Western Trauma Association presidential address.

Service is central to the mission of a trauma surgeon and inextricably interwoven into our professional lives and activities. It is important to recognize the role that professional associations play in leveraging service as well as the need to continue to cultivate the ethic of service in medical education and in our training programs.

Bone regeneration: stem cell therapies and clinical studies in orthopaedics and traumatology.

Regenerative medicine seeks to repair or replace damaged tissues or organs, with the goal to fully restore structure and function without the formation of scar tissue. Cell based therapies are promising new therapeutic approaches in regenerative medicine. By using mesenchymal stem cells, good results have been reported for bone engineering in a number of clinical studies, most of them investigator initiated trials with limited scope with respect to controls and outcome. With the implementation of a new regulatory framework for advanced therapeutic medicinal products, the stage is set to improve both the characterization of the cells and combination products, and pave the way for improved controlled and well-designed clinical trials. The incorporation of more personalized medicine approaches, including the use of biomarkers to identify the proper patients and the responders to treatment, will be contributing to progress in the field. Both translational and clinical research will move the boundaries in the field of regenerative medicine, and a coordinated effort will provide the clinical breakthroughs, particularly in the many applications of bone engineering.

The use of animals in live-tissue trauma training and military medical research.

Uncontrolled hemorrhage is the most common preventable cause of death for soldiers wounded in combat. In live-tissue trauma training (LTTT), animals (mostly goats and pigs) are used to train physicians and paramedical personnel in how to treat severe traumatic injuries, including severe blood loss. Military personnel insist that such realistic training is necessary and has to date saved countless lives of soldiers. Animal rights groups, however, argue that the practice is inhumane and should be replaced with alternative methods. In this essay, the author explains how and why animals are used for LTTT and in military medical research (MMR), as well as why he feels that the continued use of animals for LTTT and MMR is justified. The author hopes to encourage wider discussion of this topic within the scientific, defense and animal welfare circles, leading to further refinements in the welfare and protection of animals used for these important, though often controversial, purposes.

Ética médica y cirugía ortopédica y traumatología / Medical ethics and orthopaedic surgery

Objetivos: Analizar los aspectos éticos de la especialidad de Cirugía ortopédica y traumatología, derivados de la relación del médico con el paciente: el respeto a las convicciones del enfermo, la ética de la concesión razonable, la traumatología geriátrica y lo relacionado con la mala praxis y el error médico. Otras cuestiones se refieren al desarrollo tecnológico, al «mejoramiento» o «enhancement», la práctica de las intervenciones simuladas y, finalmente, los posibles conflictos de interés entre el cirujano ortopédico y la industria ortopédica. Diseño: Análisis de los principales documentos ético-médicos de la profesión y los específicos de la especialidad, como los elaborados por la Academia Americana de Cirujanos Ortopédicos. Conclusiones: La ética del cirujano ortopédico y traumatólogo no difiere de la del médico, en general. La ética profesional mejora la práctica profesional; potencia la relación entre médicos y pacientes y crea un clima de humanidad y confianza. Los cirujanos ortopédicos, en el plano individual, y las organizaciones profesionales son responsables de la humanidad y de la ciencia con que se dispensan los cuidados de la especialidad (AU)

Objective: To analyse in the context of Orthopaedic Surgery some ethical issues related to the physician-patient relationship (respect for the patient’s beliefs, the ethics of reasonable bargaining, issues with geriatric patients and malpractice and medical error). Attention is also given to problems related to technological development, «enhancement», the use of sham interventions, and finally, the potential conflicts of interest between orthopaedic surgeon and the prosthesis industry. Design: Analysis of the main general medical ethics guidelines, and also of some specific guidelines published by speciality organisations, such as the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Conclusions: The ethics of Orthopaedic Surgery is consistent with that of medicine in general. Professional ethics means better professional practice, improves the physician-patient relationship, and creates a more humane and trustworthy environment. Orthopaedic surgeons, both at the individual level and as members of professional organizations are responsible for the humanitarian and scientific quality of the health-care they dispense (AU)

Exploring the concept of "resuscitability" in an adult trauma population.

Resuscitability is a concept often used during the resuscitation of injured patients but remains unnamed, unexplored, and undefined. This article explores resuscitability as it pertains to nurses caring for adult trauma patients for the purposes of concept development. After a review of the literature, dimensions discovered include physiologic, legal, ethical, and societal. Development of the concept of resuscitability can be used to address issues related to trauma resuscitations. Trauma nurses care for severely injured patients on each of the dimensional levels identified and thus understanding the meaning of resuscitability will help nurses better care for their injured patients.

Indigenous trauma: a New Zealand perspective.

The study of indigenous health is an emerging specialty and differs from other health disciplines in that the traditions and beliefs of indigenous people must be considered in developing health policy. New Zealand Maori and Australian Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islanders face similar health issues but have followed a different historical path. New Zealand was settled by the Maori from Eastern Polynesia in approximately 1300AD. A structured and settled society had developed by the time of British colonization in the 1800s. Because of Maori's obvious sovereignty over New Zealand the British negotiated a treaty in 1840 (The Treaty of Waitangi) with Maori that gave provision for their rights as British and later New Zealand citizens. Maori health indices suffered after the start of colonization but slowly rebounded in the 1900s linked to a resurgence in Maori culture, sporting and combat achievements. A sustained period of protest in the years following World War II has resulted in the inclusion of the provisions of the Treaty of Waitangi in legislation. Historical grievances of Maori relating to land confiscations and injustice are being addressed with formal apology and compensation. This process has allowed Maori to create their own infrastructure, to begin to develop their own health-care initiatives and to advise health-care authorities and governments on interventions to reduce health disparities between Maori and non-Maori New Zealanders.

The Australian indigenous health program.

This paper is an evaluation of an intercollegiate program that targeted specialist surgeons, obstetricians and gynaecologists treating Australian Indigenous patients. The program was a continuing professional development activity that was delivered through on-line modules and focussed on providing the specialist with practical skills to improve the health of Indigenous Australians in a clinical setting.

Trauma surgeons' attitude towards family presence during trauma resuscitation: a nationwide survey.

OBJECTIVE: Trauma is the foremost cause of death in young patients. Not only the patient but also the family experience the consequences of trauma. Interactions of medical staff with family members in the emergency situation may fail psychological and emotional needs. In this context the concept of family presence (FP) during resuscitation is controversial. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyse the attitude of trauma surgeons towards FP during trauma resuscitation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A questionnaire concerning beliefs and attitudes towards FP during trauma resuscitation was mailed to level I trauma centres of the Trauma Network of the German Trauma Society (DGU). Statistical difference was determined by Rank-Sum test to analyse ordinal variables, for analysing three groups Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn's testing were used. Data are given in mean+/-S.D. or absolute percentage. RESULTS: The questionnaire was answered by 464 of 545 (85%) trauma surgeons between July 2005 and September 2005. One hundred and sixty seven surgeons (37.9%) already knew about FP, 349 (75.2%) considered it a relevant topic, but 232 (50%) would never allow FP during trauma resuscitation. One hundred and sixty eight surgeons (36.2%) had experience of FP during trauma resuscitation with positive results in 56%. Female respondents tend to be better informed about FP and would promote FP more supportively. Those women with experience with FP reported predominantly positive experiences (87% versus 50%, p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our study investigated the factors affecting physicians' opinions towards FP. Any institutional FP programme will have to address physician objections to be successful, by recommending a well-designed, carefully structured protocol with a designated specially trained staff member to offer the family support and the option of entering the resuscitation room with permission of the staff.