The morphology of ligamentous sacroiliac lesions - challenge to the antero-posterior compression mechanism.

AIM: This paper evaluates computer tomographic morphology of partial ligamentous lesions of the sacroiliac joint. We hypothesised that in antero-posterior compression (APC) injuries the anterior superior portion of the sacroiliac joint (SIJ) should open up the most as suggested by the vector forces outlined in the Young and Burgess classification. METHODS: All patients who underwent operative fixation of a ligamentous APC pelvic injury between July 2009 and December 2015 in a single Level-1 trauma centre were included. Patients were case matched (1:1) to controls without pelvic injury. SIJ width was measured by two independent reviewers at the anterior superior and anterior inferior part of the SIJ. Wilcoxon ranged test was applied for analysis. RESULTS: 70 patients (35 cases, 35 controls) were evaluated. Median inferior and superior SI joint widths were 5.27 (IQR 3.68-7.80) and 4.05 (IQR 3.13-5.31) mm in cases versus 2.24 (IQR 1.83-2.50) and 2.44 (IQR 2.14-2.65) mm in controls, respectively. The difference between the inferior and superior SI width in cases was larger than in controls (p-value < 0.01, median of -0.22 mm in the control group versus 1.51 mm in the cases). CONCLUSION: Our data suggests that the inferior part of the SIJ opens up after injury more, relative to its superior portion. The vector of the force involved in rotationally unstable pelvic injuries is unlikely to be antero-posterior if the force causes the SI joint to widen up inferiorly first. This should be considered in SIJ fixation and challenges the APC mechanism in pure ligamentous rotationally unstable pelvic ring injuries.

Evidence-Based Management and Controversies in Blunt Splenic Trauma.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The study aims to describe the evidence-based management and controversies in blunt splenic trauma. RECENT FINDINGS: A shift from operative management to non-operative management (NOM) has occurred over the past decades where NOM has now become the standard of care in haemodynamically stable patients with blunt splenic injury. Splenic artery embolisation (SAE) is generally believed to increase the success rate of NOM. Not all the available evidence is that optimistic about SAE however. A morbidity specifically related to SAE of up to 47% has been reported. Although high-grade splenic injury is a prognostic factor for failure of NOM, an American research group has published a study in which NOM is performed in over half of haemodynamically stable patients with grade IV or V splenic injury without leading to an increased morbidity (in terms of complications) or mortality. Another area of current investigation in the literature is the exact indication for SAE. Although the generally accepted indication is the presence of vascular injury, a topic of current investigation is whether there might be a role for pre-emptive embolisation in patients with high-grade splenic injury. On the other hand, evidence is also emerging that not all blushes require an intervention (small blushes <1 or 1.5 cm do not). Lastly, the available evidence shows that splenic function is preserved after embolisation, and therefore, the routine administration of vaccinations seems not to be necessary. There might be a difference between proximal and distal embolisations; however, with regard to splenic function, in favour of distal embolisation. SUMMARY: Nowadays, NOM is the standard of care in haemodynamically stable patients with blunt splenic injury. The available evidence (although with a relatively small number of patients) shows that splenic function is preserved after NOM, a major advantage compared to splenectomy. SAE is used as an adjunct to observation in order to increase the success rate of NOM. Operative management should be applied in case of haemodynamic instability or if associated intra-abdominal injuries requiring surgical treatment are present. Patient selection (which patient can be safely treated non-operatively, does every blush needs to be embolised?, which patients might be better off with direct operative intervention given the patient and injury characteristics) is an ongoing subject of further research. Future studies should also focus on long-term outcomes of patients treated with embolisation (e.g. total number of lifetime infectious episodes requiring antibiotic treatment or hospital admission, quality of life).

An unexpected finding in the resection specimen of a carcinoma of the oral cavity: A case report.

INTRODUCTION: The occurrence of two synchronous, primary cancers is rare. Thyroid carcinoma is incidentally found in the resection specimen after surgery for head and neck cancer in 0.3-1.9% of the patients. PRESENTATION OF CASE: In this report, we describe the case of a 72-year-old patient in whom a primary (synchronous) papillary thyroid carcinoma was found coincidentally upon pathologic examination of lymph nodes recovered from the cervical neck lymph node dissection specimen after a 'commando' procedure for carcinoma of the oral cavity. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: There is no gold standard concerning treatment of the incidentally discovered thyroid gland carcinoma. The decision to perform surgery depends on the life expectancy of the patient, whether the thyroid gland demonstrates clinical or radiologic lesions, the already completed treatment for the head and neck cancer and should always be adjusted to the specific patient.

Antibody response to a T-cell-independent antigen is preserved after splenic artery embolization for trauma.

Splenic artery embolization (SAE) is increasingly being used as a nonoperative management strategy for patients with blunt splenic injury following trauma. The aim of this study was to assess the splenic function of patients who were embolized. A clinical study was performed, with splenic function assessed by examining the antibody response to polysaccharide antigens (pneumococcal 23-valent polysaccharide vaccine), B-cell subsets, and the presence of Howell-Jolly bodies (HJB). The data were compared to those obtained from splenectomized patients and healthy controls (HC) who had been included in a previously conducted study. A total of 30 patients were studied: 5 who had proximal SAE, 7 who had distal SAE, 8 who had a splenectomy, and 10 HC. The median vaccine-specific antibody response of the SAE patients (fold increase, 3.97) did not differ significantly from that of the HC (5.29; P = 0.90); however, the median response of the splenectomized patients (2.30) did differ (P = 0.003). In 2 of the proximally embolized patients and none of the distally embolized patients, the ratio of the IgG antibody level postvaccination compared to that prevaccination was <2. There were no significant differences in the absolute numbers of lymphocytes or B-cell subsets between the SAE patients and the HC. HJB were not observed in the SAE patients. The splenic immune function of embolized patients was preserved, and therefore routine vaccination appears not to be indicated. Although the median antibody responses did not differ between the patients who underwent proximal SAE and those who underwent distal SAE, 2 of the 5 proximally embolized patients had insufficient responses to vaccination, whereas none of the distally embolized patients exhibited an insufficient response. Further research should be done to confirm this finding.

Diagnostic accuracy of a step-up imaging strategy in pediatric patients with blunt abdominal trauma.

INTRODUCTION: Blunt abdominal trauma (BAT) is an important but often unrecognized cause of death in children. Imaging plays a vital role in the early detection of abdominal trauma. The exact role of imaging in the management of BAT in children is still under research. The aim of this study was to assess diagnostic accuracy of a step-up imaging strategy, where the decision to observe or to perform an intervention depends on the vital parameters of the patient, in combination with the presence or absence of free fluid at Focused Assessment with Sonography for Trauma (FAST) and the findings on CT (performed selectively), for pediatric patients presenting to the ED with a blunt abdominal trauma. METHODS: Consecutive patients aged ≤ 16 years admitted between January 2008 and December 2012 to a Dutch level 1 trauma centre were included in this retrospective study. Sensitivity, negative predictive value (NPV) and the negative likelihood ratio (LR-) of the imaging strategy were calculated. RESULTS: The cohort consisted of 122 patients; 66 (54%) patients were discharged home after primary survey, 51 (41%) patients were admitted and observed, 3 (2%) patients underwent transarterial embolization and 2 (2%) patients underwent surgery. Treatment failed in 1 patient, initially selected for observation. The sensitivity of the imaging strategy was 0.833 (0.446-0.990). The NPV and LR- were 0.991 (0.963-1.000) and 0.167 (0.028-0.997), respectively. CONCLUSION: The step-up imaging strategy that is applied in our academic level 1 trauma centre has a high sensitivity and a high negative predictive value. No clinically relevant injuries were missed without doing unnecessary harm, e.g. radiation or an intervention.

Reliability of injury grading systems for patients with blunt splenic trauma.

OBJECTIVES: The most widely used grading system for blunt splenic injury is the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST) organ injury scale. In 2007 a new grading system was developed. This 'Baltimore CT grading system' is superior to the AAST classification system in predicting the need for angiography and embolization or surgery. The objective of this study was to assess inter- and intraobserver reliability between radiologists in classifying splenic injury according to both grading systems. METHODS: CT scans of 83 patients with blunt splenic injury admitted between 1998 and 2008 to an academic Level 1 trauma centre were retrospectively reviewed. Inter and intrarater reliability were expressed in Cohen's or weighted Kappa values. RESULTS: Overall weighted interobserver Kappa coefficients for the AAST and 'Baltimore CT grading system' were respectively substantial (kappa=0.80) and almost perfect (kappa=0.85). Average weighted intraobserver Kappa's values were in the 'almost perfect' range (AAST: kappa=0.91, 'Baltimore CT grading system': kappa=0.81). CONCLUSION: The present study shows that overall the inter- and intraobserver reliability for grading splenic injury according to the AAST grading system and 'Baltimore CT grading system' are equally high. Because of the integration of vascular injury, the 'Baltimore CT grading system' supports clinical decision making. We therefore recommend use of this system in the classification of splenic injury.

Time to intervention in patients with splenic injury in a Dutch level 1 trauma centre.

BACKGROUND: Timely intervention in patients with splenic injury is essential, since delay to treatment is associated with an increased risk of mortality. Transcatheter Arterial Embolisation (TAE) is increasingly used as an adjunct to non-operative management. The aim of this study was to report time intervals between admission to the trauma room and start of intervention (TAE or splenic surgery) in patients with splenic injury. METHODS: Consecutive patients with splenic injury aged ≥ 16 years admitted between January 2006 and January 2012 were included. Data were reported according to haemodynamic status (stable versus unstable). In haemodynamically (HD) unstable patients, transfusion requirement, intervention-related complications and the need for a re-intervention were compared between the TAE and splenic surgery group. RESULTS: The cohort consisted of 96 adults of whom 16 were HD unstable on admission. In HD stable patients, median time to intervention was 105 (IQR 77-188) min: 117 (IQR 78-233) min for TAE compared to 95 (IQR 69-188) for splenic surgery (p=0.58). In HD unstable patients, median time to intervention was 58 (IQR 41-99) min: 46 (IQR 27-107) min for TAE compared to 64 (IQR 45-80) min for splenic surgery (p=0.76). The median number of transfused packed red blood cells was 8 (3-22) in HD unstable patients treated with TAE versus 24 (9-55) in the surgery group (p=0.09). No intervention-related complications occurred in the TAE group and one in the splenic surgery group (p=0.88). Two spleen related re-interventions were performed in the TAE group versus 3 in the splenic surgery group (p=0.73). CONCLUSIONS: Time to intervention did not differ significantly between HD unstable patients treated with TAE and patients treated with splenic surgery. Although no difference was observed with regard to intervention-related complications and the need for a re-intervention, a trend towards lower transfusion requirement was observed in patients treated with TAE compared to patients treated with splenic surgery. We conclude that if 24/7 interventional radiology facilities are available, TAE is not associated with time loss compared to splenic surgery, even in HD unstable patients.

A Dutch regional trauma registry: quality check of the registered data.

BACKGROUND: Quality indicators have become increasingly important in the healthcare sector. Data from a trauma registry (TR) should be accurate and reliable as they are used to describe and evaluate (the quality of) trauma care. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the reliability of injury coding, injury severity scoring and survival status in a regional TR. The feasibility of the format that was developed for this study was also investigated. METHODS: A random sample, without replacement, was taken from the TR of a Dutch regional trauma care network. All 343 patients in the sample were then recoded by another trauma registrar (rater). Reliability was expressed in the percentage agreement between the raters. RESULTS: In the total study sample of 333 patients, the reliability of the number of Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) codes was substantial (intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC)=0.70); and the reliability of the Injury Severity Score (ISS) (ICC=0.84) and survival status were 'almost perfect' (Cohen's κ=0.82). Both raters had given 129 patients one AIS code. The reliability of the body region of the AIS was 'almost perfect' (Cohen's κ=0.91); and the reliability of the severity of the injury and the ISS were 'almost perfect' (weighted κ=0.88 and ICC=0.90). The reliability of the ISS in the patients who were assigned at least two AIS codes (n=128) was 'almost perfect' (ICC=0.86). The reliability of the number of AIS codes and the number of body regions was 'moderate' (ICC=0.56 and Cohen's κ=0.52). CONCLUSIONS: The reliability of injury coding in a regional trauma registry was 'substantial' and the reliability of the ISS and survival status was 'almost perfect'. The format and design of this study were feasible and could be used to investigate the quality of (trauma) registries.

Management of blunt renal injury in a level 1 trauma centre in view of the European guidelines.

BACKGROUND: Debate continues about the optimal management strategy for patients with renal injury. PURPOSE: To report the diagnostics and treatment applied in a level 1 trauma centre and to compare it to the recommendations of the European Association of Urology guidelines concerning blunt renal injury. METHODS: The management of all patients with blunt renal injury, admitted to the level 1 trauma centre of the Academic Medical Centre, between January 2005 and December 2009 was reviewed retrospectively. RESULTS: Median age and ISS of the 186 included patients were 40 and 17 years respectively. All but one haemodynamically stable patients with microscopic haematuria received nonoperative management. Sixty percent of the haemodynamically stable patients with gross haematuria underwent CT scanning. Patients with grade 1-4 renal injury received nonoperative management. Additionally, two patients with grade 3-4 renal injury received angiography and embolization (A&E). One patient with grade 5 injury underwent renal exploration and two A&E. Seven of the 8 haemodynamically unstable patients underwent emergency laparotomy and in 2 patients, haemodynamically unstable because of renal injury, A&E was performed as an adjunct to surgical intervention. CONCLUSIONS: In the present study, violation of the guidelines increased with injury severity. A&E can provide both a useful adjunct to nonoperative management and alternative to surgical intervention in specialised centres with appropriate equipment and expertise, even in patients with high grade renal injury. We advocate an update of the guidelines with a more prominent role of A&E.