Rethinking the Use of Routine Platelet Transfusions for Head Injured Patients on Antiplatelet Therapy.

Traumatic brain injury is responsible for over one million hospital visits, and thousands of deaths annually. The aging population is associated with an increased use of anticoagulation and antiplatelet agents which complicates traumatic brain injury. The use of antiplatelet agents significantly increases baseline risk of intracranial hemorrhage. However, routine platelet transfusion in an attempt to reverse the effects of antiplatelet agents may be detrimental. Here, we report a case of an elderly woman with mild traumatic brain injury, who suffered a tragic demise after platelet transfusion.

Addition of Advanced Practice Providers May Improve ABSITE Scores Through Enhanced Resident Education.

BACKGROUND: Resident work hour restrictions and required protected didactic time limit their ability to perform clinical duties and participate in structured education. Advanced practice providers (APPs) have previoulsy been shown to positively impact patients' outcomes and overall hospital costs. We describe a model in which nurse practitioners (NPs) improve resident education and American Board of Surgery In Training Examination (ABSITE) scores by providing support to our trauma and acute care surgery (ACS) service thereby protecting resident didactic time. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A new educational model aimed to improve ABSITE scores was created, increasing protected resident didactic time. The addition of three full-time NPs to the ACS service allowed implementation of this redesigned academic curriculum to be put into effect without neglecting patient or service-related responsibilities that were previously fulfilled by resident staff. Resident ABSITE results including standard score, percent correct, and percentile were compared before and after the educational changes were instituted. RESULTS: Eleven residents' scores were included. For each ABSITE score, we used a mixed model with time and postgraduate year (PGY) level as fixed effects and subject ID as a random effect. The interaction term between PGY level and time was not significant and removed from the model. A significant main effect of PGY level and of time was then observed. A statistically significant improvement in ABSITE scores after intervention was observed across all the PGY levels. Standard score increased 77.3 points (P-value = 0.001), percent correct increased 5.9% (P-value = 0.002), and percentile increased 23.8 (P-value = 0.02). Following the educational reform, no residents scored below the 35th percentile. CONCLUSIONS: Utilization of NPs on our ACS service provided adequate service coverage, allowing the implementation of an educational reform increasing protected resident education time and improved ABSITE scores.