Reality of treatment for severely injured patients: are there age-specific differences?

BACKGROUND: Major trauma and its consequences are one of the leading causes of death worldwide across all age groups. Few studies have conducted comparative age-specific investigations. It is well known that children respond differently to major trauma than elderly patients due to physiological differences. The aim of this study was to analyze the actual reality of treatment and outcomes by using a matched triplet analysis of severely injured patients of different age groups. METHODS: Data from the TraumaRegister DGU® were analyzed. A total of 56,115 patients met the following inclusion criteria: individuals with Maximum Abbreviated Injury Scale > 2 and < 6, primary admission, from German-speaking countries, and treated from 2011-2020. Furthermore, three age groups were defined (child: 3-15 years; adult: 20-50 years; and elderly: 70-90 years). The matched triplets were defined based on the following criteria: 1. exact injury severity of the body regions according to the Abbreviated Injury Scale (head, thorax, abdomen, extremities [including pelvis], and spine) and 2. level of the receiving hospital. RESULTS: A total of 2,590 matched triplets could be defined. Traffic accidents were the main cause of severe injury in younger patients (child: 59.2%; adult: 57.9%). In contrast, low falls (from < 3 m) were the most frequent cause of accidents in the elderly group (47.2%). Elderly patients were least likely to be resuscitated at the scene. Both children and elderly patients received fewer therapeutic interventions on average than adults. More elderly patients died during the clinical course, and their outcome was worse overall, whereas the children had the lowest mortality rate. CONCLUSIONS: For the first time, a large patient population was used to demonstrate that both elderly patients and children may have received less invasive treatment compared with adults who were injured with exactly the same severity (with the outcomes of these two groups being opposite to each other). Future studies and recommendations should urgently consider the different age groups.

Is prehospital intubation of severely injured children in accordance with guidelines?

BACKGROUND: The current German S3 guideline for polytrauma lists five criteria for prehospital intubation: apnea, severe traumatic brain injury (GCS ≤8), severe chest trauma with respiratory failure, hypoxia, and persistent hemodynamic instability. These guideline criteria, used in adults in daily practice, have not been previously studied in a collection of severely injured children. The aim of this study was to assess the extent to which the criteria are implemented in clinical practice using a multivariate risk analysis of severely injured children. METHODS: Data of 289,698 patients from the TraumaRegister DGU® were analyzed. Children meeting the following criteria were included: Maximum Abbreviated Injury Scale 3+, primary admission, German-speaking countries, years 2008-2017, and declaration of intubation. Since children show age-dependent deviating physiology, four age groups were defined (years old: 0-2; 3-6; 7-11; 12-15). An adult collective served as a control group (age: 20-50). After a descriptive analysis in the first step, factors leading to prehospital intubation in severely injured children were analyzed with a multivariate regression analysis. RESULTS: A total of 4489 children met the inclusion criteria. In this cohort, young children up to 2 years old had the significantly highest injury severity (Injury Severity Score: 21; p ≤ 0.001). Falls from both high (> 3 m) and low heights (< 3 m) were more common in children than in adults. The same finding applied to the occurrence of severe traumatic brain injury. When at least one intubation criterion was formally present, the group up to 6 years old was least likely to actually be intubated (61.4%; p ≤ 0.001). Multivariate regression analysis showed that Glasgow Coma Scale score ≤ 8 in particular had the greatest influence on intubation (odds ratio: 26.9; p ≤ 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The data presented here show for the first time that the existing criteria in the guideline for prehospital intubation are applied in clinical practice (approximately 70% of cases), compared to adults, in the vast majority of injured children. Although severely injured children still represent a minority of all injured patients, future guidelines should focus more on them and address them in a specialized manner.

[Do concomitant urological injuries in severely injured patients lead to poorer outcomes? : A multivariate risk analysis]. / Führt eine urologische Begleitverletzung beim Schwerstverletzten zu einer Outcomeverschlechterung? : Eine multivariate Risikoanalyse.

BACKGROUND: Severely injured patients with associated genitourinary (GU) injuries have only rarely been investigated in the current literature. If at all, analyses are commonly focussed on renal injuries, marginalising other GU traumas such as ureteral injuries. In this study, we would like to characterise patients with GU injuries and analyse the impact of such injuries on mortality and length of stay. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The inclusion criteria for this retrospective analysis of TraumaRegister DGU® data were: Injury Severity Score ≥ 16 within the period between 2009 and 2016 with available data on age and length of stay. A descriptive analysis was used to compare patients with and without GU injuries. The impact of GU injuries on mortality and length of hospital stay was evaluated by means of multivariate regression analyses. RESULTS: In all, 90,962 patients met the inclusion criteria; 5.9% of them had suffered GU injuries (n = 5345). The prevalence in patients with pelvic fractures was up to 19%. On average, patients with GU trauma were 10 years younger (42.9 vs. 52.2 years) and more severely injured (ISS: 31.8 vs. 26.4). The multivariate analyses demonstrated that GU injuries in severely injured patients are no independent risk factor for mortality. However, particularly bladder and genital injuries result in longer hospitalisation. CONCLUSION: GU injuries do not represent an additional risk factor for mortality. However, after adjusting for established prognosis factors, they can cause prolonged periods of hospitalisation of severely injured patients.

Spinal Injury Without Neurological Symptoms in Severely Injured Patients: Impact on the Length of Stay? / Wirbelsäulenverletzungen ohne Neurologie beim Schwerverletzten: Einfluss auf die Verweildauer?

BACKGROUND: The impact of spinal injuries on clinical outcome in most severely injured patients is currently being controversially discussed. At the same time, most of the studies examine patients with post-traumatic neurological disorders. The aim of this study was therefore to analyse severely injured patients with spinal injuries but without neurological symptoms with regard to their clinical outcome. Here the focus was then on the question, whether spinal injury is an independent risk factor increasing length of stay in the intensive care unit and in the hospital in total. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Data of the TraumaRegister DGU® were retrospectively analysed. Inclusion criteria were: Injury Severity Score ≥ 16, primary admission, age ≥ 16 years, time interval 2009 - 2016, and a full data set on length of stay in the hospital and the intensive care unit, respectively. Following a univariate analysis in the first step, independent risk factors for the length of stay in the intensive care unit and in the hospital in total were investigated using a multivariate regression analysis. RESULTS: 98,240 patients met the inclusion criteria. In this population, patients with Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) 2 and 3 spinal injuries were significantly younger (up to 60 years), and injuries were significantly more commonly caused by falls from a great height and traffic accidents (age ≤ 60 years: AISSpine 0: 58.4%, AISSpine 3: 65%; p < 0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that spinal injury without neurological symptoms is an independent risk factor for increased length of stay in the intensive care unit (odds ratio: + 1.1 d) and in the hospital in total (AIS 3 odds ratio: + 3.4 d). CONCLUSION: It has been shown for the first time that spinal injury without initial neurological symptoms has a negative impact on the length of stay of most severely injured patients in the intensive care unit and in the hospital in total and thus represents an independent risk factor in this group of patients.

Reduction in mortality in severely injured patients following the introduction of the "Treatment of patients with severe and multiple injuries" guideline of the German society of trauma surgery--a retrospective analysis of a level 1 trauma center (2010-2012).

OBJECTIVE: The German society of trauma surgery published the "Treatment of Patients with Severe and Multiple injuries" guideline in 2011. This achieved the highest level of recommendation for guidelines published in Germany. This study investigated if there was an improvement in the survival rates of severed injured patients following the introduction of the guideline in clinical treatment. METHODS: All patients with an injury severity score ≥16 on primary admission to hospital between January 2010 and December 2012 (a total of 373 patients) were included in this study. The data for these patients were collected from the German Trauma Registry and from patients' hospital records. Patients who were treated in 2010 were compared with patients who were treated in 2011 and 2012, following the introduction of the "treatment of patients with severe and multiple injuries" guideline in the authors' clinic at the beginning of 2011. RESULTS: Significant differences were found in ISS, RTS, New ISS, and TRISS between 2010 and 2011/2012. No differences were found in the severity of injury when classified by different body regions. Major differences were found in the total volume replacement, the length of emergency surgery, the length of surgery performed within the first 24h and the rate of whole-body computed tomography. The mortality rate dropped from 32.48% in 2010 to 18.75% in 2011/2012 (p=0.003). CONCLUSIONS: The introduction and use of a guideline-based medical care regime for severely injured patients might reduce the rate of mortality.

Bridging the gap: bone marrow aspiration concentrate reduces autologous bone grafting in osseous defects.

Although autologous bone grafting represents an effective tool to induce osteogenic regeneration in local bone defects or pseudarthroses, it is associated with significant donor site morbidity and limited by the amount available for grafting. We investigate the potency of bone marrow aspiration concentrate (BMAC) to augment bone grafting and support bone healing. The functional and radiographic outcome of 39 patients with volumetric bone deficiencies treated with BMAC are presented and evaluated in a prospective clinical trial. A collagen sponge (Col) served as scaffold in 12 patients and a bovine hydroxyapatite (HA) was applied in the other 27 individuals. The minimal follow-up was 6 months. Clinical and radiographic findings were completed by in vitro data. All patients showed new bone formation in radiographs during follow-up. However, two patients underwent revision surgery due to a lack in bone healing. In contrast to the Col group, the postoperative bone formation appeared earlier in the HA group (HA group: 6.8 weeks vs. Col group 13.6 weeks). Complete bone healing was achieved in the HA group after 17.3 weeks compared to 22.4 weeks in the Col group. The average concentration factor of BMAC was 5.2 (SD 1.3). Flow cytometry confirmed the mesenchymal nature of the cells. Cells from BMAC created earlier and larger colonies of forming units fibroblasts (CFU-F) compared to cells from bone marrow aspirate. BMAC combined with HA can reduce the time needed for healing of bone defects when compared to BMAC in combination with collagen sponge.