Does altitude increase the risk of traumatic aortic injuries? A retrospective cohort study among six level I trauma centers in the United States.

BACKGROUND: Traumatic aortic injuries (TAIs) are rare but are associated with a high mortality. Prior studies have shown skiers and pilots, whose injuries occur at high altitudes, are at an increased risk for a TAI. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of altitude on the incidence of TAIs across all causes of injury. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study at six Level I trauma centers (8/1/2016-1/1/2020) included adult blunt trauma patients with a chest or abdomen injury. High altitude injuries (> 5000 ft.) were compared to low altitude injuries (≤ 5000 ft.). The primary outcome was incidence of TAI. RESULTS: There were 8562 patients, 37% were at high altitude and 63% at low altitude. High altitude patients were older (p < 0.01), more often Caucasian (p < 0.01) and had a higher ISS (p < 0.01). There was a significantly greater incidence of TAI at high altitude than low altitude (1.5% vs. 1.1%, p = 0.01). The median altitude was significantly higher for patients with a TAI than for patients without a TAI (5100 ft. vs. 1400 ft., p = 0.01). After adjustment, high altitude patients had 2-fold [OR: 2.4 (1.6, 3.7)] greater odds of having a TAI than low altitude patients. CONCLUSION: TAIs were more prevalent among high altitude injuries. Providers should be aware of the increased incidence of TAIs at high altitudes particularly when there is a delay in diagnosis and transfer to a trauma center with appropriate resources to manage these critical injuries. TAI screening at high altitude trauma centers may improve survival rates.

63-year-old male with gastric outlet obstruction.

We describe a case of a 63-year-old male with complicated Bouveret's syndrome, both in its presentation and in its management. Bouveret's syndrome is a rare cause of gastric outlet obstruction resulting from mechanical obstruction from gallstones at the pyloroduodenal segment. As Bouveret's syndrome can be a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge for clinicians, we aim to identify clinical and radiologic pearls that can lower the threshold for the diagnosis of Bouveret's syndrome.

Cause and effects of decreasing coronary revascularization procedures in California hospitals, 2006 to 2010.

Coronary revascularization procedures decreased markedly in California after the introduction of drug-eluting stents and the initiation of public reporting in 2003, resulting in a large number of low-volume heart programs. California hospital discharge data were analyzed from 2006 to 2010 to study the impact of this change. In-hospital mortality and hospital readmission for major adverse events at 90 days and 365 days were determined for patients who underwent isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) or percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) either with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) or PCI without acute coronary syndrome (PCI-noACS). Three terciles were chosen by case volume as follows: high-volume (747 ± 336 [SD]/yr total PCI, 210 ± 130 isolated CABG), intermediate volume (362 ± 47 PCI, 106 ± 27 CABG), and low-volume (211 ± 6 PCI, 53 ± 17 CABG) terciles were studied. PCI-noACS procedures decreased 33% and CABG 20%, whereas PCI-ACS procedures increased slightly. Risk-adjusted in-hospital mortality was slightly better in high-volume compared with low-volume terciles for CABG (2.0% vs 2.6%) and PCI-noACS (0.64% vs 0.85%). There was no difference in major adverse events at 90 days or 365 days among volume terciles within procedure groups, and no change in event rates was noted over the 5-year period. Wide variation in outcomes, associated with low volume, contributed to poor statistical discrimination among providers. In conclusion, lower volume hospitals had similar overall outcomes with wider variation. Conservative treatment strategies apparently contributed to decreased procedure volume. Collaboration among hospitals of similar structure and case volume may be the most appropriate performance improvement model to reduce variability among providers.

Adverse events after coronary revascularization procedures in California 2000 to 2010.

Public reporting of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) mortality in California was initiated in 2003. Drug-eluting stents were widely introduced in the same year. Adverse events after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and CABG were analyzed to study the impact of these events. Annual California hospital discharge data were collected from 2000 through 2010. In-hospital mortality and hospital readmission for adverse events <1 year were determined for patients undergoing isolated CABG, PCI for acute coronary syndrome (PCI-ACS), and all other PCIs (PCI-noACS). CABG volume peaked in 2000 and subsequently decreased by 58%; PCI volume peaked in 2005 and subsequently decreased by 20%. After 2003, in-hospital mortality and 1-year mortality for CABG decreased whereas mortality after PCI remained unchanged. Event rates for acute myocardial infarction and stroke varied little over the decade; acute myocardial infarction at 1 year was 2.5% to 2.8% (CABG), 4.5% to 5.4% (PCI-ACS), and 4.6% to 5.8% (PCI-noACS); stroke rate was 1.4% to 1.7% (CABG), 1.2% to 1.6% (PCI-ACS), and 1.0% to 1.2% (PCI-noACS). Reintervention for PCI decreased markedly, from 18.8% to 12.8% (PCI-ACS) and 22.5% to 13.3% (PCI-noACS). Multiple adverse cardiovascular and cerebral events rate at 1 year decreased from 10.8% to 9.4% (CABG), 26.5% to 21.2% (PCI-ACS), and 26.8% to 18.4% (PCI-noACS). Excluding reinterventions, multiple adverse cardiovascular and cerebral events rate at 1 year was 8.3% (CABG), 14.6% (PCI-ACS), and 10.1% (PCI-noACS) in 2010. In conclusion, the volume of coronary interventions in California decreased whereas adverse event rates decreased after the introduction of public reporting and drug-eluting stents. Lower procedure volume combined with improved outcomes resulted in an annual decrease of >6,000 adverse events by the end of the decade.

Management of gastrointestinal leaks after minimally invasive esophagectomy: conventional treatments vs. endoscopic stenting.

INTRODUCTION: Gastrointestinal leak is a dreaded complication after esophagectomy. Conventional treatments for leak include conservative therapy, surgical reoperation, and even complete gastrointestinal (GI) diversion. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of endoluminal stenting in the management of esophagogastric leak after esophagectomy. METHODS: Data on 18 (11.3%) of 160 patients who developed postoperative leaks after minimally invasive esophagectomy were reviewed. Indications for esophagectomy included carcinoma (n = 14), Barrett's with high-grade dysplasia (n = 3), and benign stricture (n = 1). Neoadjuvant therapy was used in 57.1% of patients with carcinoma. The first nine patients underwent conventional treatments for leak whereas the latter nine patients underwent endoscopic esophageal covered stenting as primary therapy. There were 5 cervical and 13 intrathoracic anastomotic leaks. Main outcome measures included patient characteristics, types of treatment, length of hospital stay, morbidity, and mortality. RESULTS: Subjects were 16 males and 2 females with a mean age of 66 years. In the conventional treatment group, leaks were treated with neck drainage (n = 4), GI diversion (n = 2), and thoracoscopic drainage with or without repair or T-tube placement (n = 3). In the endoscopy group, all leaks were treated with endoscopic covered stenting with or without percutaneous drainage (n = 9). Control of leaks occurred in 89% of patients in the conventional treatment group vs. 100% of patients in the endoscopic stenting group. Three patients in the conventional treatment group (33%) required esophageal diversion compared to none of the patients in the endoscopy group. The 60-day or in-hospital mortality was 0% for both groups. CONCLUSION: In our clinical practice, there has been a shift in the management of esophagogastric anastomotic leaks to nonsurgical therapy using endoscopic esophageal covered stenting. Endoluminal stenting is a safe and effective alternative in the management of GI leaks.