[Consistency of injury severity score in severe trauma patients].

OBJECTIVE: To determine the accuracy of injury severity score (ISS)in the assessment of patients with severe trauma by the consistency analysis of the patients'ISS with severe trauma scored by three clinicians, and to guide the allocation of medical resource. METHODS: Through retrospective analysis of 100 patients with serious or severe trauma admitted to Peking University People's Hospital since September 2020 to December 2021 (ISS≥16 points), we conducted a consistency analysis of ISS within different evaluators. The general information (gender, age), vital signs, physical examination, imaging, laboratory examination and other associated data of the patients after admission were retrospectively diagnosed by 3 clinicians specializing in trauma surgery and ISS was determined. SPSS 22.0 software was used for statistical analysis, descriptive reports were made on the observed values of each set of data, and Fleiss kappa test was used for consistency analysis of the credibility of the ISS within three clinicians. RESULTS: Through the consistency analysis of the ISS in 100 patients with severe trauma scored by 3 eva-luators, the total Fleiss kappa value was 0.581, and the overall consistency was medium. Consistency analysis of the different scores was conducted according to the calculation rules of ISS. Among the patients with single-site severe trauma, abbreviated injury scale (AIS) was 4 or 5 points, ISS was 16 or 25 points, and Fleiss kappa value was 0.756 and 0.712 within the three evaluators, showing a relatively high consistency. AIS of each part was more than 4 points, and total ISS was more than 41 points in the severe trauma patients, Fleiss kappa values are higher than 0.8 within the 3 evaluators, showing a high consistency. CONCLUSION: According to the consistency analysis of severe trauma patients ISS within the three evaluators, when the severe trauma patients with ISS≥16 points are treated or transported, there is a certain accuracy error when the score is used for inter-department communication or inter-hospital transportation, and the consistency of different evaluators for the same injury is moderate. It may lead to misjudgment of the severity of trauma and misallocation of medical resources. However, for trauma patients with single or multiple site AIS≥4 points, ISS is highly consistent among different evaluators, which can accurately indicate the severity of the patient's condition.

[Welcoming severely traumatized patients]. / L'accueil du patient traumatisé grave.

Severe trauma accounts for around 15% of all traumas, but remains the leading cause of death in people under 45. The organization of networked care for severe trauma is becoming a necessity in France. Thanks to this kind of organization, it is possible to speed up the care of these patients, and optimize their referral to the most appropriate reception center. The Bicêtre University Hospital (CHU) is one of six trauma centers in the Île-de-France region, all working to the same specifications set out by the Île-de-France regional health agency.

Use of prehospital transfusion by French emergency medical services: A national survey.

BACKGROUND: Major bleeding is the leading cause of preventable mortality among trauma patients. Several studies have recently shown that prehospital plasma transfusion improves the outcomes of severely injured patients. Although no consensus has been reached, prehospital transfusion is regularly considered to reduce avoidable mortality. The objective was to assess the status of prehospital transfusion practices in France. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: A national survey among the 378 advance life support emergency teams (SMURs) in metropolitan France was conducted from December 15, 2020 to October 31, 2021. A questionnaire was distributed by e-mail to the physicians in charge of SMURs. The questions addressed the transfusion modalities, labile blood products (LBPs) used, and limitations encountered in implementing transfusion. RESULTS: The response rate was 48%, and 82% of the respondents performed prehospital transfusions. A designated pack was used by 44% of the respondents. The LBPs used were packed red blood cells (100%), of which 95% were group 0 RH:-1, fresh frozen plasma (27%), lyophilized plasma (7%), and platelets (1%). The LBPs were transported in isothermal boxes (97%) without temperature monitoring in 52% of the cases. Nontransfused LBPs were discarded in 43% of the cases. Reported limitations in implementing transfusion were the delivery time (45%), loss of LBPs (32%), and lack of evidence (46%). DISCUSSION: Prehospital transfusion was developed in France but access to plasma remains difficult. Protocols allowing the reutilization of LBPs and improving conservation could limit the waste of a rare resource. Implementing the use of lyophilized plasma could facilitate prehospital transfusion. Future studies will need to specify the role of each LBP in the prehospital setting.

Associated Risk Factors and Impact in Clinical Outcomes of Multiorgan Failure in Patients with TBI.

BACKGROUND: Individual extracerebral organ dysfunction is common after severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) and impacts outcomes. However, multiorgan failure (MOF) has received less attention in patients with isolated TBI. Our objective was to analyze the risk factors associated with the development of MOF and its impact in clinical outcomes in patients with TBI. METHODS: This was an observational, prospective, multicenter study using data from a nationwide registry that currently includes 52 intensive care units (ICUs) in Spain (RETRAUCI). Isolated significant TBI was defined as Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) ≥ 3 in the head area with no AIS ≥ 3 in any other anatomical area. Multiorgan failure was defined using the Sequential-related Organ Failure Assessment as the alteration of two or more organs with a score of ≥ 3. We analyzed the contribution of MOF to crude and adjusted mortality (age and AIS head) by using logistic regression analysis. A multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to analyze the risk factors associated with the development of MOF in patients with isolated TBI. RESULTS: A total of 9790 patients with trauma were admitted to the participating ICUs. Of them, 2964 (30.2%) had AIS head ≥ 3 and no AIS ≥ 3 in any other anatomical area, and these patients constituted the study cohort. Mean age was 54.7 (19.5) years, 76% of patients were men, and ground-level falls were the main mechanism of injury (49.1%). In-hospital mortality was 22.2%. Up to 185 patients with TBI (6.2%) developed MOF during their ICU stay. Crude and adjusted (age and AIS head) mortality was higher in patients who developed MOF (odds ratio 6.28 [95% confidence interval 4.58-8.60] and odds ratio 5.20 [95% confidence interval 3.53-7.45]), respectively. The logistic regression analysis showed that age, hemodynamic instability, the need of packed red blood cells concentrates in the initial 24 h, the severity of brain injury, and the need for invasive neuromonitoring were significantly associated with MOF development. CONCLUSIONS: MOF occurred in 6.2% of patients with TBI admitted to the ICU and was associated with increased mortality. MOF was associated with age, hemodynamic instability, the need of packed red blood cells concentrates in the initial 24 h, the severity of brain injury, and the need for invasive neuromonitoring.

Relationship Between Facial Bone Fractures and the Risk of Posttraumatic Complications: A Hypothesis on the Cushion Effect of the Facial Skeletons in Temporal Bone Fractures.

BACKGROUND: This study investigated whether concomitant facial bone (FB) fractures reduce temporal bone (TB) injuries, such as posttraumatic facial palsy and vertigo, through an impact absorbing effect, so-called "cushion effect," in severe trauma patients. METHODS: A total of 134 patients with a TB fracture were included. They were divided into two groups according to their concomitant facial fractures: group I (no FB fracture) and group II (FB fracture). We compared clinical characteristics, such as brain injury, trauma severity, and complications of TB fracture, between the two groups. RESULTS: In group II, immediate facial palsy was more frequent (11.6% vs. 1.5% in group I), and the Injury Severity Score was higher (19.0 ± 5.9 vs. 16.7 ± 7.3, P = 0.020). Delayed facial palsy (12.3% in group I vs. 4.3% in group II) and posttraumatic vertigo (24.6% vs. 7.2%) occurred more often in group I. FB fractures significantly decreased the incidence of posttraumatic vertigo (odds ratio [OR], 0.276; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.083-0.914). Intraventricular hemorrhage (OR, 20.958; 95% CI, 2.075-211.677), facial nerve canal injury (OR, 12.229; 95% CI, 2.465-60.670), and FB fractures (OR, 16.420; 95% CI, 1.298-207.738) increased the risk of immediate facial palsy. CONCLUSION: Concomitant FB fractures reduced the risk of the occurrence of delayed facial palsy and posttraumatic vertigo in injured patients with TB fracture. Particularly, an anterior force may be reduced by the cushion effect of the bony fracture.

Acute Coronary Spasm Following Pelvic Fracture, Bleeding, and Shock in a Trauma Patient.

We report a case of a patient with severe pelvic fracture who showed concurrent ST elevation on electrocardiogram. A 70-year-old man incurred an unstable pelvic fracture from a motorcycle accident. On admission, he was hemodynamically unstable, and massive transfusion and noradrenaline were administered immediately. Although ST elevation was present in leads II, III, aVF, V5, and V6, cardiac function was preserved; thus, trans-arterial embolization and external fixation for pelvic fracture were given priority. Four days after the injury, he suffered a cardiac arrest, and coronary angiography revealed that the cause of ST elevation and cardiac arrest was coronary vasospasm. Physicians should be aware that pain-related stress and platelet activation as well as use of noradrenaline in severe trauma cases can induce coronary vasospasm.

VASCULAR-PLATELET HEMOSTASIS OF INJURED PATIENTS: PROSPECTIVE OBSERVATIONAL STUDY.

OBJECTIVE: The aim: We study vascular-platelet hemostasis peculiarities in patients with severe trauma. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Materials and methods: We included 50 patients, who were divided into control (n=15) and study (n=35) groups. The control group included patients without traumatic injuries, study group - patients with severe trauma. The study group was divided into the I subgroup (patients received 1 g tranexamic acid IV at the prehospital stage), and the II subgroup (1 g tranexamic acid IV after hospital admission). RESULTS: Results: The main changes in the I subgroup started on the 3rd day, while in the II subgroup - on the 1st day. Patients of both subgroups on the 1st and 3rd days had a normal number of platelets in venous blood, however, on the 3rd day, there was a decreasing level of discocytes whereas the level of discoechinocytes, spherocytes, spheroechinocytes, and the sum of active forms of platelets were increased in comparison with the control group (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Conclusions: The changes in vascular-platelet hemostasis in patients appeared in the I subgroup on the 3rd day, while in the II subgroup - on the 1st day. For the I subgroup was the decreasing level of discocytes, whereas the level of discoechinocytes, spherocytes, spheroechinocytes, and the sum of active forms of platelets were increased. For the II subgroup on the 1st day, there was an increasing sum of active forms of platelets, on the 3rd day - the level of discocytes was decreased, and levels of discoechinocytes, spherocytes, spheroechinocytes, and the sum of active forms of platelets were increased.

Effect of implementing quality control management in the treatment of severely injured patients: a retrospective cohort study in a level I trauma center in China.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to review the impact of quality control management on the treatment of severely injured patients. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted on patients with severe injury (injury severity score [ISS] ≥ 16) between January 1, 2018 and February 1, 2020. The selected patients were stratified as follows. The patients who were admitted prior to the implementation of quality control management-from January 1 to December 31, 2018-were assigned to the PRE group; the POST group included patients who were admitted after the implementation-from February 1, 2019 to February 1, 2020. Quality control management was implemented from January 1, 2019 to January 31, 2019. Parameters were compared to account for differences in terms of demographics, surgical procedures, results of process quality, and 72-h mortality. RESULTS: This study included 599 patients (PRE group: 212 males and 86 females; POST group: 228 males and 73 females; P = 0.20). The extent of document completion was 97.3 and 100% in the PRE and POST groups, respectively (P < 0.001). There was no delay in the arrival of the trauma surgeons or the multidisciplinary team after implementation. However, following implementation of quality control management, there was a significant reduction in the duration of basic diagnostics, time until receipt of laboratory data, time until first computed tomography scan, time until intubation, and time until an emergency operation (P < 0.05). The deaths were caused by severe head injury (PRE: 5.4%, POST: 4%), hemorrhagic shock (PRE: 2.4%, POST: 0.7%), multiple-organ failure (PRE: 1.0%, POST: 0.3%), or other causes (PRE: 0.7%, POST: 0.0%). The 72-h mortality decreased after the implementation of quality control management (PRE vs. POST groups: 9.4 vs. 5.0%, P = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: The implementation of quality control management resulted in decreased time to critical interventions, improved patient care efficiency, and reduced early mortality. We recommend that this approach be replicated at other trauma centers in China.

[Early changes within the lymphocyte population are associated with the long term prognosis in severely injured patients].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between early lymphocyte responses and the prognosis in severely injured patients. METHODS: Consecutive patients with severe trauma who were treated in Peking University People's Hospital Trauma Medical Center between June 2017 and June 2020 were enrolled in this restropective chart-review study. According to the responses of lymphocyte after severe injury, the patients were divided into three groups, group 1: lymphopenia-returned to normal; group 2: persistent lymphopenia; group 3: never lymphopenic, and the outcome of 28 d were recorded. Clinical data such as gender, age, base excess, mechanism of injury, Glasgow coma scale (GCS), injury severity score (ISS) and massive blood transfusion were collected. Perform statistical analysis on the collected clinical data to understand the trend of lymphocyte changes in early trauma and the relationship with prognosis. In order to eliminate the interference of age, stratification was carried out according to whether the age was ≥ 65 years old, in different age groups, they were grouped according to whether the length of stay was ≥ 28 d, and the relationship between lymphocyte trend and length of stay was discussed. RESULTS: A total of 83 patients were included, 66 males and 17 females. The main injury mechanisms were traffic accident injuries and high-altitude fall injuries. The average ISS was (30±11) points. 65 patients had lymphopenia on the day of injury, 32 of them returned to normal on the 5th day, and the rest did not recover; the other 18 patients had normal lymphocyte levels after injury. Patients which are failure to normalize lymphopenia within the first 5 days following admission was related with the long hospitalization time and higher 28 d mortality rate. After further stratification by age, failure to normalize lymphopenia within the first 5 days following admission in the elderly group (age ≥65 years) was a risk factor for prolonged hospital stay (≥28 d), P=0.04. While in younger group, a high level of neutrophils within the first 5 d following admission was a risk factor for bad outcome. CONCLUSION: A failure to normalize lymphopenia in severely injured patients is associated with significantly higher mortality and longer hospital stay. This study reveals lymphocytes can be used as a reliable indicator for the prognostic evaluation.

Prehospital Narrow Pulse Pressure Predicts Need for Resuscitative Thoracotomy and Emergent Intervention After Trauma.

BACKGROUND: The pulse pressure (PP) is the difference between systolic and diastolic blood pressures. Narrow PP in the Emergency Department (ED) has recently been shown to predict hemorrhagic shock after trauma. This study examined the impact of prehospital narrow PP on outcomes after trauma. METHODS: Patients presenting to our ACS-verified Level I trauma center (2008-2020) were retrospectively screened. Exclusions were unrecorded prehospital/ED vitals, age <16 or >60, transfers, on-scene cardiac arrest, and missing discharge disposition. Prehospital blood pressure defined study groups: Narrow PP (<30 mmHg) vs. Hypotensive (SBP<90 mmHg) vs. Others (herein referred to as Normotensive). Univariable/multivariable analyses compared outcomes and determined independent predictors of mortality; resuscitative thoracotomy; emergent intervention; and need for trauma intervention (NFTI), a contemporary measure of major trauma. RESULTS: In total, 39,144 patients met inclusion/exclusion criteria: 5% (n=1,834) Narrow PP, 3% (n=1,062) Hypotensive, and 92% (n=36,248) Normotensive. Penetrating trauma was more frequent among Narrow PP and Hypotensive patients (23% vs. 32% vs. 14%, p<0.001). ISS was higher among Narrow PP and Hypotensive patients (5[1-14] vs. 10[2-21] vs. 4[1-9], p<0.001). Mortality was highest among the Hypotensive (n=130, 12%) followed by Narrow PP (n=92, 5%) and Normotensive patients (n=502, 1%) (p<0.001). On multivariable analysis, prehospital narrow PP was independently associated with resuscitative thoracotomy (OR 1.609, p=0.009), emergent intervention (OR 1.356, p=0.001), and NFTI (OR 1.237, p=0.009). CONCLUSION: Prehospital narrow PP independently predicts severe trauma, resuscitative thoracotomy, and emergent intervention. Although prehospital narrow PP is not currently a TTA criterion, these patients have a mortality rate and ISS intermediate to those of hypotensive and normotensive patients. Prehospital narrow PP should be recognized as a proxy for major trauma in patients with heightened surgical and interventional needs so that appropriate in-hospital preparations may be made prior to patient arrival.

Comparison of physician-staffed helicopter with ground-based emergency medical services for trauma patients.

INTRODUCTION: Few studies have discussed whether physician-staffed helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) provide temporal and geographical benefits for patients in remote locations compared to ground emergency medical services (GEMS). Our study seeks to clarify the significance of HEMS for patients with severe trauma by comparing the mortality of patients transported directly from crash scenes by HEMS or GEMS, taking geographical factors into account. METHODS: Using medical records from a single center, collected from January 2014 to December 2018, we retrospectively identified 1674 trauma patients. Using propensity score analysis, we selected adult patients with an injury severity score ≥16, divided them into groups depending on their transport to the hospital by HEMS or GEMS, and compared their mortality within 24 h of hospitalization. For propensity score-matched groups, we analyzed distance and time. RESULTS: Of the 317 eligible patients, 202 were transported by HEMS. In the propensity score matching analysis, there was no significant difference in mortality between the HEMS and GEMS groups: 8.7% vs. 5.8%, odds ratio (OR), 1.547 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.530-4.514). The inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW): 11% vs. 7.8%, OR, 1.080 (95% CI, 0.640-1.823); stabilized IPTW: 11% vs. 7.8%, OR, 1.080 (95% CI, 0.502-2.324); and truncated IPTW: 10% vs. 6.4%, OR, 1.143 (95% CI, 0.654-1.997). The distance from the crash scene to the hospital was farther in the HEMS group, and it took a longer period of time to arrive at the hospital (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: HEMS may provide equal treatment opportunities and minimize trauma deaths for patients transported from a greater distance to an emergency medical center compared to GEMS for patients transported from nearby regions.

[Medical tactics, approaches and complex treatment effectiveness in case of multiple trauma caused by a fall from a height]. / Vrachebnaya taktika, podkhody i effektivnost' kompleksnogo lecheniya postradavshego s politravmoi, poluchennoi pri padenii s vysoty.

OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate the approaches' implementation of specialized multidisciplinary and high-tech medical care in multistage complex treatment of patient with multiple trauma including combined severe trauma of the maxillofacial region such as minimally invasive surgical tactics with early and delayed osteosynthesis (e.g. selection of optimal surgical tactics within the periodization of traumatic disease concept). Moreover, the implementation of rational advanced intensive pathogenesis drug therapy with the prevention of infectious complications in cast of severe injuries. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The tactics, approaches and results of multistage complex specialized treatment of patient K., 56 years old who has got severe concomitant injuries to various areas of the body and extremities (including multiple maxillofacial trauma) after falling from a height are presented. CONCLUSION: Rational surgical tactics and the timely initiation (immediately after admission of the victim to 1st level trauma center) of pathogenesis intensive therapy with modern drugs and antibiotics contributed to the exclusion of infectious complications in the third period (the period of maximum likelihood of complications) of traumatic illness. Comprehensive treatment of a victim with multiple trauma based on the principles of specialized, multidisciplinary and high-tech medical care is able to provide a favorable clinical outcome - the recovery with the restoration of the damaged anatomical structures functionality and the absence of cosmetic defects.

The impact of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic on trauma bay management and guideline adherence in a European level-one-trauma centre.

PURPOSE: SARS CoV-2 (COVID-19) represents a pandemic that has led to adjustments of routine clinical practices. The initial management in the trauma bay follows detailed international valid algorithms. This study aims to work out potential adjustments of trauma bay algorithms during a global pandemic in order to reduce contamination and to increase safety for patients and medical personnel. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study compared patients admitted to the trauma bay of one academic level-one trauma centre in March and April 2019 with patients admitted in March and April 2020. Based on these datasets, possible adjustments of the current international guidelines of trauma bay management were discussed. RESULTS: Group Pan (2020, n = 30) included two-thirds the number of patients compared with Group Ref (2019, n = 44). The number of severely injured patients comparable amongst these groups: mean injury severity score (ISS) was significantly lower in Group Pan (10.5 ± 4.4 points) compared with Group Ref (15.3 ± 9.2 points, p = 0.035). Duration from admission to whole-body CT was significantly higher in Group Pan (23.8 ± 9.4 min) compared with Group Ref (17.3 ± 10.7 min, p = 0.046). Number of trauma bay admissions decreased, as did the injury severity for patients admitted in March and April 2020. In order to contain spreading of SARS Cov-2, the suggested recommendations of adjusting trauma bay protocols for severely injured patients include (1) minimizing trauma bay team members with direct contact to the patient; (2) reducing repeated examination as much as possible, with rationalized use of protective equipment; and (3) preventing potential secondary inflammatory insults. CONCLUSION: Appropriate adjustments of trauma bay protocols during pandemics should improve safety for both patients and medical personnel while guaranteeing the optimal treatment quality. The above-mentioned proposals have the potential to improve safety during trauma bay management in a time of a global pandemic.

[Implementation of prehospital transfusion in case of trauma shock]. / Instauration d'un protocole de transfusion préhospitalière dans le choc hémorragique traumatique.

Transfusion plays a major role in the management of hemorrhagic shock where every minute counts. A pre-hospital transfusion protocol is established in the medical vehicle within the emergency department of CHR hospital Liège. It is based on predefined clinical and biological severity criteria which allow us to start a massive transfusion protocol as early as possible and thus to optimize its effect during traumatic hemorrhagic shock.

La transfusion occupe une place majeure dans la prise en charge du choc hémorragique où chaque minute compte. Un protocole de transfusion préhospitalière est instauré via le véhicule SMUR (Service Mobile d'Urgence-Réanimation) au sein du service des urgences du CHR de Liège. Il est basé sur des critères de gravité cliniques et biologiques prédéfinis qui permettent de débuter, le plus précocement possible, un protocole de transfusion massive et, ainsi, d'optimaliser son effet lors de choc hémorragique traumatique.

Lasting personality pathology following exposure to severe trauma in adulthood: retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Early exposure to trauma is a known risk factor for personality disorder (PD), but evidence for late-onset personality pathology following trauma in adults is much less clear. We set out to investigate whether exposure to war trauma can lead to lasting personality pathology in adults and to compare the mental health and social functioning of people with late-onset personality problems with those with PD. METHODS: We recruited patients who scored positively on the International Personality Disorder Examination (IPDE) in southern Croatia 15 years after the Croatian war of independence and used a semi-structured interview to establish when the person's personality-related problems arose. All participants also completed Harvard Trauma Questionnaire, and measures of mental health and social functioning. RESULTS: Among 182 participants with probable personality disorder, 65 (35.7%) reported that these problems started after exposure to war-trauma as adults. The most prevalent personality problems among those with late-onset pathology were borderline, avoidant, schizotypal, schizoid and paranoid. Participants with late-onset personality pathology were more likely to have schizotypal (75.4% vs. 47.3%) and schizoid traits (73.8% vs. 41.1%) compared to those with PD. Participants with late-onset personality pathology were three times more likely to have complex personality pathology across all three DSM-IV clusters compared to those with PD (OR = 2.96, 95% CI 1.54 to 5.67) after adjusted for gender and marital status. The prevalence of depression and social dysfunction were as high among those with late-onset personality pathology as among those with personality disorder. CONCLUSION: Retrospective accounts of people with significant personality pathology indicate that some develop these problems following exposure to severe trauma in adulthood. Personality-related problems which start in adulthood may be as severe as those that have an earlier onset. These findings highlight the long term impact of war trauma on the mental health and have implications for the way that personality pathology is classified and treated.

To What Extent Are Main Accident-Insurer Cases Representative of All Significantly Injured? A Swiss Monocenter Perspective.

Background and Objectives.-Even though Switzerland has a compulsory insurance system, there is a lack of detailed information on the treatment and outcome following trauma. The objective of this evaluation was to examine to what extent cases insured by the largest accident-insurer (Suva) are representative of all significantly injured. Methods.-Trauma center analysis of all ≥16 year old trauma patients with a New Injury Severity Score (NISS) ≥8, comparing the characteristics of Suva- vs non-Suva cases (chi-square; univariate explained variance R2; multivariate logistic regression analysis, Nagelkerke R2). Results.-Over 7 years, 2233 trauma patients were treated at the hospital, of whom 29.4% were Suva-insured. Compared to non-Suva-insured, Suva cases were younger (41.6 vs 64.2, R2 = 0.23) and more often male (88.0% vs 59.4%; R2 = 0.08). In multivariate analysis, these two factors together explained 37.5% of the differences between groups. No other investigated factor explained more than 2%. If only those patients of obligatory working age were analyzed (n = 1264), Suva cases (50.6%) were more often male than non-Suva-insured (n = 562 [87.8%] vs n = 393 [63.0%], resp.; p<0.001, R2 = 0.08). In multivariate analysis, other factors taken together were only 2.6% of the variance. Conclusions.-Significantly injured patients in Switzerland may be considered comparable from a statistical point of view whether insured by the main accident-insurer or not, provided groups are adequately controlled for age and gender. Other differences appear to be only marginal. Respecting these limitations such data can justifiably be given as Swiss reference statistics and the relevant insurer outcome information used for international comparison.

Development and validation of a pre-hospital "Red Flag" alert for activation of intra-hospital haemorrhage control response in blunt trauma.

BACKGROUND: Haemorrhagic shock is the leading cause of early preventable death in severe trauma. Delayed treatment is a recognized prognostic factor that can be prevented by efficient organization of care. This study aimed to develop and validate Red Flag, a binary alert identifying blunt trauma patients with high risk of severe haemorrhage (SH), to be used by the pre-hospital trauma team in order to trigger an adequate intra-hospital standardized haemorrhage control response: massive transfusion protocol and/or immediate haemostatic procedures. METHODS: A multicentre retrospective study of prospectively collected data from a trauma registry (Traumabase®) was performed. SH was defined as: packed red blood cell (RBC) transfusion in the trauma room, or transfusion ≥ 4 RBC in the first 6 h, or lactate ≥ 5 mmol/L, or immediate haemostatic surgery, or interventional radiology and/or death of haemorrhagic shock. Pre-hospital characteristics were selected using a multiple logistic regression model in a derivation cohort to develop a Red Flag binary alert whose performances were confirmed in a validation cohort. RESULTS: Among the 3675 patients of the derivation cohort, 672 (18%) had SH. The final prediction model included five pre-hospital variables: Shock Index ≥ 1, mean arterial blood pressure ≤ 70 mmHg, point of care haemoglobin ≤ 13 g/dl, unstable pelvis and pre-hospital intubation. The Red Flag alert was triggered by the presence of any combination of at least two criteria. Its predictive performances were sensitivity 75% (72-79%), specificity 79% (77-80%) and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve 0.83 (0.81-0.84) in the derivation cohort, and were not significantly different in the independent validation cohort of 2999 patients. CONCLUSION: The Red Flag alert developed and validated in this study has high performance to accurately predict or exclude SH.

Resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta performed by emergency physicians for traumatic hemorrhagic shock: a case series from Japanese emergency rooms.

BACKGROUND: Resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta (REBOA), which has been increasingly used for the management of hemorrhagic shock, is a less invasive strategy for the management of patients with very severe hemorrhage. However, its effectiveness remains controversial. METHODS: This retrospective case series included trauma patients who underwent REBOA for hemorrhagic shock due to trauma in four Japanese tertiary care emergency centers from January 2013 to March 2017. Patients in cardiac arrest at the time of REBOA and those who underwent REBOA for nontraumatic causes during the study period were excluded. RESULTS: A total of 24 patients underwent REBOA during the study period. The median age was 52 years (interquartile range (IQR) 36.5-62.5), 17 (70.8%) of the patients were male, and 23 (95.8%) had blunt trauma. The 24-h survival was 50% (n = 12), and the in-hospital survival rate was 41.7% (10/24). In all cases, REBOA was performed in emergency rooms by emergency physicians without fluoroscopic guidance. Complications of REBOA were mesenteric ischemia (n = 1, 4.2%), ischemia of the lower extremities (n = 1, 4.2%), and placement of REBOA in thoracic aortic injury (n = 3, 12.5%). CONCLUSIONS: REBOA can be an effective and feasible tool for controlling massive hemorrhage due to trauma. However, caution should be exercised regarding complications including placement of REBOA in aortic injury and limb ischemia in cases where REBOA is performed in an emergency department setting with minimal or no support from trauma surgeons.

Trauma care construction under the guidance of county-level trauma centers.

Severe trauma has the characteristics of complicated condition, multiple organs involved, limited auxiliary examinations, and difficulty in treatment. Most of the trauma patients were sent to primary hospitals to receive treatments. But the traditional mode of separate discipline management can easily lead to delayed treatment, missed or wrong diagnosis and high disability, which causes a high mortality in severe trauma patients. Therefore, if the primary hospitals, especially county-level hospitals (usually the top general hospital within the administrative region of a county), can establish a scientific and comprehensive trauma care system, the success rate of trauma rescue in this region can be greatly improved. On March 1st, 2013, Tiantai People's Hospital of Zhejiang Province, China set up a trauma care center, which integrated the pre-hospital and in-hospital trauma treatment procedures, and has achieved good economic and social benefits. Till March 1st, 2017, 1265 severe trauma patients (injury severity score >16) have been treated in this trauma center. The rescue success rate reached 95% and the delayed and/or missed diagnosis rate was less than 5%. Totally 86 severe cases of pelvic fractures with unstable hemodynamics were treated, and the success rate was 92%. The in-hospital emergency rescue response time is less than 3 min, and the time from definite diagnosis to surgery is within 35 min.

Somatic Countertransference as Evidence of Adhesive Identification in a Severely Traumatized Woman.

This paper discusses the use of somatic countertransference as a means of learning about the patient, about projective and adhesive identification and about the object relating nature of the most traumatized and withdrawn part of the personality. It assumes an elemental knowledge of British Object Relations and uses clinical material to illustrate the hypotheses that somatic countertransference is an indicator of a very elemental communication occurring from the aspect of the psyche that is united in a body mind or mind body. The paper assumes that this body mind was object seeking at birth and perhaps before. Because these early aspects of the personality are non verbal and non conceptual, the analyst must rely not only on the verbal material in a session but on the emotional and sensual experiences within the transference and the countertransference. Such reliance requires a faith in one's own intuition without a certainty that one is "right." Because speaking of such early experience is difficult, often writers and analysts appear more certain than they are. This is a hazard of this type of analytic work. What I am writing about is conjecture or imagination or dream, but I am suggesting that such dream work is a valuable tool for analysis.