Depacked patients who underwent a shortened perihepatic packing for severe blunt liver trauma have a high survival rate: 20 years of experience in a level I trauma center

IntroductionNon-operative management is currently the preferred approach in blunt liver trauma, including high grade liver lesions. However, hemodynamic instability imposes the need for an emergency laparotomy, with a perihepatic packing (PHP) to control liver bleeding in most cases. Our retrospective study aimed to assess the outcomes of liver trauma patients who underwent a shortened PHP.MethodsAll consecutive patients who underwent PHP for blunt liver trauma from 1998 to 2019 in our Level I trauma center were included in the study. Unstable patients with severe liver trauma were transferred to the operating room without any delay, and a collective decision was made to perform abbreviated laparotomy to pack the liver. Demographics, perioperative data, postoperative outcomes, and mortality were retrospectively collected, and survivors and deceased patients were compared with a paired t-test.ResultsFifty-nine patients of 206 patients admitted with severe liver injuries were treated with shortened PHP. Thirty-four (57.6%) patients died, including 26 (76.5%) within the first 24 h. Twelve (20.3%) patients had a selective hepatic embolization and eight (13.6%) had an extrahepatic embolization. Forty-eight patients had an extra abdominal associated injury. This was not a predictive factor of mortality. The removal of packing was performed in 24 patients within 72 h after laparotomy, with an 80% survival rate in these patients.ConclusionShortened PHP is an effective strategy for controlling liver bleeding in severe hepatic trauma. The mortality rate of these patients is high, but after the removal of packing, the survival is good.     

Surgery of the spleen

The spleen is a solid organ located beneath the left hemidiaphragm. Indications for surgical resection include trauma (blunt or penetrating), haematological diseases, abscesses, hydatid disease, oncological resection or immunosuppression. Surgical approaches include open, laparoscopic and, more recently, robotic; the complications of operative intervention will also be discussed. In patients with an absent spleen there is a significant increased risk of developing overwhelming post-splenectomy infection (OPSI). It is therefore essential to protect patients from infection due to encapsulated organisms through vaccination. This requires a combination of vaccinations, antibiotic prophylaxis and good education.     

A systematic review of the safety and efficacy of non-operative management in patients with high grade liver injury

IntroductionThe liver is the most frequently damaged organ in blunt abdominal trauma. It is widely accepted that hemodynamically stable patients with low-grade liver trauma should be treated with non-operative management, however there is controversy surrounding its safety and efficacy in high-grade trauma. The purpose of this review is to investigate the role of non-operative management in patients with high-grade liver trauma.MethodsPubMed and reference lists of PubMed articles were searched to find studies that examined the efficacy of non-operative management in high-grade liver injury patients, and compare it to operative management. Non-operative management was considered successful if rescue surgery was avoided. Outcomes considered were success, mortality, and complication rates.ResultsThe electronic search revealed 2662 records, 8 of which met the inclusion criteria. All 8 studies contained results suggesting that non-operative management was safe and effective in hemodynamically stable patients with high-grade liver trauma. By combining the outcomes of the different studies, non-operative management had a high success rate of 92.4% (194/210) in high-grade liver trauma patients, which was near the overall 95.0% non-operative management success rate. Non-operative management also had mortality and complication rates of 4.6% (9/194) and 9.7% (7/72) in high-grade injury patients, respectively, compared to operative management's 17.6% (26/148) and 45.5% (5/11).ConclusionNon-operative management of liver trauma is safe and effective in hemodynamically stable patients with high-grade liver injury. It is associated with significantly lower mortality compared with operative management. More studies are required to evaluate complications of non-operative management in high-grade liver injury.     

Annual Research Review: Rethinking childhood trauma-new research directions for measurement,study design and analytical strategies

Childhood trauma is a key modifiable risk factor for psychopathology. Despite significant scientific advances, traumatised children still have poorer long-term outcomes than nontraumatised children. New research paradigms are, thus, needed. To this end, the review examines three dominant assumptions about measurement, design and analytical strategies. Current research warns against using prospective and retrospective measures of childhood trauma interchangeably; against interpreting cross-sectional differences in putative mediating mechanisms between adults with or without a history of childhood trauma as evidence of longitudinal changes from pre-trauma conditions; and against directly applying explanatory models of resilience or vulnerability to psychopathology in traumatised children to forecast individual risk in unseen cases. The warnings equally apply to research on broader measures of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Further research examining these assumptions can generate new insights on how to prevent childhood trauma and its detrimental effects.     

急诊胸腹创伤手术后切口感染的相关因素调查

目的研究急诊胸腹创伤手术后切口感染的危险因素。方法将该院于2017年9月—2018年9月收治的114例急诊胸腹创伤手术患者作为研究对象,根据患者是否发生术后切口感染分为研究组(发生术后切口感染)和对照组(未发生术后切口感染),统计并比较两组患者的一般资料及临床资料,同时分析导致急诊胸腹创伤手术患者发生术后切口感染的危险因素。结果患者年龄大、损伤后失血量多、合并低蛋白血症、未使用抗菌药物、开放性损伤以及合并糖尿病,均是急诊胸腹创伤手术患者术后并发切口感染的危险因素(P<0.05)。结论患者年龄大、损伤后失血量多、合并低蛋白血症、未使用抗菌药物、开放性损伤以及合并糖尿病,均是急诊胸腹创伤手术患者术后并发切口感染的危险因素。     

Management of major trauma

Trauma is one of the leading cause of deaths in those <35 years old in the UK. It also has a significant morbidity burden with a subsequent economic impact. There is also a realisation that trauma is having an increasing impact in the elderly population. In the last two decades there have been changes in both the structure of trauma care across the UK, and also in clinical aspects from pre-hospital care to rehabilitation. This article will review the changes that have occurred, including the reasons, and give a broad overview of the immediate management of the critically ill trauma patient.     

鞭炮爆炸伤后致颅内感染

通过分析1例鞭炮爆炸致颅内感染患者的诊治经过，并回顾相关文献资料，分析颅脑爆炸伤类型、伤情及出现颅内感染的处理方式。为提高这类疾病的救治水平提供借鉴。     

Understanding and helping children who have experienced maltreatment

Children who experience maltreatment from within their families can suffer trauma that is devastating to their physical and psychological development. The label developmental trauma has developed to describe this trauma and to guide diagnosis. This has been expanded to describe seven domains of impairment. Together these help the clinician to provide a formulation of a child's difficulties which avoids multiple diagnoses and can guide treatment planning. Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy and Practice (DDP) is an intervention model that can meet the therapeutic needs of the children alongside the support needs of parents and practitioners caring for them. The attitude of PACE (playfulness, acceptance, curiosity and empathy) is central within DDP interventions, used by therapists, parents and practitioners who together make up the network around the child. Tailoring DDP interventions can be guided by a pyramid of need developed by the author. This helps clinicians develop flexible intervention packages tailored to the needs of the child, family and practitioner. Within the paper these ideas are explored illustrated by the fictional example of Janice. She was maltreated in early childhood and now lives in foster care with Mary and Simeon.     

Consequences of physical distancing emanating from the COVID-19 pandemic: An Australian perspective

The sobering reality of the COVID-19 pandemic is that it has brought people together at home at a time when we want them apart in the community. This will bring both benefits and challenges. It will affect people differently based upon their age, health status, resilience, family support structures, and socio-economic background. This article will assess the impact in high income countries like Australia, where the initial wave of infection placed the elderly at the greatest risk of death whilst the protective measures of physical distancing, self-isolation, increased awareness of hygiene practices, and school closures with distance learning has had considerable impact on children and families acutely and may have ramifications for years to come.