Nature and severity of injuries in traffic accident victims

The objective of this retrospective study is to characterize the nature and severity of injuries of hospitalized traffic accident victims using the "Abbreviated Injury Scale" (AIS). Two-hundred and twenty such patients in a trauma reference hospital in Sao Paulo, Brazil were assessed. One-hundred and eleven of them were pedestrians, eighty-three vehicular passengers and twenty-six motorcyclists. The most common injuries were of the limbs, pelvic girdle and head/neck. Injury severity in all these patients was AIS = 3. Two-thirds of the forty-five victims who died were pedestrians.     

Prevalence of facial trauma and associated factors in victims of road traffic accidents

Background

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of facial trauma among victims of road traffic accidents and investigate factors associated with it.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was carried out using the medical and dental charts of 2570 victims of road traffic accidents with bodily and/or facial injuries between 2008 and 2011. Sociodemographic variables of the victims and characteristics of the accidents and injuries were evaluated. Statistical analyses included the χ² test as well as the Poisson univariate and multivariate regression analyses for the determination of the final hierarchical model.

Results

The prevalence of facial injuries was 16.4%. Most of the victims were male. Among the victims with facial injuries, 44.3% had polytrauma to the face. The prevalence of facial injuries was high among accidents that occurred at night (Prevalence Ratio (PR), 1.42; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.10-1.84; P = .007) and victims up to 9 years of age (PR, 2.31; 95% CI, 1.03-5.17; P = .041). Moreover, the prevalence of facial injuries was lower among victims of motorcycle accidents than victims of automobile accidents (PR, 0.59; 95% CI, 0.44-0.89; P = .001).

Conclusion

The prevalence of facial injuries was high in this study and was significantly associated with the place of residence, time of day, age group, and type of accident.     

德阳市儿童道路交通伤流行病学特点和预防措施

目的：探讨德阳市儿童道路交通伤流行病学特征,提高患儿道路交通伤救治水平和防范措施。方法：回顾分析德阳市人民医院自2010-01-2011-12收治的2498例儿童道路交通伤致伤原因及临床特点。结果：2498例儿童道路交通伤最易发生年龄段在〉4-9岁（54.28%）,明显高于其他年龄段（P〈0.05）。儿童道路交通伤以轻伤为主,擦挫伤为主要类型。汽车和摩托车是最主要肇事车辆和导致死亡的肇事车辆,主要的致死原因为颅脑损伤和腹部损伤。道路交通伤害主要发生在市区,发生时间主要在交通拥堵的上、下班时段。结论：德阳市儿童道路交通伤害有其自身的流行病学特点,倡导文明驾驶,完善道路交通公共设施建设,开展针对儿童道路交通事故防范的宣传教育,改进急救体系和服务模式等社会多方面的共同协作,将能有效的减少儿童道路交通伤害的发生。     

Factors affecting severity of bicycle-related injuries: the role of helmets in preventing head injuries

Objectives: To identify factors that affect the severity of bicycle‐related injuries in patients with head injury compared with those without, so as to find whether the effect of using helmets extends beyond head protection, and to explore a direct protective effect of helmets on head injuries. Methods: A total of 297 patients with bicycle‐related injuries were studied. A generalized linear model was used to test the effect of age, sex, helmet use, cause of injury, year of injury, place of injury and whether the injury occurred on public or school holidays on the Injury Severity Score (ISS) in those patients who had head injury and those without. A logistic regression model was used to define the factors that contribute to head injury, while adjusting for ISS. Results: Factors affecting ISS in the generalized linear model in those who had head injury were: cause of injury (P = 0.01) and there was a trend for helmet use (P = 0.06). The significant factors that have affected ISS in the no head injury group were age (P = 0.002) and place of accident (P = 0.03). Logistic regression has shown that with each increase of 1 point in the ISS the odds of head injury increases by a factor of 1.22 (95% confidence interval 1.13–1.31) and the use of helmets reduces the odds of head injury by a factor of 0.48 (95% confidence interval 0.23–1.03). Conclusions: The reduced severity of injury in helmeted patients is because of protection of the head and not other body regions.     

Motor vehicle crashes: the association of alcohol consumption with the type and severity of injuries and outcomes

The effect of alcohol ingestion on short-term outcomes for trauma patients is indeterminate. Experimental and clinical reports often conflict. The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence of positive alcohol screens, the effect of alcohol ingestion on injury patterns, severity, and outcomes in patients who were involved in motor vehicle crashes (MVC). MVC patients aged > 10 years treated in any of the 13 trauma centers in Los Angeles County during the calendar year 2003 were studied. All patients underwent routine alcohol screening on admission. The alcohol negative group ("no ETOH") had a blood alcohol level (BAL) of < or = 0.005 g/dL. Low and high alcohol groups ("low ETOH" and "high ETOH") had a BAL of > 0.005 g/dL to < 0.08 g/dL and > or = 0.08 g/dL, respectively. Logistic regression was performed to compare injury severity, complications, survival, and length of hospital stay among the three groups. Of the 3025 patients studied, 2013 (67%) were in the no ETOH group, 216 (7%) were in the low ETOH group, and 796 (26%) were in the high ETOH group. Levels were not associated with injury severity, Emergency Department hypotension, or Intensive Care Unit length of stay. Patients with an injury severity score > 15 and a high BAL had a higher incidence of severe head trauma (head abbreviated injury score > 3) and increased incidence of sepsis. However, in this group of severely injured, the high ETOH group had a significantly better survival rate than patients in the no ETOH group (adjusted odds ratio 0.41, 95% confidence interval 0.16-0.94, p = 0.05). Severely injured MVC victims with a high BAL have a higher incidence of severe head trauma and septic complications than no ETOH patients. However, the high ETOH group had superior adjusted survival rates.     

北京市中学生道路交通伤害的流行病学调查

目的 了解北京市中学生道路交通伤害的特点,为预防和控制青少年道路交通伤害提供参考依据.方法 采用典型的方法,分别确定具有城区、近郊区和远县特征的区县各1个.然后确定每个区县的2所初中和2所高中作为被调查学校.最后,采用整群抽样的方法,对每个被调查初中学校的初一、初二年级和高中学校的高一、高二年级各两个班的所有学生进行调查.结果 北京市中学生过去1年内发生道路交通事故的比例达14.0%,其中男生交通事故发生率为16.5%,女生为11.5%,男女生发病率差异有统计学意义(x2=59.808,P＜0.01),初中学生高于高中学生.交通事故发生率有明显的中心城区倾向(x2=158.282,P＜0.01).各种交通方式中以骑自行车发生交通事故的比例最高,为1913%.2004年中学生因道路交通伤害受伤的比例为37.0%,男女生之间、各种交通方式之间差异无统计学意义,但年级越高、距离中心城区越远发生道路交通伤害的比例越大.结论 道路交通事故和道路交通伤害已经成为影响北京市中学生健康和安全的重要问题,必须采取积极的措施,预防和降低青少年道路交通事故和交通伤害的发生.     

Management of head and neck injuries by the sideline physician

Injuries to the head and neck are common in sports. Sideline physicians must be attentive and prepared with an organized approach to detect and manage these injuries. Because head and neck injuries often occur simultaneously, the sideline physician can combine the head and neck evaluations. When assessing a conscious athlete, the physician initially evaluates the neck for spinal cord injury and determines whether the athlete can be moved safely to the sideline for further evaluation. This decision is made using an on-field assessment of the athlete's peripheral sensation and strength, as well as neck tenderness and range of motion. If these evaluations are normal, axial loading and Spurling testing can be performed. Once the neck has been determined to be normal, the athlete can be assisted to the sideline for assessment of concussion symptoms and severity. This assessment should include evaluations of the athlete's reported symptoms, recently acquired memory, and postural stability. Injured athletes should be monitored with serial examinations, and those with severe, prolonged, or progressive findings require transport to an emergency department for further evaluation.     

Incidence of cervical spine injuries in association with blunt head trauma

To establish an incidence of cervical spine injuries in significant blunt head trauma and to evaluate the necessity of using cervical radiography, all consecutive cases of blunt head trauma admitted to the trauma service over a 7-month period were reviewed. Two hundred twenty-eight charts were reviewed for demographic information, circumstance of injury, complaints and physical findings referable to the cervical spine, presenting level of consciousness, severity of head injury, and cervical spine radiographic findings. Only three patients were found to have cervical spine injuries, for an incidence of 1.7%. Of the 122 alert and asymptomatic patients, none had cervical spine injury. The patient population was defined, yet the very low incidence of cervical spine injuries associated with blunt head trauma in this study precludes any identification of predictors. Nevertheless, the results suggest that alert and asymptomatic patients can be spared cervical spine radiography.     

Post-crash management of road traffic injury victims in Iran. Stakeholders' views on current barriers and potential facilitators

Background

Intracranial bleeding (IB) is a common and serious consequence of traumatic brain injury (TBI). IB can be classified according to the location into: epidural haemorrhage (EDH) subdural haemorrhage (SDH) intraparenchymal haemorrhage (IPH) and subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH). Studies involving repeated CT scanning of TBI patients have found that IB can develop or expand in the 48 hours after injury. If IB enlarges after hospital admission and larger bleeds have a worse prognosis, this would provide a therapeutic rationale for treatments to prevent increase in the extent of bleeding. We analysed data from the Trauma Audit & Research Network (TARN), a large European trauma registry, to evaluate the association between the size of IB and mortality in patients with TBI.

Methods

We analysed 13,962 patients presenting to TARN participating hospitals between 2001 and 2008 with a Glasgow Coma Score (GCS) less than 15 at presentation or any head injury with Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) severity code 3 and above. The extent of intracranial bleeding was determined by the AIS code. Potential confounders were age, presenting Glasgow Coma Score, mechanism of injury, presence and nature of other brain injuries, and presence of extra-cranial injuries. The outcomes were in-hospital mortality and haematoma evacuation. We conducted a multivariable logistic regression analysis to evaluate the independent effect of large and small size of IB, in comparison with no bleeding, on patient outcomes. We also conducted a multivariable logistic regression analysis to assess the independent effect on mortality of large IB in comparison with small IB.

Results

Almost 46% of patients had at some type of IB. Subdural haemorrhages were present in 30% of the patients, with epidural and intraparenchymal present in approximately 22% each. After adjusting for potential confounders, we found that large IB, wherever located, was associated with increased mortality in comparison with no bleeding. We also found that large IB was associated with an increased risk of mortality in comparison with small IB. The odds ratio for mortality for large SDH, IPH and EDH, in comparison with small bleeds, were: 3.41 (95% CI: 2.68-4.33), 3.47 (95% CI: 2.26-5.33) and 2.86 (95% CI: 1.86-4.38) respectively.

Conclusion

Large EDH, SDH and IPH are associated with a substantially higher probability of hospital mortality in comparison with small IB. However, the limitations of our data, such as the large proportion of missing data and lack of data on other confounding factors, such as localization of the bleeding, make the results of this report only explanatory. Future studies should also evaluate the effect of IB size on functional outcomes.     

Barriers and facilitators to provide effective pre-hospital trauma care for road traffic injury victims in Iran: a grounded theory approach

Background

It is thought that a good survival rate of patients with acute liver failure can be achieved by establishing an artificial liver support system that reliably compensates liver function until the liver regenerates or a patient undergoes transplantation. We introduced a new artificial liver support system, on-line hemodiafiltration, in patients with acute liver failure.

Methods

This case series study was conducted from May 2001 to October 2008 at the medical intensive care unit of a tertiary care academic medical center. Seventeen consecutive patients who admitted to our hospital presenting with acute liver failure were treated with artificial liver support including daily on-line hemodiafiltration and plasma exchange.

Results

After 4.9 ± 0.7 (mean ± SD) on-line hemodiafiltration sessions, 16 of 17 (94.1%) patients completely recovered from hepatic encephalopathy and maintained consciousness for 16.4 ± 3.4 (7-55) days until discontinuation of artificial liver support (a total of 14.4 ± 2.6 [6-47] on-line hemodiafiltration sessions). Significant correlation was observed between the degree of encephalopathy and number of sessions of on-line HDF required for recovery of consciousness. Of the 16 patients who recovered consciousness, 7 fully recovered and returned to society with no cognitive sequelae, 3 died of complications of acute liver failure except brain edema, and the remaining 6 were candidates for liver transplantation; 2 of them received living-related liver transplantation but 4 died without transplantation after discontinuation of therapy.

Conclusions

On-line hemodiafiltration was effective in patients with acute liver failure, and consciousness was maintained for the duration of artificial liver support, even in those in whom it was considered that hepatic function was completely abolished.     

颅脑损伤患者血浆D-二聚体含量与伤情、预后的相关性

目的 :探讨D -二聚体 (DD)含量与颅脑损伤病人伤情、预后的相关性。方法 :应用D -二聚体定量测定的方法 ,检测 5 5例不同伤情的颅脑损伤病人血浆中D -二聚体的含量 ,探讨DD含量与格拉斯哥昏迷分级 (GCS)、格拉斯哥预后分级 (GOS)及脑损伤病理类型的关系。结果 :患者组DD含量明显高于对照组 ;DD含量与GCS、GOS呈负相关 ,而与脑损伤病理类型无关。结论 :血浆DD的定量测定有助于早期、准确地判断伤情与预后。     

Preventive effects of motorcycle helmets on intracranial injury and mortality from severe road traffic injuries

Introduction

Road traffic injuries caused by motorcycle crashes are one of the major public health burdens leading to high mortality, functional disability, and high medical costs. The helmet is crucial protective equipment for motorcyclists. This study aimed to measure the protective effect of motorcycle helmets on clinical outcomes and to compare the effects of high- and low-speed motorcycle crashes.

Incidence and predictors of febrile neutropenia during chemotherapy in patients with head and neck cancer

Purpose

Febrile neutropenia (FN) is an oncologic emergency, and its management is critical during chemotherapy. However, little is known about FN in patients with head and neck cancer. The purpose of this study was to investigate the incidence and predictors of FN in patients with head and neck cancer.

Methods

We performed a retrospective study in a university hospital in Japan between January 2008 and December 2012. Head and neck cancer patients treated with a platinum-based regimen were included in the analysis.

Results

FN occurred in 47 out of 138 cycles, and the incidence of FN was highest during the first cycle. Severe sepsis or more serious events were observed in 46 % of FN episodes. Patients treated with TPF (docetaxel, cisplatin, and fluorouracil) were more susceptible to FN than those treated with DC (docetaxel, cisplatin). The patient-specific risk factors revealed using univariate analysis were tube feeding, the presence of diabetes mellitus, and gastrointestinal adverse effects. Of these, logistic regression analysis demonstrated tube feeding and diabetes mellitus as independent predictors of FN.

Conclusions

The incidence of FN in head and neck cancer patients in the community setting is higher than previously reported. Patients receiving enteral nutrition and those with diabetes are at high risk for FN.