Trauma anaesthesia

A female was admitted to a Major Trauma Centre with an isolated thoracic spine stab injury involving a retained knife. The patient was haemodynamically stable with an unremarkable peripheral neurological examination. A CT scan with three-dimensional image reconstruction showed the knife blade lodged in the T11 vertebra with its tip close to the spinal cord, aorta and inferior vena cava. A multidisciplinary trauma team, including anaesthetists, vascular, neurosurgeons and general surgeons, agreed on the treatment strategy...

Thrombolysis with prolonged cardiopulmonary resuscitation may be required for the successful resuscitation of patients presenting with massive pulmonary embolism leading to cardiac arrest. A rare, recognised complication of cardiopulmonary resuscitation is traumatic hepatic and splenic laceration. The incidence of complications is believed to be increased in those who receive automated mechanical cardiopulmonary resuscitation, compared to those who receive standard chest compressions. We present a case of a patient with massive pulmonary embolism leading to cardiac arrest which was successfully treated with thrombolysis and mechanical automated cardiopulmonary resuscitation...

Epidural anaesthesia is widely used in major thoracic and abdominal surgery for postoperative analgesia. Spinal haematoma after epidural anaesthesia in patients without risk factors is very rare. Most of the reported spinal haematomas arose in the epidural space, whereas the subdural localization seen in this case is very uncommon.We report a case of spinal subdural haematoma after difficult and repeated placement of an epidural catheter for postoperative analgesia. As no sensorimotor deficit of the lower limb arose, we refrained from immediate neurosurgical decompression and the patient recovered fully in the course...

BACKGROUND: Chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH) is a neurosurgical pathology of an aged populace. Pathogenetic risk factors include traumatic brain injury, prolonged use of antiplatelet drugs, hypertension, and some inflammatory processes. The incidence increases as patients age. Burr-hole evacuation is the most common approach in management of symptomatic cases. We compared evacuation of chronic subdural hematomas with general or local anesthesia (GA and LA, respectively) and evaluated the safety, economic benefits, effects of comorbidity, benefits, and shortcomings of both techniques...

BACKGROUND: Patients suffering from major traumatic injuries frequently require emergency anaesthesia. Due to often compromised physiology and the time-sensitive management, trauma patients may be more prone to desaturate during induction of anaesthesia. We hypothesised that pre-oxygenation using high-flow nasal oxygen would decrease the risk of desaturation during induction of anaesthesia in trauma patients and the study therefore aimed to compare the frequency of desaturation when pre-oxygenation was performed with high-flow nasal oxygen or a traditional facemask...

PURPOSE: Agitation is a common behavioural problem following traumatic brain injury (TBI). Intensive care unit (ICU) physicians' perspectives regarding TBI-associated agitation are unknown. Our objective was to describe physicians' beliefs and perceived importance of TBI-associated agitation in critically ill patients. METHODS: Following current standard guidance, we built an electronic, self-administrated, 42-item survey, pretested it for reliability and validity, and distributed it to 219 physicians working in 18 ICU level-1 trauma centres in Canada...

BACKGROUND: Critical hypertension in major trauma patients is associated with increased mortality. Prehospital emergency anaesthesia (PHEA) is performed for 10% of the most seriously injured patients. Optimising oxygenation, ventilation, and cerebral perfusion, whilst avoiding extreme haemodynamic fluctuations are the cornerstones of reducing secondary brain injury. The aim of this study was to report the differential determinants of post-PHEA critical hypertension in a large regional dataset of trauma patients across three Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) organisations...

Benign airway stenosis often poses a therapeutic challenge and requires a multidisciplinary approach involving interventional pulmonologists and thoracic surgeons. We report the case of a man who presented with thoracic trauma following a road traffic accident. His chest X-ray showed complete collapse of the right lung, while screening flexible bronchoscopy revealed pooled secretions and asymmetric mid-to-lower tracheal stenosis. After thorough clinicoradiological evaluation and multidisciplinary discussion, we proceeded with therapeutic rigid bronchoscopy and silicone stenting of the tracheal stenotic lesion...

INTRODUCTION: Hypothermia is a well-recognised finding in trauma patients, which can occur even in warmer climates. It is an independent predictor of increased morbidity and mortality. It is associated with pre-hospital intubation, although the reasons for this are likely to be multifactorial. Core temperature drop after induction of anaesthesia is a well-known phenomenon in the context of elective surgery, and the mechanisms of this are well established. METHODS: We conducted a prospective observational study to examine the behaviour of core temperature in patients undergoing pre-hospital anaesthesia for traumatic injuries...

A 55-year-old woman presented with multiple episodes of falls that injured her right thumb and restricted her daily activities because of pain and instability. Ultrasound found the rare proximal metacarpal UCL avulsion. The repair was done using suture anchors under wide-awake anaesthesia with no tourniquet (WALANT). The patient regained her thumb movements, got a stable MCP joint, and remained symptom-free at one year of follow-up. Proximal avulsion of the UCL is rare. Ultrasound confirms the avulsion, and surgical reconstruction under wide-awake anaesthesia allows the surgeon and the patient to assess and appreciate the MCP joint stability, thereby efficiently rehabilitating the patient...

PURPOSE: Hemorrhage is the leading cause of pediatric death in trauma and cardiac arrest during surgery. Adult studies report improved patient outcomes using massive hemorrhage protocols (MHPs). Little is known about pediatric MHP adoption in Canada. METHODS: After waived research ethics approval, we conducted a survey of Canadian pediatric tertiary care hospitals to study MHP activations. Transfusion medicine directors provided hospital/patient demographic and MHP activation data...

INTRODUCTION: External fixator (EF) devices are commonly used in the management of complex skeletal trauma, as well as in elective limb reconstruction surgery for the management of congenital and acquired pathology. The subsequent removal of an EF is commonly performed under general anaesthesia in an operating theatre. This practice is resource-intensive and limits the amount of time available for other surgical cases in the operating theatre. We aimed to assess the use of regional anaesthesia as an alternative method of analgesia to facilitate the EF removal in an outpatient setting...

The microcirculation describes the network of the smallest vessels in our cardiovascular system. On a microcirculatory level, oxygen delivery is determined by the flow of oxygen-carrying red blood cells in a given single capillary (capillary red blood cell flow) and the density of the capillary network in a given tissue volume (capillary vessel density). Handheld vital videomicroscopy enables visualisation of the capillary bed on the surface of organs and tissues but currently is only used for research. Measurements are generally possible on all organ surfaces but are most often performed in the sublingual area...

INTRODUCTION: Pre-operative fasting of patients awaiting non-emergency surgeries has been a common practice to minimise the risk of vomiting and aspiration at the time of induction of anaesthesia. Current standard guidelines recommend that this fasting time be limited to two hours for clear fluids and six hours for solids and semi-solids, as prolonged fasting has been shown to be harmful to the patient. METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study of the fasting times of all adult trauma orthopaedic patients who were operated on under anaesthesia between June 1 and 30, 2023...

Proximal humerus fractures are common in clinical practice, and there are relatively a few studies on postoperative incision infections of such fractures. The purpose of this study was to explore the risk factors for surgical site infection (SSI) after internal fixation in patients with closed proximal humerus fractures. Patients with closed proximal humerus fractures who underwent surgery from January 2016 to January 2022 were retrospectively analysed. Cases with superficial or deep infections within 3 months after surgery were in the infection group and the remaining cases were in the non-infection group...

The 7th National Audit Project of the Royal College of Anaesthetists studied peri-operative cardiac arrest in the UK, a topic of importance to patients, anaesthetists and surgeons. Here we report the results of the 12-month registry, from 16 June 2021 to 15 June 2022, focusing on epidemiology and clinical features. We reviewed 881 cases of peri-operative cardiac arrest, giving an incidence of 3 in 10,000 anaesthetics (95%CI 3.0-3.5 per 10,000). Incidence varied with patient and surgical factors. Compared with denominator survey activity, patients with cardiac arrest: included more males (56% vs...

Throughout the course of oncological disease, the majority of patients require surgical, anaesthetic and analgesic intervention. However, during the perioperative period, anaesthetic agents and techniques, surgical tissue trauma, adjuvant drugs for local pain and inflammation and other non-pharmacological factors, such as blood transfusions, hydration, temperature and nutrition, may influence the prognosis of the disease. These factors significantly impact the oncologic patient's immune response, which is the primary barrier to tumour progress, promoting a window of vulnerability for its dissemination and recurrence...

Fractures of the splint bones are the most common fractures in horses. Various treatment options for splint bone fractures (MC/MT II and IV), including conservative and surgical management, have been described. This report describes an acute splint bone fracture due to external trauma in a 17-year-old Icelandic mare. The fracture was diagnosed as an open multifragment fracture of the proximal third of the fourth metacarpal bone (MCIV) in the right front limb. Surgery was performed with the horse under general anaesthesia...

BACKGROUND: Aggressive angiomyolipoma is an extremely rare benign mesenchymal tumor that was originally described as a locally recurrent mucinous spindle cell tumour. Aggressive angiomyolipoma originates from myofibroblasts, vascular smooth muscle cells, or fibroblasts, and displays various phenotypes of myofibroblasts and abnormal muscle arteries. Aggressive angiomyolipoma was first identified in 1983 and fewer than 50 male patients have been reported to date. It is an extremely rare mesenchymal tumour and often confused with other diseases...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.