Early management of adult traumatic spinal cord injury in patients with polytrauma: a consensus and clinical recommendations jointly developed by the World Society of Emergency Surgery (WSES) & the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies (EANS).

Background: The early management of polytrauma patients with traumatic spinal cord injury (tSCI) is a major challenge. Sparse data is available to provide optimal care in this scenario and worldwide variability in clinical practice has been documented in recent studies.

Methods: A multidisciplinary consensus panel of physicians selected for their established clinical and scientific expertise in the acute management of tSCI polytrauma patients with different specializations was established.

Five Decades of Trauma Anesthesiology.

We present a brief history of the scientific and educational development of trauma anesthesiology. Key milestones from the past 50 years are noted, as well as the current standing of the subspecialty and prospects for the future.

The Management of Pregnant Trauma Patients: A Narrative Review.

Trauma is the leading nonobstetric cause of maternal death and affects 1 in 12 pregnancies in the United States. Adhering to the fundamentals of the advanced trauma life support (ATLS) framework is the most important component of care in this patient population. Understanding the significant physiologic changes of pregnancy, especially with regard to the respiratory, cardiovascular, and hematologic systems, will aid in airway, breathing, and circulation components of resuscitation.

Pain management for blunt thoracic trauma: A joint practice management guideline from the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma and Trauma Anesthesiology Society.

Introduction: Thoracic trauma is the second most prevalent nonintentional injury in the United States and is associated with significant morbidity. Analgesia for blunt thoracic trauma was first addressed by the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma (EAST) with a practice management guideline published in 2005. Since that time, it was hypothesized that there have been advances in the analgesic management for blunt thoracic trauma.

The Ryder Cognitive Aid Checklist for Trauma Anesthesia.

Despite mixed results regarding the clinical utility of checklists, the anesthesia community is increasingly interested in advancing research around this important topic. Although several checklists have been developed to address routine perioperative care, few checklists in the anesthesia literature specifically target the management of trauma patients. We adapted a recently published "trauma and emergency checklist" for the initial phase of resuscitation and anesthesia of critically ill trauma patients into an applicable perioperative cognitive aid in the form of a pictogram that can be downloaded by the medical community.

Obstetric hemorrhage.

Purpose Of Review: To provide a review of the current literature on the management of obstetric hemorrhage.

Recent Findings: Obstetric hemorrhage remains a prominent cause of maternal morbidity and mortality. When postpartum hemorrhage is refractory to manual and pharmacologic treatments, escalating interventions may be needed.

What is new in the blood bank for trauma resuscitation.

Purpose Of Review: The aim of the present review was to describe recent changes in blood banking thinking, practice, and products that affect trauma care.

Recent Findings: Prompt balanced hemostatic resuscitation of major hemorrhage from trauma improves outcome and reduces blood use. New blood processes and products can help deliver appropriate doses of procoagulant plasma and platelets quicker and more safely.

Emotional intelligence and the relationship to resident performance: a multi-institutional study.

Study Objective: To test the hypothesis that emotional intelligence, as measured by a BarOn Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i), the 125-item version personal inventory (EQ-i:125), correlates with resident performance.

Design: Survey (personal inventory) instrument.

Setting: Five U.

Pitfalls of hemodynamic monitoring in patients with trauma.

This article provides an update for the anesthesiology community on the mechanisms and limitations of common modalities used to assess the early hemodynamic status in patients with trauma. Figures are provided to illustrate important concepts through the use of computer simulation and real-world examples. This article is of value to anesthesiologists whose practice includes management of hemorrhagic shock.

Use of a warming catheter to achieve normothermia in large burns.

Maintaining burn patients' body temperature during surgery is a significant challenge. Although increasing the ambient operating room (OR) temperature and other passive rewarming methods help, such measures have limited effectiveness and prove taxing on OR personnel. Initial studies indicate that an intravascular warming catheter may improve and sustain burn patient body temperatures.

Review article: update in trauma anesthesiology: perioperative resuscitation management.

The management of trauma patients has matured significantly since a systematic approach to trauma care was introduced nearly a half century ago. The resuscitation continuum emphasizes the effect that initial therapy has on the outcome of the trauma patient. The initiation of this continuum begins with prompt field medical care and efficient transportation to designated trauma centers, where lifesaving procedures are immediately undertaken.

Airway management and initial resuscitation of the trauma patient.

Purpose Of Review: This review will analyze and comment on selected recent literature pertaining to airway management and initial fluid resuscitation in the trauma patient. It will also review airway devices currently being used in the trauma setting.

Recent Findings: Although a recent study has questioned the efficacy of manual inline immobilization, this technique continues to be endorsed by trauma guidelines and is safely used in most trauma centers.

Prehospital intubations and mortality: a level 1 trauma center perspective.

Background: Ryder Trauma Center is a Level 1 trauma center with approximately 3800 emergency admissions per year. In this study, we sought to determine the incidence of failed prehospital intubations (PHI), its correlation with hospital mortality, and possible risk factors associated with PHI.

Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted evaluating trauma patients who had emergency prehospital airway management and were admitted during the period between August 2003 and June 2006.