Publications by authors named "Bradley Dennis"

Background: Noncompressible torso hemorrhage remains a leading cause of potentially preventable deaths. Resuscitative Endovascular Balloon Occlusion of the Aorta (REBOA) has emerged as an adjunct temporizing hemorrhage control. The complete occlusion strategy with the ER-REBOA catheter can cause distal ischemia when used for longer than 30 min.

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Article Synopsis
  • Thoracic epidural catheters (TECs) provide effective pain management for traumatic rib fractures, but their use is limited by various factors; in contrast, continuous peripheral infusions of ketamine and/or lidocaine offer a safer alternative.
  • A study analyzing 1,647 patients found that those receiving TECs had significantly lower daily morphine milligram equivalents (MMEs) and mean pain scores (MPS) compared to those using continuous infusions, especially notable around days 3 and 4 post-injury.
  • The findings suggest that drip-only treatment leads to higher pain medication use and pain levels, indicating that TECs might be a more effective pain management option for patients with rib fractures.
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Introduction: The AUA recommends delayed-phase imaging (DPI) in renal injuries to evaluate the collecting system. A renal trauma imaging protocol for early conservative management of urinary extravasation (UE) was implemented to improve guideline adherence. We aimed to determine if increased adherence led to changes in outcomes.

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Guidelines provide varying recommendations for the prophylactic antimicrobial treatment of open fractures. This single-center, retrospective cohort study was conducted to determine how well an institutional prophylactic antibiotic protocol covered pathogens associated with open fractures. The authors included adult trauma patients with one or more open fractures and a positive culture from the site of the open fracture, and compared outcomes between patients who were covered by prophylactic antibiotics with patients not covered by prophylactic antibiotics.

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Background: Partial occlusion of the aorta is a resuscitation technique designed to maximize proximal perfusion while allowing a graduated amount of distal flow to reduce the ischemic sequelae associated with complete aortic occlusion. The pREBOA-PRO catheter affords the ability to titrate perfusion as hemodynamics allows; however, the impact of this new technology for resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta (REBOA) on blood use and other resuscitative requirements is currently unknown. We hypothesize that patients undergoing REBOA with the pREBOA-PRO catheter will utilize partial occlusion, when appropriate, and decrease overall resuscitative requirements when compared to patients undergoing REBOA with the ER-REBOA catheter.

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Background: Laparoscopic subtotal cholecystectomy (SC) is used for the difficult cholecystectomy, but published experience with resource use for SC is limited. We hypothesized that the need for advanced resources are common after SC.

Study Design: This was a retrospective review of laparoscopic cholecystectomies between 2017 and 2021 at a large center.

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Background: Rapidly localizing and controlling bleeding is central to treating hemorrhagic shock. While REBOA allows temporary control, identifying the source of bleeding remains challenging. CT imaging with REBOA in place may provide information to direct hemorrhage control.

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Background: The use of Zone 1 REBOA for life-threatening trauma has increased dramatically.

Study Design: The Aortic Occlusion for Resuscitation in Trauma and Acute Care Surgery database was queried for blunt and penetrating trauma between 2013 and 2021. Outcomes were examined both for mechanisms of injury combined and separately and for combinations of abdominal injury with and without traumatic brain injury and chest injuries (Abbreviated Injury Scale [AIS] score >2).

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Importance: Cefepime and piperacillin-tazobactam are commonly administered to hospitalized adults for empirical treatment of infection. Although piperacillin-tazobactam has been hypothesized to cause acute kidney injury and cefepime has been hypothesized to cause neurological dysfunction, their comparative safety has not been evaluated in a randomized clinical trial.

Objective: To determine whether the choice between cefepime and piperacillin-tazobactam affects the risks of acute kidney injury or neurological dysfunction.

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Background: Alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) is associated with increased morbidity and mortality in the trauma population. Benzodiazepines (BZDs) are standard of care for AWS; however, given the risk of delirium with BZDs and reports of BZD-refractory withdrawal, phenobarbital (PHB) has emerged as an alternative therapy for AWS. Safety and efficacy studies of PHB for AWS in trauma patients are lacking.

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  • Prehospital tourniquets are standard for trauma patients with limb vascular injuries, but their use can lead to vasospasm, which complicates imaging results like computed tomography angiography (CTA).
  • A study was conducted on 251 trauma patients with tourniquets in a Level 1 Trauma Center, where it was found that 45% of those who had a CTA showed false positive results for arterial injuries.
  • Despite investigating correlations, factors like the timing of tourniquet removal didn't significantly influence false positives, while female patients and vasospasm were noted as contributing factors.
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Introduction: Tranexamic acid (TXA) use has been associated with thrombotic complications.

Objective: We aim to investigate outcomes associated with TXA use in the setting of high- (HP) and low-profile (LP) introducer sheaths for resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta (REBOA).

Participants: The Aortic Occlusion and Resuscitation for Trauma and Acute Care Surgery (AORTA) database was queried for patients who underwent REBOA using a low-profile 7 French (LP) or high-profile, 11-14 French (HP) introducer sheaths between 2013 and 2022.

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Background: Frequent neurological examinations in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) disrupt sleep-wake cycles and potentially contribute to the development of delirium.

Objective: To evaluate the risk of delirium among patients with TBI with respect to their neuro-check frequencies.

Methods: A retrospective study of patients presenting with TBI at a single level I trauma center between January 2018 and December 2019.

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Background: Variations in admission patterns have been previously identified in non-elective surgical services, but minimal data on the subject exists with respect to burn admissions. Improved understanding of the temporal pattern of burn admissions could inform resource utilization and clinical staffing. We hypothesize that burn admissions have a predictable temporal distribution with regard to the time of day, day of week, and season of year in which they present.

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Background: Extending the time to definitive hemorrhage control in noncompressible torso hemorrhage (NCTH) is of particular importance in the battlefield where transfer times are prolonged and NCTH remains the leading cause of death. While resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta is widely practiced as an initial adjunct for the management of NCTH, concerns for ischemic complications after 30 minutes of compete aortic occlusion deters many from zone 1 deployment. We hypothesize that extended zone 1 occlusion times will be enabled by novel purpose-built devices that allow for titratable partial aortic occlusion.

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Despite the frequent hospitalizations and readmissions of persons living with dementia (PLWD), no telehealth transitional care interventions focus on PLWDs' unpaid caregivers. Tele-Savvy Caregiver Program is a 43-day evidence-based online psychoeducational intervention for PLWDs' caregivers. The aim of this formative evaluation was to explore caregivers' acceptability of and experience with their participation in Tele-Savvy after their PLWDs' hospital discharge.

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Introduction: Antibiotics are time-critical in the management of sepsis. When infectious organisms are unknown, patients are treated with empiric antibiotics to include coverage for gram-negative organisms, such as antipseudomonal cephalosporins and penicillins. However, in observational studies, some antipseudomonal cephalosporins (eg, cefepime) are associated with neurologic dysfunction while the most common antipseudomonal penicillin (piperacillin-tazobactam) is associated with acute kidney injury (AKI).

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Tracheostomy for prolonged ventilation of patients with COVID-19 was often delayed due to high viral loads and persistent high ventilatory requirements. With prolonged intubation and significant dose corticosteroid use, patients with COVID-19 are at risk for tracheomalacia, and urgent tube exchange may be required to address persistent cuff leak and to maintain adequate mechanical ventilation. We sought to describe our single center experience with COVID-19 patients requiring tracheostomy and the tracheal complications that followed.

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Background: Laparoscopic Subtotal Cholecystectomy (SC) is a technique for performing safe cholecystectomy when excessive inflammation prevents exposure of the Critical View of Safety. Studies have evaluated outcomes and complications of laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC), with mixed results in terms of surgeon experience. It is unclear if the rate of SC is associated with experience.

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Background: There is currently no standard for documenting supervision of acute care surgery (ACS) fellows. To accomplish this goal, we developed a web-based survey that is accessible via mobile platform. We hypothesize that our mobile access survey is an effective, reproducible tool for assessing fellow clinical performance.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study explores the evolution of patient selection criteria for using resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta (REBOA) over the last decade.
  • It systematically reviews various clinical guidelines from 2015 to 2022 to identify both agreements and differences in how REBOA is applied to trauma patients.
  • While there is general agreement on using REBOA for certain types of trauma with severe bleeding, there are notable variations in specific blood pressure thresholds and situations where REBOA is utilized.
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Resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta (REBOA) use has expanded to the obstetric condition of placenta accreta spectrum (PAS). Early reports of REBOA for PAS describe prophylactic catheter deployment. We developed a multidisciplinary approach to PAS, with early femoral artery access and selective REBOA deployment.

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Background: Patients with mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) and intracranial hemorrhage often receive neurosurgical consultation. However, only a small proportion of patients require intervention. Our hypothesis is that low-risk minimal TBI patients managed without immediate neurosurgical consultation will have a reasonable safety and effectiveness outcome profile.

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