Prehospital Needle Decompression Improves Clinical Outcomes in Helicopter Evacuation Patients With Multisystem Trauma: A Multicenter Study.

Background: The utility of prehospital thoracic needle decompression (ND) for tension physiology in the civilian setting continues to be debated. We attempted to provide objective evidence for clinical improvement when ND is performed and determine whether technical success is associated with provider factors. We also attempted to determine whether certain clinical scenarios are more predictive than others of successful improvement in symptoms when ND is performed.

Laser Tattoo Removal: A New Tool for Hospital-based Violence Prevention?

Introduction: Gang-related tattoos may increase an individual's risk for violent victimization. We present our early experience using a physician-staffed tattoo removal initiative as 1 component of a violence prevention program.

Methods: Surgeons from our trauma department in partnership with a community advocacy group performed voluntary laser tattoo removal for individuals within our catchment area.

Frostbite injuries: independent predictors of outcomes.

Objectives: Frostbite injuries are important causes of morbidity and mortality after trauma. Epidemiology, injury patterns, and outcomes after frostbite among patients presenting to trauma centers are incompletely defined. The purpose of this study was to delineate patient demographics, clinical characteristics, and independent predictors of outcomes after frostbite.

Youth and Young Adult Victims of Interpersonal Violence at LA County + USC Medical Center: A Review of Epidemiology and Recidivism.

Youth and young adult interpersonal violence (IPV) is a unique clinical challenge which merits study. This study defined the demographics and clinical outcomes of youth and young adult victims of IPV presenting to our hospital while examining violent injury recidivism. We reviewed patients aged 10 to 30 years admitted to our trauma bay as a victim of gunshot wound (GSW), stabbing wound, or blunt assault from 1998 to 2015 (n = 12,549).

Hepatic Compartment Syndrome After a Right-sided Diaphragm Plication.

We present a case of acute hepatic failure due to hepatic vein outflow obstruction after a unilateral right diaphragm plication that required reoperation. This complication does not appear to have been reported previously. After reoperation and the removal of several plication sutures, hepatic vein outflow was restored, and hepatic function normalized soon thereafter.

Who Would Have Benefited from the Prehospital Use of Resuscitative Endovascular Balloon Occlusion of the Aorta (REBOA)? An Autopsy Study.

Background: Resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta (REBOA) has been increasingly used as part of damage control resuscitation for patients with non-compressible truncal hemorrhage. We hypothesized that there might be a select group of patients that could have benefited from prehospital placement of the REBOA.

Study Design: This was a retrospective cohort study including patients who presented to a Level I trauma center with cardiac arrest between January 2014 and March 2018.

Current Burden of Gunshot Wound Injuries at Two Los Angeles County Level I Trauma Centers.

Background: Gunshot wound (GSW) injuries present a unique surgical challenge. This study explored the financial and clinical burdens of GSW patients across 2 Los Angeles County Level I trauma centers over the last 12 years, and compared them with other forms of interpersonal injury (OIPI).

Study Design: This was a retrospective study of patients presenting as those with GSW and OIPI (defined as combined stab wound or blunt assault), between January 1, 2006 and March 30, 2018, at LAC+USC Medical Center (LAC+USC) and Harbor UCLA Medical Center (HUCLA).

A Novel, Perfused-Cadaver Simulation Model for Tourniquet Training in Military Medics.

Background: Exsanguinating limb injury is a significant cause of preventable death on the battlefield and can be controlled with tourniquets. US Navy corpsmen rotating at the Navy Trauma Training Center receive instruction on tourniquets. We evaluated the effectiveness of traditional tourniquet instruction compared with a novel, perfused-cadaver, simulation model for tourniquet training.