Empiric antifungals do not decrease the risk for organ space infection in patients with perforated peptic ulcer.

Introduction: Infection control in patients with perforated peptic ulcers (PPU) commonly includes empiric antifungals (AF). We investigated the variation in the use of empiric AF and explored the association between their use and the subsequent development of organ space infection (OSI).

Methods: This was a secondary analysis of a multicenter, case-control study of patients treated for PPU at nine institutions between 2011 and 2018.

Multicenter assessment of the Brain Injury Guidelines and a proposal of guideline modifications.

Background: The Brain Injury Guidelines provide an algorithm fortreating patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and intracranial hemorrhage(ICH) that does not mandate hospital admission, repeat head CT, orneurosurgical consult for all patients. The purposes of this study are toreview the guidelines' safety, to assess resource utilization, and to proposeguideline modifications that improve patient safety and widespreadreproducibility.

Methods: A multi-institutional review of TBI patients was conducted.

Trends in hematologic markers after blunt splenic trauma: Risk factor or Epiphenomenon?

Background: Most blunt splenic injuries (BSI) are treated with nonoperative management (NOM) or embolization (EMBO). Little is known about the hematologic changes associated with these treatments. We aim to assess the temporal changes of hematologic markers in trauma patients who undergo splenectomy (SPL), packing and splenorrhaphy (P/S), EMBO, or NOM.