Haemorrhage is a major cause of death in severe trauma. Fibrinogen plays a critical role in maintaining haemostasis in traumatic haemorrhage, and early replacement using fibrinogen concentrate (FC) or cryoprecipitate (Cryo) is recommended by several international trauma guidelines. Limited evidence supports one product over the other, with widespread geographic and institutional variation in practice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Acute Traumatic Coagulopathy (ATC) is a complex pathological process that is associated with patient mortality and increased blood transfusion requirements. It is evident on hospital arrival, but there is a paucity of information about the nature of ATC and the characteristics of patients that develop ATC in the pre-hospital setting. The objective of this study was to describe the nature and timing of coagulation dysfunction in a cohort of injured patients and to report on patient and pre-hospital factors associated with the development of ATC in the field.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Haemorrhage is a leading cause of death in severe trauma. Fibrinogen plays a critical role in maintaining haemostasis in traumatic haemorrhage. Early fibrinogen replacement is recommended by several international trauma guidelines using either fibrinogen concentrate (FC) or cryoprecipitate (Cryo).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHaemorrhage in the setting of severe trauma is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. There is increasing awareness of the important role fibrinogen plays in traumatic haemorrhage. Fibrinogen levels fall precipitously in severe trauma and the resultant hypofibrinogenaemia is associated with poor outcomes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To determine whether family members interfere with patient care when present during invasive procedures performed on their children in the ED.
Methods: A prospective observational study of consecutive cases of procedural sedation of children aged between 12 months and 16 years was conducted between March 2002 and March 2006 in the ED of a secondary-level regional hospital in south-east Queensland. Procedures performed included laceration repair, fracture reduction, foreign body removal and abscess incision and drainage.
A previously healthy 48-year-old woman presented to a peripheral ED with non-specific signs and symptoms, including vomiting, abdominal cramping, shortness of breath, tachycardia and hypertension. Despite supportive measures the patient rapidly deteriorated, resulting in a cardiac arrest during an interhospital transfer. This required aggressive resuscitation, but without success.
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