A safety assessment of diaspirin cross-linked hemoglobin (DCLHb) in the treatment of hemorrhagic, hypovolemic shock.

Objective: To determine the safety and possible efficacy of diaspirin cross-linked hemoglobin (DCLHb) in the treatment of patients in Class II-IV hemorrhagic, hypovolemic shock.

Design: Multicenter, randomized, normal saline-controlled, dose-escalation study.

Setting: Eleven hospitals in the U.

The role of ultrasound in patients with possible penetrating cardiac wounds: a prospective multicenter study.

Background: Ultrasound is quickly becoming part of the trauma surgeon's practice, but its role in the patient with a penetrating truncal injury is not well defined. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of emergency ultrasound as it was introduced into five Level I trauma centers for the diagnosis of acute hemopericardium.

Methods: Surgeons or cardiologists (four centers) and technicians (one center) performed pericardial ultrasound examinations on patients with penetrating truncal wounds.

Intraoperative blood salvage in excisional burn surgery: an analysis of yield, bacteriology, and inflammatory mediators.

The diminution of intraoperative hemorrhage remains a fundamental goal of the burn surgeon. We hypothesized that intraoperative blood salvage during burn excisions would be feasible if predicated on yield, bacteriology, and concentration of inflammatory mediators in the washed product. Reinfusion of culture-positive blood has a clear precedent in the trauma literature.

A rapid organ recovery program for non-heart-beating donors.

We report a successful method for rapid organ recovery from the non-heart-beating donor, which can open a new resource of organs for transplantation. The RORP is not controversial, is simple in design and execution, and results in kidneys that are viable for transplantation. Special personnel and equipment are needed but are easily incorporated in the overall budget of an OPO or donor hospital.

The use of TRISS methodology to validate prehospital intubation by urban EMS providers.

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of field orotracheal intubation (OI) by urban emergency medical technician-paramedics (EMT-Ps) on outcome compared with trauma score and injury severity score (TRISS) expectations. The records of all trauma patients intubated by EMT-Ps or hospital personnel were abstracted for OI attempts/ successes, use of neuromuscular blockade (NMB), scene time, discharge neurological status, and hospital survival compared with TRISS. EMT-Ps attempted 43% of all intubations; 81% were successful versus 98% by hospital staff (P < .