FAST and Furious About Quality: Impact of Continuous Review and Feedback on Point-of-Care Ultrasound Examinations.

Focused Assessment with Sonography in Trauma (FAST) examination is a point-of-care ultrasound study used to evaluate for abdominal hemorrhage, pneumothorax, or pericardial blood in trauma patients as an adjunct to their initial assessment. The quality of the image can be limited, and its diagnostic value is heavily dependent on operator skill. Our objective was to determine whether a standardized review process improved image quality and reduced incidence of nondiagnostic or insufficient imaging by 10% over a 6-month period.

Beyond Mortality: Does Trauma-related Injury Severity Score Predict Complications or Lengths of Stay Using a Large Administrative Dataset.

Introduction: Despite its shortcomings, trauma-related injury severity score (TRISS) correlates well with mortality in large trauma datasets. The aim of this study was to determine if TRISS correlates with morbidity and hospital lengths of stay using data from an institutional registry at a Level I Trauma Center. We hypothesized that higher TRISS correlates with increased complications and longer hospital stays.

Emergency Trauma Providers as Equal Partners: From "Proof of Concept" to "Outcome Parity".

Enmeshment of emergency trauma providers (ETPs) into the United States health-care fabric resulted in the establishment of a formalized surgical critical care fellowship and certification for emergency medicine trainees. The aim of this study was to compare trauma outcomes for surgery-trained providers (STPs) and ETPs at our institution, hypothesizing patient outcome equivalency. We performed an institutional review board-exempt institutional registry review (January 1, 2004 to August 1, 2018), comparing 74 STPs and 6 ETPs.

A seven-center examination of the relationship between monthly volume and mortality in trauma: a hypothesis-generating study.

Introduction: The relationship between trauma volumes and patient outcomes continues to be controversial, with limited data available regarding the effect of month-to-month trauma volume variability on clinical results. This study examines the relationship between monthly trauma volume variations and patient mortality at seven Level I Trauma Centers located in the Eastern United States. We hypothesized that higher monthly trauma volumes may be associated with lower corresponding mortality.

Keys to successful organ procurement: An experience-based review of clinical practices at a high-performing health-care organization.

Organ procurement (OP) from donors after brain death and circulatory death represents the primary source of transplanted organs. Despite favorable laws and regulations, OP continues to face challenges for a number of reasons, including institutional, personal, and societal barriers. This focused review presents some of the key components of a successful OP program at a large, high-performing regional health network.

Prognostication of traumatic brain injury outcomes in older trauma patients: A novel risk assessment tool based on initial cranial CT findings.

Introduction: Advanced age has been traditionally associated with worse traumatic brain injury (TBI) outcomes. Although prompt neurosurgical intervention (NSI, craniotomy or craniectomy) may be life-saving in the older trauma patient, it does not guarantee survival and/or return to preinjury functional status. The aim of this study was to determine whether a simple score, based entirely on the initial cranial computed tomography (CCT) is predictive of the need for NSI and key outcome measures (e.

Injury and fatality risks in aeromedical transport: focus on prevention.

Background: Aeromedical transport (AMT) is a reliable and well-established life-saving option for rapid patient transfers to health care delivery hubs. However, owing to the very nature of AMT, fatal and nonfatal events may occur. This study reviews aeromedical incidents reported since the publication of the last definitive review in 2003, aiming to provide additional insight into a wide range of factors potentially associated with fatal and nonfatal AMT incidents (AMTIs).