Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic led to visitor restrictions in many hospitals. Since care in the surgical intensive care unit (SICU) often engages visitors as surrogate decision-makers, we investigated whether there was an association between COVID-19-related visitor restrictions, goals of care discussions (GOCD), and patient outcomes in SICU patients.
Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of trauma and emergency general surgery (EGS) patients admitted to a rural tertiary SICU between July 2019 and April 2021, dividing patients into those admitted during COVID-19 visitor restrictions and those admitted at other times.
Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) provide recommendations to clinicians based on current medical knowledge to guide and reduce variability in clinical care. With advances in nutrition science research, CPGs increasingly include dietary guidance; however, the degree of consistency in dietary recommendations across CPGs has not been investigated. Using a systematic review approach adapted for meta-epidemiologic research, this study compared dietary guidance from current guidelines developed by governments, major medical professional societies, and large health stakeholder associations owing to their often well-defined and standardized processes for guideline development.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: This study aimed to track development assistance for trauma care (DAH-TC), uncover funding trends and gaps, and compare DAH-TC to development assistance for other health conditions.
Methods: A systematic search of the OECD Creditor Reporting System (CRS) and Development Assistance Committee (DAC) databases was performed to capture projects related to trauma care. Reports from large foundations and public-private partnerships were also searched.
Background: Care at verified trauma centers has improved survival and functional outcomes, yet determining the appropriate location of potential trauma centers is often driven by factors other than optimizing system-level patient care. Given the importance of transport time in trauma, we analyzed trauma transport patterns in a rural state lacking an organized trauma system and implemented a geographic information system to inform potential future trauma center locations.
Study Design: Data were collected on trauma ground transport during a 3-year period (2014 through 2016) from the Statewide Incident Reporting Network database.