Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to E E Moore.
The coexistence of myocardial contusion and thoracic aortic injury is probably more common than recognized following rapid deceleration multisystem trauma. This report describes the successful application of intra-aortic balloon counterpulsation in a critically injured patient requiring emergent repair of a thoracic aortic tear complicated by ventricular failure due to cardiac contusion.
Hypertonic saline with dextran (HSD) has been recently introduced for prehospital resuscitation of hemorrhagic shock, and is currently undergoing clinical investigation. To determine the effect of clinically relevant amounts of hypertonic saline (7.5% NaCl) and/or 6% dextran 70 on non-ischemic and post-ischemic hearts, we infused rat hearts (Langendorff, 20 minutes global ischemia, 37 degrees, 40 minutes' reperfusion) with: 1) 0.9% NaCl (control); 2) 7.5% NaCl/dextran; 3) 7.5% NaCl; or 4) dextran. We found that 7.5% NaCl alone or with dextran depressed ventricular function (developed pressure, DP; contractility, +dP/dt; and relaxation rate, -dP/dt) in non-ischemic hearts. In contrast, equimolar (2,400 mOsm) sucrose increased myocardial contractility (+dP/dt) of non-ischemic hearts. Coronary flow was unchanged by the addition of 7.5% NaCl, dextran, or sucrose. Treatment of ischemic hearts with 7.5% NaCl/dextran, dextran alone, or sucrose improved recovery of ventricular function compared to 0.9% or 7.5% NaCl. Furthermore, dextran (but not sucrose) with or without 7.5% NaCl reduced myocardial hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) levels during ischemia and reperfusion. We conclude that when given in clinically relevant amounts in the isolated rat heart: 1) 7.5% NaCl directly depresses myocardial function; 2) 7.5% NaCl alone does not improve post-ischemic ventricular function; 3) 7.5% NaCl with dextran or dextran alone improves post-ischemic ventricular function in part by reducing myocardial H2O2; and 4) sucrose equimolar to 7.5% HSD increases ventricular function in non-ischemic and post-ischemic hearts. This investigation suggests that the post-shock benefit of HSD is unrelated to direct myocardial effects of saline but is due in part to toxic oxygen metabolite scavenging by dextran.
Late postinjury sepsis is largely the result of defective host defense including failure to maintain an adequate number of functioning phagocytic cells. In this study we used stem cell culture techniques to measure colony-stimulating activity and have quantitated the number of circulating myeloid stem cells to see if defects in granulopoiesis occur after major torso trauma. Forty-two acutely injured patients (13 blunt and 29 penetrating injuries; mean age, 29.7 years) undergoing laparotomy with an abdominal trauma index of 15 to 40 were studied prospectively. Blood samples were obtained on days 1, 5, and 10. Patients were segregated by injury severity: abdominal trauma index less than 25 (n = 25) versus abdominal trauma index greater than or equal to 25 (n = 17). The more severely injured (abdominal trauma index greater than or equal to 25) patients had fewer circulating granulocytes and monocytes. Colony-stimulating activity was below normal control levels in all patients and was decreased further with increased injury severity. The more severely injured patients had a blunted bone marrow response (significantly fewer circulating myeloid stem cells) and suffered more major septic complications (24% vs 8%). In conclusion, major trauma to the torso causes a paradoxic depression in granulopoiesis that worsens with increased injury severity and may contribute to late septic morbidity. This colony-stimulating activity deficiency state is similar to that seen after major burns and may be amenable to future modulation.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ability of diagnostic peritoneal lavage (DPL) to predict intra-abdominal injuries that required surgical repair. To do this, we retrospectively reviewed 944 patients with blunt and penetrating abdominal trauma who underwent 975 DPLs. Initial DPL in 608 patients sustaining blunt trauma had a sensitivity of 87%, a specificity of 97%, an accuracy of 95%, a positive predictive value (PPV) of 85%, and a negative predictive value (NPV) of 97%. Initial DPL in 336 patients with penetrating trauma had a sensitivity of 87%, a specificity of 89%, an accuracy of 89%, a PPV of 75%, and a NPV of 95%. When utilizing final lavage results on the 944 patients, DPL had a sensitivity of 91%, a specificity of 94%, an accuracy of 93%, a PPV of 80%, and a NPV of 98% in predicting intra-abdominal injury requiring surgical repair.
The Organ Injury Scaling (O.I.S.) Committee of the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (A.A.S.T.) has been charged to devise injury severity scores for individual organs to facilitate clinical research. Our first report (1) addressed O.I.S.'s for the Spleen, Liver, and Kidney; the following are proposed O.I.S.'s for Pancreas (Table I), Duodenum (Table II), Small Bowel (Table III), Colon (Table IV), and Rectum (Table V). The grading scheme is fundamentally an anatomic description, scaled from 1 to 5, representing the least to the most severe injury. We emphasize that these O.I.S.'s represent an initial classification system which must undergo continued refinement as clinical experience dictates.
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The two purposes of this study were to develop a clinical test of surgical resident proficiency and to compare this clinical test with currently applied methods of resident evaluation. Appendicitis is a common surgical disease, and its accurate diagnosis depends largely on clinical acumen. Ten third-year surgical residents prospectively evaluated 107 patients admitted because of suspected appendicitis. After taking a history, performing a physical examination, and reviewing laboratory data, these residents were asked to state, as a percentage, the likelihood that each patient had appendicitis. Sixty-three patients had appendicitis documented by pathologic inspection after appendectomy. Forty-four patients did not have appendicitis, as was determined by operation (17) or by in-house observation and resolution of abdominal pain (27). These outcomes were used to calculate a diagnostic ability score (DAS) for each resident. Residents were evaluated by standard methods including in-service examinations and monthly evaluations by the attending staff. Residents were also evaluated by nonstandard, but potentially useful, neuropsychologic and psychologic tests, including the trail making test, the Ravens progressive matrices test, the paced auditory serial addition test (PASAT), the grooved pegboard test of manual dexterity, and the profile of mood states (POMS) psychologic questionnaire. Cumulative scores were calculated and compared by multiple regression with coefficient variance analysis. The correlation (R2) of DAS with standard evaluation techniques was as follows: In-service (0.055), faculty (0.508), trails (-0.293), Ravens (0.028), PASAT (0.251), dexterity (0.432), POMS (0.381). We found that (1) the DAS is a discriminating clinical test; (2) the DAS correlates with subjective faculty evaluation; and (3) the DAS does not correlate with in-service examination scores. We conclude that faculty evaluation remains the best currently applied test of surgical resident clinical proficiency as measured by the DAS.
We have reviewed our recent 12-year experience in treating 62 patients with combined injuries to the pancreas and duodenum; 60 percent were the consequence of penetrating wounds and 40 percent due to blunt trauma. For analysis, grades I through V were assigned to reflect severity of injury. Grade I (16 percent) and II injuries (23 percent) were treated with simple repair and drainage. Grades III (19 percent) and IV (32 percent) were managed primarily by pyloric exclusion, whereas grade V injuries (10 percent) underwent pancreatoduodenectomy. Pancreatic and duodenal complications developed in 35 percent and 2 percent, respectively. The overall mortality was 19 percent; 83 percent died within the first 24 hours from exsanguination or severe head injury. Although no single procedure uniformly applies to the combined pancreatoduodenal trauma, active sump drainage of the pancreas, pyloric exclusion of the duodenum, and early nutritional support through needle catheter jejunostomy are the mainstay treatment principles.
The purpose of this study was to define the relative risk of life-threatening sequelae in patients at risk for myocardial contusion. During a 3-year period, 280 patients sustaining blunt chest trauma were admitted to the surgical intensive care unit to exclude myocardial contusion. Patients were evaluated by electrocardiogram and creatine phosphokinase (CPK) MB enzyme levels every 8 hours for a minimum of 48 hours. Myocardial contusion was identified in 35 patients (13 percent); the diagnosis was established by transient electrocardiographic changes (30), CPK-MB more than 3 percent (9) or both criteria (4). Two patients (1 percent) died from cardiac decompensation 4 and 12 hours postinjury, and seven (3 percent) required early (12 hours postinjury) intensive care unit treatment of arrhythmias or myocardial failure. None of the remaining 271 patients developed cardiac symptoms. This clinical experience underscores the low incidence of cardiac sequelae among patients at risk for myocardial contusion. Complications were always manifest within 12 hours of injury. The clinical diagnosis of myocardial contusion can be excluded pragmatically in the asymptomatic patient with a normal electrocardiogram and CPK-MB levels during the initial 24-hour postinjury period.
Vascular control of the injured retrohepatic vena cava is invariably a surgical challenge. Herein, we describe the technical aspects of inserting a vena cava balloon shunt through the saphenofemoral junction. The advantages of this approach include relative simplicity, maintenance of perihepatic tamponade, and avoiding emergent thoracotomy in the critically injured patient.
Meeting the increased metabolic demands in the critically injured is a continuing challenge. Benefits of early enteral feeding after abdominal trauma have been previously reported, but the frequency of patient intolerance due to GI complaints remains unclear. One hundred twenty-three patients undergoing emergent laparotomy for major abdominal trauma with an abdominal trauma index greater than or equal to 15 were prospectively randomized to either a control group (n = 52, no enteral nutrition during the first 5 days) or an enteral-fed group (n = 71). The enteral group had a needle catheter jejunostomy (NCJ) placed at laparotomy and an elemental diet begun 12 h postoperatively, advanced in volume and concentration at 8-h intervals to 100-125 ml/h of full-strength diet. Symptoms of GI complaints (nausea, vomiting, cramping, distention, and diarrhea) were monitored daily and graded as minimal, moderate, or significant. Fifty percent of the control group had one or more GI complaints during the study period; six (12%) developed moderate discomfort. In the enteral group, 59 (83%) patients reported some GI discomfort; 11 had significant complaints (two nausea, seven cramping, six distention, two diarrhea). Nine (13%) of the enteral-fed patients ultimately required total parenteral nutrition supplementation due to GI complaints. The remaining 62 (87%) enteral patients were maintained on the elemental diet for a mean of 7 days (range 5 to 20). By postoperative day 5, patients received an average of 35 kcal/kg and 14.5 g N/day; 66% (41/62) were in positive N balance.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Recent animal models suggest that enteral feeding (TEN) compared to parenteral nutrition (TPN) improves resistance to infection. This prospective clinical trial examined the impact of early TEN vs. TPN in the critically injured. Seventy-five patients with an abdominal trauma index (ATI) greater than 15 and less than 40 were randomized at initial laparotomy to receive either TEN (Vivonex TEN) or TPN (Freamine HBC 6.9% and Trophamine 6%); both regimens contained 2.5% fat, 33% branched chain amino acids, and had a calorie to nitrogen ratio of 150:1. TEN was delivered via a needle catheter jejunostomy. Nutritional support was initiated within 12 hours postoperatively in both groups, and infused at a rate sufficient to render the patients in positive nitrogen balance. The study groups (TEN = 29 vs TPN = 30) were comparable in age, injury severity and initial metabolic stress. Jejunal feeding was tolerated unconditionally in 25 (86%) of the TEN group. Nitrogen balance remained equivalent throughout the study period, at day 5 TEN = -0.3 +/- 1.0 vs. TPN 0.1 +/- 0.8 gm/day. Traditional nutritional protein markers (albumin, transferrin, and retinol binding protein) were restored better in the TEN group. Infections developed in 5 (17%) of the TEN patients compared to 11 (37%) of the TPN group. The incidence of major septic morbidity was 3% (1 = abdominal abscess) in the TEN group contrasted to 20% (2 = abdominal abscess, 6 = pneumonia) with TPN. This clinical study demonstrates that TEN is well tolerated in the severely injured, and that early feeding via the gut reduces septic complications in the stressed patient.
The experience of six referral trauma centers with 832 blunt splenic injuries was reviewed to determine the indications, methods, and outcome of nonoperative management. During this 5-year period, 112 splenic injuries were intentionally managed by observation. There were 40 (36%) patients less than 16 years old and 72 adults. The diagnosis was established by computed tomography in 89 (79%) patients, nuclear scan in 23 (21%), ultrasound in four (4%), and arteriography in two (2%). There were 28 Class I, 51 Class II, 31 Class III, two Class IV, and no Class V splenic injuries. Nonoperative management was unsuccessful in one (2%) child and 12 (17%) adults (p less than 0.05). Failure was due to ongoing hemorrhage in 12 patients and delayed recognition of pancreatic injury in one patient. Of the 12 patients ultimately requiring laparotomy for control of hemorrhage, seven (58%) were successfully treated with splenic salvage techniques. Overall mortality was 3%; none of the four deaths was due to splenic or associated abdominal injury. This contemporary multicenter experience suggests that patients with Class I, II, or III splenic injuries after blunt trauma are candidates for nonoperative management if there is: 1) no hemodynamic instability after initial fluid resuscitation; 2) no serious associated abdominal organ injury; and 3) no extra-abdominal condition which precludes assessment of the abdomen. Strict adherence to these principles yielded initial nonoperative success in 98% of children and 83% of adults. Application of standard splenic salvage techniques to treat the patients with persistent hemorrhage resulted in ultimate splenic preservation in 100% of children and 93% of adults.
Recent clinical reviews have helped to clarify the role of Emergency Department (E.D.) thoracotomy in critically injured adults. However, guidelines in the pediatric population remain ill defined. The purpose of this report is to examine the yield of E.D. thoracotomy in patients less than or equal to 18 years of age to allow for a more cost-effective application of this heroic measure. From an 11-year experience of 689 consecutive E.D. thoracotomies, 83 patients (12%) were less than or equal to 18 years old. Mechanism of injury was blunt trauma in 57%, gunshot wound in 30%, and stab wound in 13%. Mean age was 15 years and 71% were male. Survival by injury mechanism was 9% (1/11) for stab wound, 4% (1/25) for gunshot wound, and 2% (1/47) for blunt trauma. Sixty-nine patients presented to the E.D. without vital signs and only one, a 16-year-old with stab wounds to the chest and abdomen, survived. In contrast, two (14%) among 14 patients presenting with vital signs were salvaged. As in adults, outcome was largely determined by injury mechanism and physiologic status on E.D. presentation. Blunt trauma, the predominant mechanism of lethal injuries in children, had a dismal outcome, with only 2% salvage and no survivors when vital signs were absent. This study demonstrates a similar outcome for E.D. thoracotomy in children compared to adults, and supports a selective policy of liberal use in penetrating injury irrespective of physiologic status but limited in those arriving lifeless following blunt trauma.
Pulmonary contusion is the usual manifestation of lung parenchymal injury following blunt chest trauma. With rapid deceleration, however, parenchymal lacerations can result in cavities best termed post-traumatic pulmonary pseudocyst (PPP). This report discusses eight adult PPP cases encountered at the Denver General Hospital over the past 30 months. Five were males and the mean age was 29 years (range, 18 to 54). Injury mechanism was motor vehicle accident in four, industrial machinery in two, autopedestrian accident in one, and large-animal rodeo rollover in another. Review of daily portable anteroposterior chest roentgenograms revealed parenchymal infiltrates consistent with pulmonary contusion that typically cavitated within the first week. Computed tomography of the chest was pursued in complicated patients and clearly influenced therapy. Three (38%) pseudocysts developed into lung abscesses; two required resection and the other responded to percutaneous drainage. Although previously described as a benign pediatric entity, in our adult experience, PPP may result in a recalcitrant lung abscess requiring aggressive intervention.
The immunologic value of the spleen is now unchallenged; recognition of this fact has changed the management of splenic trauma radically over the past decade. This review describes our clinical experience in adults during this metamorphosis. In the 10-year period ending December 1987, 314 adults had splenic injury identified at emergent laparotomy. Mean patient age was 30.1 years and 81% were men. Injury mechanism was blunt in 227 (72%), stab wound in 49, and gunshot wound in 38. In 1978 splenorrhaphy was accomplished in nine (29%) of 31 patients; during 1982-1987 the rate of operative splenic salvage has been 63% (107/170). Splenorrhaphy was achieved with hemostatic agents in 40%, debridement and suturing in 40%, formal splenic resection in 13%, and mesh bag in 7%. Grade I splenic injuries were amendable to hemostatic agents alone, and suturing or mesh enclosure was necessary in 43% of Grade II and in all Grade III injuries. Grade IV disruption required anatomic splenic resection for hemorrhage control in 88% of the cases. During this period 63 patients underwent splenectomy; 48 (76%) had Grade V injuries that were technically unapproachable. The remaining splenectomies were performed expeditiously in multisystem injured patients harboring other critical injuries. This decade perspective documents the feasibility of operative splenic salvage in nearly two thirds of acutely injured adults. Conversely, more than one third require prompt splenectomy due to massive splenic disruption or the presence of concomitant life-threatening injuries.