HWN Suggests

Blunt Trauma: what do we miss/how can we improve?

Missed injuries are fortunately rare, yet the injured trauma patient may present a unique diagnostic challenge...

Delayed diagnosis of intra-abdominal injuries, for instance, results in significantly increased morbidity and mortality. Literature suggests an 8.1% incidence of patients with missed injuries, which may be an underestimation of the true incidence of missed injuries

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 Blunt Trauma Thoracotomy: Probably Still Not Time for Heroics

When treating a patient in cardiac arrest from a blunt trauma, providers need to balance the potential risk of harm to provider and staff before performing an invasive procedure with a very low chance of success.

Articles of Interest

ACR Appropriateness Criteria® Major Blunt Trauma

Potential adverse health effects associated with radiation exposure are an important factor to consider when selecting the appropriate imaging procedure. Because there is a wide range of radiation exposures associated with different diagnostic procedures, a relative radiation level (RRL) indication has been included for each imaging examination.

Blunt Force Trauma

Trauma is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in patients under 35-years of age and the sixth leading cause of death worldwide. The majority of serious traumatic injuries are due to blunt trauma from motor vehicle crashes and pedestrian injuries.

Blunt Trauma to the Neck

The most common cause of blunt laryngotracheal trauma is motor vehicle accidents. Patients typically present with dyspnea, dysphonia, neck pain, dysphagia, odynophagia, and hemoptysis. Physical findings may include subcutaneous emphysema, tenderness, edema, hematoma, ecchymosis, and distortion or loss of laryngeal landmarks. Laryngotracheal injuries are often unrecognized because the severity of the symptoms does not always correspond with the extent of injury.

Chest CT Scans Often Can Be Avoided in Blunt Trauma ER Cases, Study Finds

Use of computed tomography (CT) scans of the chest for hospital emergency-room patients with blunt trauma could be reduced by more than one-third without compromising detection of major injury, concludes a new study led by a UC San Francisco physician.

Does FAST change management of blunt trauma patients?

This is the first study to assess patient outcomes with respect to FAST in the era of early whole body CT in trauma. Although FAST does not directly impact care for the majority of blunt trauma patients, it demonstrates usefulness in some patients by directing CT utilization and expediting disposition from the ED.

To be blunt: are we wasting our time? Emergency department thoracotomy following blunt trauma: a systematic review and meta-analysis

There may be a role for ED thoracotomy after blunt trauma, but only in a limited group of patients. Good outcomes have been achieved for patients who had vital signs on admission and for patients who received an ED thoracotomy within 15 minutes of cardiac arrest. The proposed guideline should be used to determine which patients should be considered for an ED thoracotomy, according to level 4 evidence.

Trauma Drama: overview algorithmic approach to trauma

Blunt trauma: most common overall cause of trauma in the United States. ~75% are from MVCs. Blunt forces push against the anterior thorax and abdomen, compressing viscera against the posterior thoracic cage or vertebra, causing crushing of tissue and shearing open organs at their point of attachment to the peritoneum.