The global burden of injury: incidence, mortality, disability-adjusted life years and time trends from the Global Burden of Disease study 2013

Safety and efficacy of tranexamic acid in bleeding paediatric trauma patients: a systematic review protocol

INTRODUCTION

Trauma is the leading cause of death among children aged 1-18. Studies indicate that better control of bleeding could potentially prevent 10-20% of trauma-related deaths. The antifibrinolytic agent tranexamic acid (TxA) has shown promise in haemorrhage control in adult trauma patients. However, information on the potential benefits of TxA in children remains sparse. This review proposes to evaluate the current uses, benefits and adverse effects of TxA in the bleeding paediatric trauma population.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

A structured search of bibliographic databases (eg, MEDLINE, EMBASE, PubMed, CINAHL, Cochrane CENTRAL) has been undertaken to retrieve randomised controlled trials and cohort studies that describe the use of TxA in paediatric trauma patients. To ensure that all relevant data were captured, the search did not contain any restrictions on language or publication time. After deduplication, citations will be screened independently by 2 authors, and selected for inclusion based on prespecified criteria. Data extraction and risk of bias assessment will be performed independently and in duplicate. Meta-analytic methods will be employed wherever appropriate.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

This study will not involve primary data collection, and formal ethical approval will therefore not be required. The findings of this study will be disseminated through a peer-reviewed publication and at relevant conference meetings.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

CRD42016038023.

Disability weights based on patient-reported data from a multinational injury cohort

Objective

To create patient-based disability weights for individual injury diagnosis codes and nature-of-injury classifications, for use, as an alternative to panel-based weights, in studies on the burden of disease.

Methods

Self-reported data based on the EQ-5D standardized measure of health status were collected from 29 770 participants in the Injury-VIBES injury cohort study, which covered Australia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America. The data were combined to calculate new disability weights for each common injury classification and for each type of diagnosis covered by the 10th revision of the International statistical classification of diseases and related health problems. Weights were calculated separately for hospital admissions and presentations confined to emergency departments.

Findings

There were 29 770 injury cases with at least one EQ-5D score. The mean age of the participants providing data was 51 years. Most participants were male and almost a third had road traffic injuries. The new disability weights were higher for admitted cases than for cases confined to emergency departments and higher than the corresponding weights used by the Global Burden of Disease 2013 study. Long-term disability was common in most categories of injuries.

Conclusion

Injury is often a chronic disorder and burden of disease estimates should reflect this. Application of the new weights to burden studies would substantially increase estimates of disability-adjusted life-years and provide a more accurate reflection of the impact of injuries on peoples’ lives.

Road traffic injuries in Peace Corps Volunteers, 1996-2014

INTRODUCTION

Road traffic injuries are a leading cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Travellers are at risk given unfamiliarity with local road conditions and traffic rules. Peace Corps Volunteers are a unique population of long-term travellers who live and work in-country, often in remote settings, over a period of 27 months and use a range of transportation modes.

METHODS

Data from Peace Corps' Epidemiologic Surveillance System (ESS) and Death In-Service (DIS) database were analysed in 2015 for non-fatal and fatal road traffic injuries among in-service Volunteers from 1996 to 2014. Volunteer-months were used to calculate incidence rates, and rates were compared among countries and regions.

RESULTS

A total of 5047 non-fatal and 15 fatal road crash injuries were reported during 1 616 252 Volunteer-months for an overall rate of 3.12 non-fatal injuries and 0.01 fatalities per 1000 Volunteer-months. The total combined rate of nonfatal road traffic injuries among Volunteers generally declined from 4.01 per 1000 Volunteer-months in 1996 to 2.84 in 2014. Pedestrian and bicycle injuries emerged as the most frequent mechanisms of injury during this timeframe. Differences in rates of observed road traffic-related fatalities among Volunteers compared with expected age-matched cohort rates in the US were not statistically significant.

CONCLUSIONS

Peace Corps transportation policies and training, and changes to road environments worldwide, may have led to a decrease in the rate of road traffic injuries among Peace Corps Volunteers. Pedestrians and bicyclists remain at risk of road traffic injuries.

Temporal Trends of Suicide Mortality in Mainland China: Results from the Age-Period-Cohort Framework

The aim of this study is to explore the long-term trends of suicide mortality in China. We implemented the age-period-cohort (APC) framework, using data from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013. Our results showed that the net drift of suicide mortality was -4.727% (95% CI: -4.821% to -4.634%) per year for men and -6.633% (95% CI: -6.751% to -6.515%) per year for women, and the local drift values were below 0 in all age groups (p < 0.01 for all) for both sexes during the period of 1994-2013. Longitudinal age curves indicated that, in the same birth cohort, suicide death risk increased rapidly to peak at the life stage of 20-24 years old and 15-24 years old for men and women, respectively, and then showed a decelerated decline, followed by a rise thereafter after 54 years old for men and a slight one after 69 years old for women. The estimated period and cohort RRs were found to show similar monotonic downward patterns (significantly with p < 0.01 for all) for both sexes, with more quickly decreasing for women than for men during the whole period. The decreasing trend of suicide was likely to be related to the economic rapid growth, improvements in health care, enhancement on the level of education, and increasing awareness of suicide among the public in China. In addition, fast urbanization and the effective control of pesticides and rodenticides might be the special reasons behind these trends we observed in this study.

Does time off work after injury vary by jurisdiction? A comparative study of eight Australian workers' compensation systems

OBJECTIVES

To determine whether the jurisdiction in which a work-related injury compensation claim is made is an independent predictor of duration of time off work following work injury, and if so, the magnitude of the effect.

SETTING

Eight Australian state and territory workers' compensation systems, providing coverage for more than 90% of the Australian labour force. Administrative claims data from these systems were provided by government regulatory authorities for the study.

PARTICIPANTS

95 976 Australian workers with workers' compensation claims accepted in 2010 and with at least 2 weeks of compensated time off work.

PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURE

Duration of time lost from work in weeks, censored at 104 weeks.

RESULTS

After controlling for demographic, worker, injury and employer factors in a Cox regression model, significant differences in duration of time loss between state and territory of claim were observed. Compared with New South Wales, workers in Victoria, South Australia and Comcare had significantly longer durations of time off work and were more likely to be receiving income benefits at 104 weeks postinjury, while workers in Tasmania and Queensland had significantly shorter durations of time off work.

CONCLUSIONS

The jurisdiction in which an injured worker makes a compensation claim has a significant and independent impact on duration of time loss. Further research is necessary to identify specific compensation system policies and practices that promote timely and appropriate return to work and reduce duration of time off work.

Scoring severity in trauma: comparison of prehospital scoring systems in trauma ICU patients

PURPOSE

We evaluated the predictive ability of mechanism, Glasgow coma scale, age and arterial pressure (MGAP), Glasgow coma scale, age and systolic blood pressure (GAP), and triage-revised trauma Score (T-RTS) scores in patients from the Spanish trauma ICU registry using the trauma and injury severity score (TRISS) as a reference standard.

METHODS

Patients admitted for traumatic disease in the participating ICU were included. Quantitative data were reported as median [interquartile range (IQR), categorical data as number (percentage)]. Comparisons between groups with quantitative variables and categorical variables were performed using Student's T Test and Chi Square Test, respectively. We performed receiving operating curves (ROC) and evaluated the area under the curve (AUC) with its 95 % confidence interval (CI). Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive and negative predictive values and accuracy were evaluated in all the scores. A value of p < 0.05 was considered significant.

RESULTS

The final sample included 1361 trauma ICU patients. Median age was 45 (30-61) years. 1092 patients (80.3 %) were male. Median ISS was 18 (13-26) and median T-RTS was 11 (10-12). Median GAP was 20 (15-22) and median MGAP 24 (20-27). Observed mortality was 17.7 % whilst predicted mortality using TRISS was 16.9 %. The AUC in the scores evaluated was: TRISS 0.897 (95 % CI 0.876-0.918), MGAP 0.860 (95 % CI 0.835-0.886), GAP 0.849 (95 % CI 0.823-0.876) and T-RTS 0.796 (95 % CI 0.762-0.830).

CONCLUSIONS

Both MGAP and GAP scores performed better than the T-RTS in the prediction of hospital mortality in Spanish trauma ICU patients. Since these are easy-to-perform scores, they should be incorporated in clinical practice as a triaging tool.

Redislocation After a Failed Surgery to Treat C6/7 Fracture-Dislocation With Pedicular Fracture of the C6 Vertebra: Case Report of a Successful Revision Surgery, Analysis of the Causes, and Discussion of Revision Surgical Strategies

Cervical spinal fracture-dislocation with pedicular fracture of the vertebra has been little reported and the management of such a patient is difficult. Considering the little knowledge of this area, we present this special case of a successful revision surgery for the treatment of redislocation after a failed surgery to treat C6/7 fracture-dislocation with pedicular fracture of the C6 vertebra to share our experience.A 45-year-old male patient presented to our hospital with history of neck pain for 4 months. According to his medical records, he was involved in an architectural accident and diagnosed with C6/7 fracture-dislocation with pedicular fracture of the C6 vertebra (ASIA: D). A surgery of posterior lateral mass screw fixation (bilateral in C5 and C7; left side in C6) was performed in a different institution. However, 4 months after his primary surgery, he was still troubled by serious neck pain and muscle weakness in all right side limbs. The physical examination of the patient showed hypoesthesia in the right side limbs, myodynamia of the right side limbs weakened to Grade 4. Cervical X-rays, computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging confirmed the redislocation of C6/7. A successful revision surgery of anterior cervical corpectomy and fusion (ACCF) with nanohydroxyapatite/polyamide 66 composite fulfilled with vertebral autograft plus anterior plate was performed. The 3 months postoperative X-rays and CT scan showed the good position of the implant and bony fusion. The patient's neck pain was relived and the neurological function recovered to ASIA E grade at the 3rd month follow-up.ACCF with nanohydroxyapatite/polyamide 66 composite fulfilled with vertebral autograft plus anterior plate is effective for the treatment of redislocation after a failed surgery in patients of fracture-dislocation with pedicular fracture. The best method to avoid such a failed surgery is a combined anterior-posterior approach surgery in our opinion.

Impaired hematopoietic progenitor cells in trauma hemorrhagic shock

Hemorrhagic shock (HS) is the major cause of death during trauma. Mortality due to HS is about 50%. Dysfunction of hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) has been observed during severe trauma and HS. HS induces the elevation of cytokines, granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), peripheral blood HPCs, and circulating catecholamines, and decreases the expression of erythropoietin receptor connected with suppression of HPCs. Impaired HPCs may lead to persistent anemia and risk of susceptibility to infection, sepsis, and MOF. There is a need to reactivate impaired HPCs during trauma hemorrhagic shock.