Trauma systems and early management of severe injuries in Scandinavia: review of the current state

Fatal injury as a function of rurality-a tale of two Norwegian counties

BACKGROUND

Many studies indicate rural location as a separate risk for dying from injuries. For decades, Finnmark, the northernmost and most rural county in Norway, has topped the injury mortality statistics in Norway. The present study is an exploration of the impact of rurality, using a point-by-point comparison to another Norwegian county.

METHODS

We identified all fatalities following injury occurring in Finnmark between 2000 and 2004, and in Hordaland, a mixed rural/urban county in western Norway between 2003 and 2004 using data from the Norwegian Cause of Death Registry. Intoxications and low-energy trauma in patients aged over 64 years were excluded. To assess the effect of a rural locale, Hordaland was divided into a rural and an urban group for comparison. In addition, data from Statistics Norway were analysed.

RESULTS

Finnmark reported 207 deaths and Hordaland 217 deaths. Finnmark had an injury death rate of 33.1 per 100,000 inhabitants. Urban Hordaland had 18.8 deaths per 100,000 and rural Hordaland 23.7 deaths per 100,000. In Finnmark, more victims were male and were younger than in the other areas. Finnmark and rural Hordaland both had more fatal traffic accidents than urban Hordaland, but fewer non-fatal traffic accidents.

CONCLUSIONS

This study illustrates the disadvantages of the most rural trauma victims and suggests an urban-rural continuum. Rural victims seem to be younger, die mainly at the site of injury, and from road traffic accident injuries. In addition to injury prevention, the extent and possible impact of lay people's first aid response should be explored.

Damage control orthopaedics in severe polytrauma with femur fracture

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the rate of systemic complications and mortality in severe polytrauma patients with associated femur fracture treated by early external fixation of femur.

PATIENTS AND METHODOLOGY

We made a retrospective cohort study with forty-one adult multitrauma patients (New Injury Severity Score ≥ 19) with femur fracture treated by external fixation following Damage Control Orthopaedic surgery. The mortality rates, TRISS analysis, incidence of ARDS and MOF were analysed.

RESULTS

The mean NISS was 41.2 and the mean age 32.7. 50% of patients were in shock on admission. All patients were treated in the first 12 hours with external fixation. 30% of patients developed ARDS and six patients had MOF. Five patients treated by external fixation died. Difference between predicted mortality by TRISS and actual mortality showed a reduction of 15.9% (0.71 predicted survival versus 0.88 real survival).

CONCLUSIONS

An aggressive and early Damage Control approach to treat femur fractures in severe polytrauma patients led to low mortality rate comparing to the predicted mortality by TRISS.

Rural and urban distribution of trauma incidents in Scotland

Background

Trauma systems reduce mortality and improve functional outcomes from injury. Regional trauma networks have been established in several European regions to address longstanding deficiencies in trauma care. A perception of the geography and population distribution as challenging has delayed the introduction of a trauma system in Scotland. The characteristics of trauma incidents attended by the Scottish Ambulance Service were analysed, to gain a better understanding of the geospatial characteristics of trauma in Scotland.

Methods

Data on trauma incidents collected by the Scottish Ambulance Service between November 2008 and October 2010 were obtained. Incident location was analysed by health board region, rurality and social deprivation. The results are presented as number of patients, average annual incidence rates and relative risks.

Results

Of the 141 668 incidents identified, 72·1 per cent occurred in urban regions. The risk of being involved in an incident was similar across the most populous regions, and decreased slightly with increasing rurality. Social deprivation was associated with greater numbers and risk. A total of 53·1 per cent of patients were taken to a large general hospital, and 38·6 per cent to a teaching hospital; the distribution was similar for the subset of incidents involving patients with physiological derangements.

Conclusion

The majority of trauma incidents in Scotland occur in urban and deprived areas. A regionalized system of trauma care appears plausible, although the precise configuration of such a system requires further study.

Paediatric trauma mortality in Norway: a population-based study of injury characteristics and urban-rural differences

INTRODUCTION

Paediatric injury is a major global public health challenge. Epidemiological research is required for effective primary injury prevention and to develop trauma systems for optimal management of childhood injuries. This study aimed to describe the characteristics and geographical distribution of paediatric trauma deaths and to assess the relationship between rural locations and mortality rates.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

By accessing national registries, all trauma related deaths of persons aged 0-15 years in Norway from 1998 to 2007 were included. Paediatric trauma mortality rates and injury characteristic were analysed in relation to three different measures of municipal rurality: centrality, population density and settlement density.

RESULTS

There were 462 trauma related deaths during the study period and the national annual paediatric mortality rate was 4.81/100000. Rural areas had higher mortality rates, and this difference was best predicted by municipal centrality. Rural trauma was characterised by traffic accidents and deaths that occurred prior to reaching hospital. The rural and northernmost county, Finnmark, had a mortality rate three times the national average.

CONCLUSION

Mortality rates after childhood injury are high in rural areas. Substantiated measures of rurality are required for optimal allocation of primary and secondary preventive measures.

Implementation of recommended trauma system criteria in south-eastern Norway: a cross-sectional hospital survey

Background

Formalized trauma systems have shown beneficial effects on patient survival and have harvested great recognition among health care professionals. In spite of this, the implementation of trauma systems is challenging and often met with resistance.

Recommendations for a national trauma system in Norway were published in 2007. We wanted to assess the level of implementation of these recommendations.

Methods

A survey of all acute care hospitals that receive severely injured patients in the south-eastern health region of Norway was conducted. A structured questionnaire based on the 2007 national recommendations was used in a telephone interview of hospital trauma personnel between January 17 and 21, 2011. Seventeen trauma system criteria were identified from the recommendations.

Results

Nineteen hospitals were included in the study and these received more than 2000 trauma patients annually via their trauma teams. Out of the 17 criteria that had been identified, the hospitals fulfilled a median of 12 criteria. Neither the size of the hospitals nor the distance between the hospitals and the regional trauma centre affected the level of trauma resources available. The hospitals scored lowest on the criteria for transfer of patients to higher level of care and on the training requirements for members of the trauma teams.

Conclusion

Our study identifies a major shortcoming in the efforts of regionalizing trauma in our region. The findings indicate that training of personnel and protocols for inter-hospital transfer are the major deficiencies from the national trauma system recommendations. Resources for training of personnel partaking in trauma teams and development of inter-hospital transfer agreements should receive immediate attention.

Epidemiological and economic aspects of polytrauma management in Austria

INTRODUCTION

In Austria, treatment of multiple trauma patients has developed into an established nationwide trauma center specialty with its own unique identity. Although it represents a substantial financial investment, it ensures supply at international standards. The question of whether multiple trauma patients should be treated only in specialized trauma centers or in several hospitals remains controversial on both national and international grounds. The aim of this study was to assess Austrian trauma departments for international comparison.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

We performed a survey of all 54 Austrian trauma departments by collecting data through questionnaires. The number of staff, potential of infrastructure, and treatment strategies were obtained.

RESULTS

93.3% of the trauma departments responded to the questionnaires. In level I trauma centers the amount of trauma beds reached 11% of the total bed capacity, 13% in level II, and 18% in level III units. Level I centers showed an average of 35% of intensive care beds for trauma patients. 53% and 51% were the proportions for level II and III centers. Level I hospitals displayed an average of 28.3 trauma surgeons, while level II and III units had less doctors at their disposal in the trauma departments. On average, 94% of the patients arrived by emergency medical support at the hospital. 94% of the trauma departments used chest tubes, 70% performed craniotomies and neurovascular reconstruction. 33% of the centers were equipped to perform replantations.

DISCUSSION

The data demonstrate the broad spectrum of polytrauma treatment in Austrian trauma centers. The discussed need for centralization of polytrauma care cannot be justified based on these data. Limiting from a medical perspective, however, is the lacking comparability of quality of care due to the currently missing objective quality criteria.

Collecting core data in severely injured patients using a consensus trauma template: an international multicentre study

INTRODUCTION

No worldwide, standardised definitions exist for documenting, reporting and comparing data from severely injured trauma patients. This study evaluated the feasibility of collecting the data variables of the international consensus-derived Utstein Trauma Template.

METHODS

Trauma centres from three different continents were invited to submit Utstein Trauma Template core data during a defined period, for up to 50 consecutive trauma patients. Directly admitted patients with a New Injury Severity Score (NISS) equal to or above 16 were included. Main outcome variables were data completeness, data differences and data collection difficulty.

RESULTS

Centres from Europe (n = 20), North America (n = 3) and Australia (n = 1) submitted data on 965 patients, of whom 783 were included. Median age was 41 years (interquartile range (IQR) 24 to 60), and 73.1% were male. Median NISS was 27 (IQR 20 to 38), and blunt trauma predominated (91.1%). Of the 36 Utstein variables, 13 (36%) were collected by all participating centres. Eleven (46%) centres applied definitions of the survival outcome variable that were different from those of the template. Seventeen (71%) centres used the recommended version of the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS). Three variables (age, gender and AIS) were documented in all patients. Completeness > 80% was achieved for 28 variables, and 20 variables were > 90% complete.

CONCLUSIONS

The Utstein Template was feasible across international trauma centres for the majority of its data variables, with the exception of certain physiological and time variables. Major differences were found in the definition of survival and in AIS coding. The current results give a clear indication of the attainability of information and may serve as a stepping-stone towards creation of a European trauma registry.

Norwegian trauma team leaders--training and experience: a national point prevalence study

BACKGROUND

The treatment of trauma victims is a complex multi-professional task in a stressful environment. We previously found that trauma team members perceive leadership as the most important human factor. The aim of the present study was to assess the experience and education of Norwegian trauma team leaders, and allow them to describe their perceived educational needs.

METHODS

We conducted an anonymous descriptive study using a point prevalence methodology based on written questionnaires. All 45 hospitals in Norway receiving severely injured trauma victims were contacted on a randomly selected weeknight during November 2009. Team leaders were asked to specify what trauma related training programs they had participated in, how much experience they had, and what further training they wished, if any.

RESULTS

Response rate was 82%. Slightly more than half of the team leaders were residents. The median working experience as a surgeon among team leaders was 7.5 years. Sixty-eight percent had participated in multi-professional training in non-technical skills, while 54% had passed the advanced trauma life support(ATLS) course. Fifty-one percent were trained in damage control surgery. A median of one course per team leader was needed to comply with the new proposed national standards. Team leaders considered training in damage control surgery the most needed educational objective.

CONCLUSIONS

Level of experience among team leaders was highly variable and their educational background insufficient according to international and proposed national standards. Proposed national standards should be urgently implemented to ensure equal access to high quality trauma care.

Current state and future perspectives of trauma care system in mainland China

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the current state of trauma care in mainland China, and to propose possible future suggestions for the development of the trauma care system in mainland China.

METHOD

An extensive Medline/PubMed search on the topic of trauma care or trauma care system was conducted. Publications in Chinese that could best describe the state of trauma care in China were also included. In addition, two meetings were held by Group for Trauma Emergency Care and Multiple Injuries, Trauma Society of Chinese Medical Association to discuss the development and perspectives of trauma care system in mainland China. Important conclusions from the two meetings were included in this publication.

RESULTS

Trauma has become an increasing public health problem in mainland China in association with the rapid growth of the economy over the past 30 years. Although great progress has been made in regards to the care of the injured, there is still no government agency dedicated to deal with trauma-related issues, or a national trauma care system operating on the Chinese mainland. Various trauma prevention measures have been taken, but with little effect. Funds contributed to trauma-related research has increased in recent years and promoted rapid development in this field, but further improvement in research is needed. However, many groups such as the Trauma Society of the Chinese Medical Association have continued to explore mechanisms for the treatment of trauma patients and have developed various types of regional trauma care systems, resulting in improved trauma care and a better outcome for the injured.

CONCLUSIONS

Although great progress has been made in trauma care in mainland China, there are many failings. To improve trauma care in China, the establishment of a sophisticated trauma system and various enhancements on trauma prevention are urgently required.

Patients Referred to a Norwegian Trauma Centre: effect of transfer distance on injury patterns, use of resources and outcomes

BACKGROUND

Triage and interhospital transfer are central to trauma systems. Few studies have addressed transferred trauma patients. This study investigated transfers of variable distances to OUH (Oslo University Hospital, Ullevål), one of the largest trauma centres in Europe.

METHODS

Patients included in the OUH trauma registry from 2001 to 2008 were included in the study. Demographic, injury, management and outcome data were abstracted. Patients were grouped according to transfer distance: ≤20 km, 21-100 km and > 100 km.

RESULTS

Of the 7.353 included patients, 5.803 were admitted directly, and 1.550 were transferred. The number of transfers per year increased, and there was no reduction in injury severity during the study period. Seventy-six per cent of the transferred patients were severely injured. With greater transfer distances, injury severity increased, and there were larger proportions of traffic injuries, polytrauma and hypotensive patients. With shorter distances, patients were older, and head injuries and injuries after falls were more common. The shorter transfers less often activated the trauma team: ≤20 km -34%; 21-100 km -51%; > 100 km -61%, compared to 92% of all directly admitted patients. The mortality for all transferred patients was 11%, but was unequally distributed according to transfer distance.

CONCLUSION

This study shows heterogeneous characteristics and high injury severity among interhospital transfers. The rate of trauma team assessment was low and should be further examined. The mortality differences should be interpreted with caution as patients were in different phases of management. The descriptive characteristics outlined may be employed in the development of triage protocols and transfer guidelines.

A retrospective quality assessment of pre-hospital emergency medical documentation in motor vehicle accidents in south-eastern Norway

Background

Few studies have evaluated pre-hospital documentation quality. We retrospectively assessed emergency medical service (EMS) documentation of key logistic, physiologic, and mechanistic variables in motor vehicle accidents (MVAs).

Methods

Records from police, Emergency Medical Communication Centers (EMCC), ground and air ambulances were retrospectively collected for 189 MVAs involving 392 patients. Documentation of Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), respiratory rate (RR), and systolic blood pressure (SBP) was classified as exact values, RTS categories, clinical descriptions enabling post-hoc inference of RTS categories, or missing. The distribution of values of exact versus inferred RTS categories were compared (Chi-square test for trend).

Results

25% of ground and 11% of air ambulance records were unretrieveable. Patient name, birth date, and transport destination was documented in >96% of ambulance records and 81% of EMCC reports. Only 54% of patient encounter times were transmitted to the EMCC, but 77% were documented in ground and 96% in air ambulance records. Ground ambulance records documented exact values of GCS in 48% and SBP in 53% of cases, exact RR in 10%, and RR RTS categories in 54%. Clinical descriptions made post-hoc inference of RTS categories possible in another 49% of cases for GCS, 26% for RR, and 20% for SBP. Air ambulance records documented exact values of GCS in 89% and SBP in 84% of cases, exact RR in 7% and RR RTS categories in 80%. Overall, for lower RTS categories of GCS, RR and SBP the proportion of actual documented values to inferred values increased (All: p < 0.001). Also, documentation of repeated assessment was more frequent for low RTS categories of GCS, RR, and SBP (All: p < 0.001). Mechanism of injury was documented in 80% of cases by ground and 92% of cases by air ambulance.

Conclusion

EMS documentation of logistic and mechanistic variables was adequate. Patient physiology was frequently documented only as descriptive text. Our finding indicates a need for improved procedures, training, and tools for EMS documentation. Documentation is in itself a quality criterion for appropriate care and is crucial to trauma research.

Evaluation of a university hospital trauma team activation protocol

BACKGROUND

Admission with a multidisciplinary trauma team may be vital for the severely injured patient, as this facilitates rapid diagnosis and treatment. On the other hand, patients with minor injuries do not need the trauma team for adequate care. Correct triage is important for optimal resource utilization. The aim of the study was to evaluate our criteria for activating the trauma team, and identify suboptimal criteria that might be changed in the interest of precision.

METHODS

The study is an observational, retrospective cohort-study. All patients admitted with the trauma team (n = 382), all severely injured (Injury Severity Score (ISS) >15) (n = 161), and all undergoing an emergency procedure aimed at counteracting compromised airways, respiration or circulation at our hospital (n = 142) during 2006-2007 were included. Data were recorded from the admission records and the electronic patient records. The trauma team activation protocol was evaluated against the occurrence of severe injury and the occurrence of emergency procedures.

RESULTS

A total of 441 patients were included. The overtriage was 71% and undertriage 32% when evaluating against ISS >15 as the standard of reference. When occurrence of emergency procedures was held as the standard of standard of reference, the over- and undertriage was 71% and 21%, respectively. Mechanism of injury-criteria for trauma team activation contributed the most to overtriage. The emergency procedures performed were mostly endotracheal intubation and external fixation of fractures. Less than 3% needed haemostatic laparotomy or thoracotomy. Approximately 2/3 of the overtriage represented isolated head or cervical spine injuries, and/or interhospital transfers.

CONCLUSIONS

The over- and undertriage of our protocol are both too high. To decrease overtriage we suggest omissions and modifications of some of the criteria. To decrease undertriage, transferred patients and patients with head injuries should be more thoroughly assessed against the trauma team activation criteria.

Temporal Patterns of Death after Trauma: Evaluation of Circadian, Diurnal, Periodical and Seasonal Trends in 260 Fatal Injuries

Background:

Temporal patterns of trauma deaths may indicate potential for prevention or systems improvement, but have been poorly investigated in the Scandinavian trauma population. This study examines patterns in trauma deaths to the occurrence in hour and time of the day, day and time in the week, and month and season.

Materials and Methods:

Investigation of the temporal patterns of death in 260 fatalities undergoing autopsy. Time of death were explored according to time of the day (hour; day/night), time of the week (day of week; weekday/weekend) and time of the year (month; season) and analyzed for difference in gender, age, injury type and severity, and mechanisms of injury and death.

Results:

A total of 260 trauma deaths were included, of which 125 (48%) died in hospital and 194 (75%) were male. No particular peak-hour of the day when deaths occurred was found. One-third of deaths occurred during weekends. For inhospital deaths during weekends, significantly more patients had respiratory distress (RR > 20 or < 16 in 72.5% for weekends and 47.0% for weekdays; p = 0.008) and hypotension (SBP < 90mmHg in 61% vs 40%; p = 0.048) during weekends. Deaths occurred with some monthly variance demonstrated with two monthly peaks in February/March and July/August, respectively. Overall, no statistically different seasonal differences in the occurrence of traumatic deaths, nor any differences in cause of death, type or severity of injury, nor in physiological parameters was found. However, a higher number of inhospital deaths presented with reduced consciousness level (GCS < 8) and severe head injuries (AIS-head ≥ 4) during spring and summer (P = 0.045, chi-square for trend) compared to winter and fall.

Conclusions:

Trauma deaths in a Scandinavian population did not demonstrate statistically significant differences in overall circadian, weekly or seasonal patterns of trauma death occurrence. However, the impact of fatal head injuries during spring and summer warrants further investigation.

Steppingstones to the implementation of an inhospital fracture and dislocation registry using the AO/OTA classification: compliance, completeness and commitment

Background

Musculoskeletal trauma represents a considerable global health burden, however reliable population-based incidence data are scarce. A fracture and dislocation registry was established within a well-defined population. An audit of the establishment process, feasibility of the registry work and report of the collected data is given.

Methods

Demographic data, fracture type and location, mode of treatment, and the reasons for the secondary procedures were collected and scored using recognized systems, such as the AO/OTA classification and the Gustilo-Anderson classification for open fractures. The reporting was done in the operation planning program by the involved orthopaedic surgeon. Both inpatient and day-case procedures were collected. Data were collected prospectively from 2006 until 2010. Compliance among the surgeons and completeness and accuracy of the data was continuously assured by an orthopaedic surgeon.

Results

During the study period, 39 orthopaedic surgeons were involved in the recording of a total of 8,188 procedures, consisting of primary treatment of 4,986 long bone fractures, 467 non long bone fractures, 123 dislocations and 2,612 secondary treatments. In the study period 532 fractures or dislocations were treated at least once for one or more serious complications. For the index year of 2009, a total of 5710 fractures or dislocations were treated in the emergency department or hospitalized, of which the 1594 (28%) were treated at the inpatient or day-case operation rooms, thus registered in the FDR. Quality assurance, educational incentives and continuous feedback between coders and controller in the integrated electronic system are available and used through the features of the electronic database.

Conclusions

Implementing an integrated registry of fractures and dislocations with the electronic hospital system has been possible despite several users involved. The electronic system and the data controller provide for completeness and validity. The FDR has become an indispensable tool for the department for planning and education and will serve as a prerequisite for the conduct and execution of future prospective trials within the department. Further, other departments with similar electronic patient files may fairly easily adopt this system for implementation.

Inter-hospital transfer: the crux of the trauma system, a curse for trauma registries

The inter-hospital transfer of patients is crucial to a well functioning trauma system, and the transfer process may serve as a quality indicator for regional trauma care. However, the assessment of the transfer process requires high-quality data from various sources. Prospective studies and studies based on single-centre trauma registries may fail to capture an appropriate width and depth of data. Thus the creation of inclusive regional and national trauma registries that receive information from all of the services within a trauma system is a prerequisite for high quality inter-hospital transfer studies in the future.

The epidemiology of medical emergency contacts outside hospitals in Norway--a prospective population based study

INTRODUCTION

There is a lack of epidemiological knowledge on medical emergencies outside hospitals in Norway. The aim of the present study was to obtain representative data on the epidemiology of medical emergencies classified as "red responses" in Norway.

METHOD

Three emergency medical dispatch centres (EMCCs) were chosen as catchment areas, covering 816 000 inhabitants. During a three month period in 2007 the EMCCs gathered information on every situation that was triaged as a red response, according to The Norwegian Index of Medical Emergencies (Index). Records from ground ambulances, air ambulances, and the primary care doctors were subsequently collected. International Classification of Primary Care-2 symptom codes (ICPC-2) and The National Committee on Aeronautics (NACA) Score System were given retrospectively.

RESULTS

Total incidence of red response situations was 5 105 during the three month period. 394 patients were involved in 138 accidents, and 181 situations were without patients, resulting in a total of 5 180 patients. The patients' age ranged from 0 to 107 years, with a median age of 57, and 55% were male. 90% of the red responses were medical problems with a large variation of symptoms, the remainder being accidents. 70% of the patients were in a non-life-threatening situation. Within the accident group, males accounted for 61%, and 35% were aged between 10 and 29 years, with a median age of 37 years. Few of the 39 chapters in the Index were used, A10 "Chest pain" was the most common one (22% of all situations). ICPC-2 symptom codes showed that cardiovascular, syncope/coma, respiratory and neurological problems were most common. 50% of all patients in a sever situation (NACA score 4-7) were > 70 years of age.

CONCLUSIONS

The results show that emergency medicine based on 816 000 Norwegians mainly consists of medical problems, where the majority of the patients have a non-life-threatening situation. More focus on the emergency system outside hospitals, including triage and dispatch, and how to best deal with "everyday" emergency problems is needed to secure knowledge based decisions for the future organization of the emergency system.