Preoperative Blood Loss of Isolated Acetabular Fractures

OBJECTIVE

To quantify preoperative blood loss in isolated acetabular fractures and identify any fracture or patient characteristics associated with increased blood loss or blood transfusion.

DESIGN

Retrospective cohort study.

SETTING

Two level 1 trauma centers.

PATIENTS/PARTICIPANTS

All patients with operative, isolated acetabular fractures from January 2010 to December 2018.

INTERVENTION

Operative management of an acetabular fracture.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS

Volume of preoperative blood loss and transfusion rates associated with isolated acetabular fracture patterns.

RESULTS

A total of 598 patients were included. The mean preoperative blood loss of all fractures was 1172.6 mL. The 3 fracture patterns with the greatest average preoperative blood loss were associated both column (1454.9 mL), T-type (1374.8 mL), and anterior column posterior hemitransverse fractures (1317.7 mL). The acetabular fracture pattern had a significant association with preoperative blood loss and preoperative transfusion. The timing from injury to surgery and body mass index were significantly associated with preoperative blood loss.

CONCLUSIONS

In conclusion, operatively treated isolated acetabular fractures surprisingly lose an average of greater than 1 liter of blood in the preoperative setting. Surgeons must carefully assess patient's physiology, ensuring they are adequately resuscitated before surgery and remain aware that increasing body mass index is associated with increased preoperative blood loss. However, as patients await surgery, unreduced acetabular fractures continue to contribute to ongoing blood loss beyond the first 24 hours from injury. We believe the best hemostasis after initial resuscitation is provided by surgical reduction and fixation, and we recommend a continued early surgical intervention to prevent continued bleeding from fracture surfaces.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Prognostic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Is Obesity Associated With an Increased Risk of Complications After Surgical Management of Acetabulum and Pelvis Fractures? A Systematic Review

Background:

When considering surgical fixation of acetabulum and pelvis fractures in patients with obesity, a thorough understanding of the risks of potential complications is important. We performed a systematic review to evaluate whether obesity is associated with an increased risk of complications after surgical management of acetabulum and pelvis fractures.

Methods:

We searched PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library for studies published through December 2020 that reported the effect of increased body mass index (BMI) or obesity on the risk of complications after surgical treatment of acetabulum and pelvis fractures.

Results:

Fifteen studies were included. Eight of the 11 studies that included infection or wound complication as end points found that increased BMI or some degree of obesity was a significant risk factor for these complications. Two studies found that obesity was significantly associated with loss of reduction. Other complications that were assessed in a few studies each included venous thromboembolism, nerve palsy, heterotopic ossification, general systemic complications, and revision surgery, but obesity was not clearly associated with those outcomes.

Conclusions:

Obesity (or elevated BMI) was associated with an increased risk of complications—infection being the most commonly reported—after surgical management of acetabulum and pelvis fractures, which suggests the need for increased perioperative vigilance.

Fibrinogen level at hospital admission after multiple injury correlates with BMI and is negatively associated with the need for transfusion and early multiple organ failure

INTRODUCTION

Bleeding and coagulopathy are leading causes of morbidity and lethal outcome after multiple injuries. The pathophysiology of traumatic coagulopathy is under extensive investigations and recent results highlighted the central role of fibrinogen and the fibrin polymerisation process. Our goal was to investigate the factors influencing fibrinogen level and the consequences of hypofibrinogenaemia with clinical importance.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective analysis enrolling adult patients admitted to the shock room of a tertiary trauma centre in Hungary. Beside coagulation values, demographic data, injury related, transfusion and outcome parameters were collected from the hospital electronic charts. Only patients with complete e-chart were involved into final analysis. Multivariate linear and proportional odds logistic regression models were used to model outcomes - admission fibrinogen and SOFA score - controlling for age, sex, BMI, ISS and lactic acidosis.

RESULTS

54 patients were enrolled in final analysis. Among the parameters analysed, BMI was positively associated with fibrinogen level at admission (+0.23 g/l for every 5 unit of increase in BMI, 95% CI: 0.09-0.37, p=0.0021). Increased risk of transfusion was observed, if fibrinogen at admission was about 1.8 g/l or lower. Beside age and ISS, fibrinogen concentration was also a determinant of early organ failures as it negatively correlated with SOFA scores within 24 hours or care (OR=2.42, 95% CI: 1.05-5.62, for 1 g/l decrease, p=0.0388).

CONCLUSIONS

In our trauma cohort BMI seems to significantly influence fibrinogen level at admission. This result draws our attention to the possible differences of haemostasis process, and consequently different diagnostic and therapeutic thresholds in the management of obese trauma patients. Moderate hypofibrinogenaemia increases transfusion risk and beside ISS might be a prognostic factor of early MOF after multiple injuries.

Impact of pathologic body composition assessed by CT-based anthropometric measurements in adult patients with multiple trauma: a retrospective analysis

PURPOSE

In recent years, there has been mounting evidence on the clinical importance of body composition, particularly obesity and sarcopenia, in various patient populations. However, the relevance of these pathologic conditions remains controversial, especially in the field of traumatology. Computed tomography-based measurements allow clinicians to gain a prompt and thorough assessment of fat and muscle compartments in trauma patients. Our aim was to investigate whether CT-based anthropometric parameters of fat and muscle tissues show correlations with key elements of pre-hospital and clinical care in an adult population with multiple trauma.

METHODS

In this retrospective analysis we searched our institutional records of the German Trauma Registry (TraumaRegister DGU^®) from January 2008 to May 2014. Included were 297 adult trauma patients with multiple trauma who underwent a whole-body CT-scan on admission and were treated in an ICU. We measured anthropometric determinants of abdominal core muscle and adipose tissue using the digital imaging software OsiriX™. Multivariate linear and logistic regression analyses were conducted to unveil potential correlations.

RESULTS

None of the obesity-linked anthropometric parameters were associated with longer pre-hospital or initial ED treatment times. Obese patients were less frequently intubated at the site of the accident. Patients with increased abdominal fat tissue received on average lower volumes during fluid resuscitation in the pre-hospital phase but were not more often in shock on admission. During ED treatment, fluid resuscitation and transfusion volumes were not affected by abdominal fat tissue, although transfusion rates were higher in the obese. Furthermore, damage control surgeries took place less frequently in patients with increased abdominal fat tissue markers. Obesity parameters did not affect the prevalence of sepsis, although increased abdominal fat was associated with higher white blood cell counts on admission. Finally, there was no statistically significant correlation between sarcopenia or obesity markers and duration of mechanical ventilation, ICU length of stay or neurologic outcome.

CONCLUSION

CT-based assessment of abdominal fat and muscle mass is a simple method in revealing pathologic body composition in trauma patients. Our study suggests that obesity influences pre-hospital and ED treatment and early immune response in multiple trauma. Nevertheless, we could not demonstrate any significant effect of abdominal fat and muscle tissue parameters on the course of treatment, in particular the duration of mechanical ventilation, ICU length of stay and neurologic outcome.