Traumatic chylothorax after blunt chest trauma alone is considered rare. Our patient was a 27-year-old female who was in a motorcycle accident and sustained blunt thoracic and traumatic thoracic aortic injuries with T1–T2 vertebral subluxation. She underwent thoracic endovascular aortic repair from T4 to T9 without any thoracic or spinal surgery. On postoperative day 7, the drainage from her left chest turned into a milky-white fluid indicative of chyle leakage. The patient was treated conservatively for 2 weeks and then the chest drain was safely removed. The results show that traumatic chylothorax can be successfully managed with conservative treatment.
Adult ; Chyle ; Chylothorax* ; Drainage ; Female ; Humans ; Motorcycles ; Thoracic Injuries ; Thorax*

Traumatic chylothorax after blunt chest trauma alone is considered rare. Our patient was a 27-year-old female who was in a motorcycle accident and sustained blunt thoracic and traumatic thoracic aortic injuries with T1–T2 vertebral subluxation. She underwent thoracic endovascular aortic repair from T4 to T9 without any thoracic or spinal surgery. On postoperative day 7, the drainage from her left chest turned into a milky-white fluid indicative of chyle leakage. The patient was treated conservatively for 2 weeks and then the chest drain was safely removed. The results show that traumatic chylothorax can be successfully managed with conservative treatment.
Adult ; Chyle ; Chylothorax* ; Drainage ; Female ; Humans ; Motorcycles ; Thoracic Injuries ; Thorax*

Hemorrhage is the second most common cause of death among trauma patients and almost half of the deaths occur within 24 hours after arrival. Damage control resuscitation is a new paradigm for patients with massive bleeding. It consists of permissive hypotension, hemostatic resuscitation and transfusion strategies, and damage control surgery. Permissive hypotension seems to have better results before the bleeding is controlled. The strategy of fluid resuscitation is minimizing crystalloid infusion and increasing early transfusion with a high ratio of fresh frozen plasma to packed red cells. Damage control surgery is done when the patient's condition is unfit for definitive surgery. Hemorrhage and contamination control with temporary abdominal closure is performed before transferring the patients to intensive care unit and the operating room for a permanent laparotomy.
Blood Transfusion ; Fluid Therapy ; methods ; Hemorrhage ; therapy ; Humans ; Isotonic Solutions

Central venous catheterization is widely used in the emergency setting. This review aims to assess central venous catheterization from the perspectives of types of catheters, sites of insertion, and techniques. In emergency conditions, non-tunneled catheters are preferred because the technique for its insertion is not complicated and less time-consuming. The size of catheter depends on the purpose of catheterization. For example, a large bore catheter is needed for rapid infusion. The ideal catheterization site should bear fewer thromboses, lower infectious rate, and fewer mechanical complications. Thus the femoral vein should be avoided due to a high rate of colonization and thrombosis while the subclavian vein seems to exhibit fewer infectious complications compared with other sites. The ultrasound-guided technique increases the success rate of insertion while decreases the mechanical complications rate.

OBJECTIVEThe association of scapular fractures with other life-threatening injuries including blunt thoracic aortic injury is widely recognized. Few studies have investigated this presumed association. In this study, we investigated the incidence of significant associated injuries with scapular fracture and their outcomes.

METHODSA retrospective study was conducted from 2005 to 2009 in a level I trauma center in Thailand. All blunt trauma patients were identified. Patients?demographics, injury mechanism, associated injuries, Injury Severity Score (ISS), and survival outcomes were recorded. The management of associated injuries with scapular fracture was reviewed, and the risk factors for mortality were identified.

RESULTSAmong the 7 345 trauma patients admitted, scapular fractures occurred in 84 cases (1.1%). The mean age was (37.98+/-15.21) years. Motorcycle crash was the most frequent mechanism of injury, occurring in 51 cases (60.7%). Seventy-four patients (88.1%) suffering from scapular fractures had associated injuries: 5 (6.0%) had significant chest injuries, but none of them had blunt thoracic aortic injury. Two patients (2.4%) with scapular fractures died. Factors determining the likelihood of mortality were: (1) ISS larger than 25 (LR equal to 8.5, P less than 0.05); (2) significant associated chest injury (AIS larger than 3, LR equal to 5.3, P less than 0.05) and (3) significant associated abdominal injury (AIS larger than 3, LR equal to 5.3, P larger than 0.05).

CONCLUSIONA blunt scapular fracture may not accompany a blunt thoracic aortic injury but it is strongly related to other injuries like chest injury, extremity injury, head injury, etc. If a scapular fracture is found with a high ISS score, high chest or abdomen AIS score, the patient would have a high risk of mortality.

Fractures, Bone ; Humans ; Injury Severity Score ; Retrospective Studies ; Thoracic Injuries ; Wounds, Nonpenetrating ; epidemiology

Objective: The association of scapular fractures with other life-threatening injuries including blunt thoracic aortic injury is widely recognized.Few studies have investigated this presumed association.In this study,wc investigated the incidence of significant associated injuries with scapular fracture and their outcomes.Methods: A retrospective study was conducted from 2005 to 2009 in a level I trauma center in Thailand.All blunt trauma patients were identified.Patients' demographics,injury mechanism,associated injuries,Injury Severity Score (ISS),and survival outcomes were recorded.The management of associated injuries with scapular fracture was reviewed,and the risk factors for mortality were identified.Results: Among the 7 345 trauma patients admitted,scapular fractures occurred in 84 cases (1.1％).The mean age was (37.98±15.21) years.Motorcycle crash was the most frequent mechanism of injury,occurring in 51 cases (60.7％).Seventy-four patients (88.1％) suffering from scapular fractures had associated injuries:5 (6.0％) had significant chest injuries,but none of them had blunt thoracic aortic injury.Two patients (2.4％) with scapular fractures died.Factors determining the likelihood of mortality were:(1) ISS＞25(LR=8.5,P＜0.05); (2) significant associated chest injury (AIS＞3,LR=5.3,P＜0.05) and (3) significant associated abdominal injury (AIS＞3,LR=5.3,P＜0.05).Conclusion: A blunt scapular fracture may not accompany a blunt thoracic aortic injury but it is strongly related to other injuries like chest injury,extremity injury,head injury,etc.If a scapular fracture is found with a high ISS score,high chest or abdomen AIS score,the patient would have a high risk of mortality.

PURPOSEExsanguination is the most common leading cause of death in trauma patients. The massive transfusion (MT) protocol may influence therapeutic strategies and help provide blood components in timely manner. The assessment of blood consumption (ABC) score is a popular MT protocol but has low predictability. The lactate level is a good parameter to reflect poor tissue perfusion or shock states that can guide the management. This study aimed to modify the ABC scoring system by adding the lactate level for better prediction of MT.

METHODSThe data were retrospectively collected from 165 trauma patients following the trauma activated criteria at Songklanagarind Hospital from January 2014 to December 2014. The ABC scoring system was applied in all patients. The patients who had an ABC score ≥2 as the cut point for MT were defined as the ABC group. All patients who had a score ≥2 with a lactate level >4 mmol/dL were defined as the ABC plus lactate level (ABC + L) group. The prediction for the requirement of massive blood transfusion was compared between the ABC and ABC + L groups. The ability of ABC and ABC + L groups to predict MT was estimated by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC).

RESULTSAmong 165 patients, 15 patients (9%) required massive blood transfusion. There were no significant differences in age, gender, mechanism of injury or initial vital signs between the MT group and the non-MT group. The group that required MT had a higher Injury Severity Score and mortality. The sensitivity and specificity of the ABC scoring system in our institution were low (81%, 34%, AUC 0.573). The sensitivity and specificity were significantly better in the ABC + L group (92%, 42%, AUC = 0.745).

CONCLUSIONThe ABC scoring system plus lactate increased the sensitivity and specificity compared with the ABC scoring system alone.

Adult ; Blood Transfusion ; Female ; Humans ; Lactic Acid ; blood ; Male ; Predictive Value of Tests ; Trauma Severity Indices

PURPOSE: After damage control surgery, trauma patients are transferred to intensive care units to restore the physiology. During this period, massive transfusion might be required for ongoing bleeding and coagulopathy. This research aimed to identify predictors of massive blood transfusion in the surgical intensive care units (SICUs). METHODS: This is an analysis of the THAI-SICU study which was a prospective cohort that was done in the 9-university-based SICUs in Thailand. The study included only patients admitted due to trauma mechanisms. Massive transfusion was defined as received ≥10 units of packed red blood cells on the first day of admission. Patient characteristics and physiologic data were analyzed to identify the potential factors. A multivariable regression was then performed to identify the significant model. RESULTS: Three hundred and seventy patients were enrolled. Sixteen patients (5%) received massive transfusion in the SICUs. The factors that significantly predicted massive transfusion were an initial sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) ≥9 (risk difference (RD) 0.13, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.03-0.22, p = 0.01); intra-operative blood loss ≥ 4900 mL (RD 0.33, 95% CI: 0.04-0.62, p = 0.02) and intra-operative blood transfusion ≥ 10 units (RD 0.45, 95% CI: 0.06 to 0.84, p = 0.02). The probability to have massive transfusion was 0.976 in patients who had these 3 factors. CONCLUSION Massive blood transfusion in the SICUs occurred in 5%. An initial SOFA ≥9, intra-operative blood loss ≥4900 mL, and intra-operative blood transfusion ≥10 units were the significant factors to predict massive transfusion in the SICUs.