Adam Brooks

Purpose: Children who live in areas of socioeconomic deprivation may be at higher risk of being victims of violent crime such as knife wounds. The current study investigated whether socioeconomic disparity was associated with higher risk of knife crime. Methods: An observational study included patients aged ≤ 17 years at a UK Major Trauma Centre injured by knife trauma from 2016 to 2022. Indices of deprivation were recorded according to the zip code of residence and compared with those of all of England. These included Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD); income; employment; education and skills; health and disability; crime; barriers to housing and services; living environment; and Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI). Results: There were 139 patients (96% male) with median age of 16 years. When compared with the whole of England, patients had worse indices of IMD (p = 0.021); income (p < 0.001); employment (p < 0.001); education and skills (p < 0.001); health and disability; and IDACI (p < 0.001). There were no significant differences in indices of crime, barriers to housing and services or living environment. Conclusions: Paediatric knife injury was associated with poor socioeconomic status in multiple domains. Focussed efforts to address socioeconomic disparities should be a priority as a public health measure for vulnerable children.

Background Population ageing is a worldwide phenomenon; thanks to improvements in medical care and living standards. The Office of National Statistics in the UK predicts that the fastest growing age group in coming decades will be those over 85 years. This is reflected in Trauma Audit and Research Network data, which has highlighted a shift in caseload from a majority of young males to elderly patients at UK Major Trauma Centres (MTC). This study of elderly trauma patients admitted to a UK MTC reviews the links between frailty, using the Canadian Study of Health and Aging Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS), and outcomes from trauma. Methods A retrospective database review of patients > 65 years old admitted to our MTC was performed. We identified 1125 eligible patients of which 729 had a recorded CFS. Those without a CFS were omitted. The primary outcome measured was in-hospital mortality. Secondary measures were Injury Severity Score, length of stay, trauma team activation on arrival and discharge destination. Multivariate regression analyses were performed using STATA v 15. Results Those of CFS 5–9 (frail) were 2.6 times more likely to die than the CFS 1–4 (pre-frail) (OR 2.65, 95% CI 1.47–4.78). The frail group was also 56% less likely to have a trauma call on admission (OR 0.44, 95% CI 0.30–0.65) and 61% less likely to be discharged to their usual place of residence (OR 0.39, 95% CI 0.28–0.55). Conclusion We advocate the use of the Clinical Frailty Scale as a screening tool for frailty in trauma patients, highlighting those at risk of increased length of stay and mortality, subsequently assisting healthcare providers with setting realistic expectations with family members. Level of evidence Level III, prognostic and epidemiological

Major hemorrhage is often associated with trauma-induced coagulopathy. Targeted blood product replacement could achieve faster hemostasis and reduce mortality. This study aimed to investigate whether thromboelastography (TEG^®) goal-directed transfusion improved blood utilization, reduced mortality, and was cost effective. Data were prospectively collected in a U.K. level 1 trauma center, in patients with major hemorrhage one year pre- and post-implementation of TEG^® 6s Hemostasis Analyzers. Mortality, units of blood products transfused, and costs were compared between groups. Patient demographics in pre-TEG (n = 126) and post-TEG (n = 175) groups were similar. Mortality was significantly lower in the post-TEG group at 24 h (13% vs. 5%; p = 0.006) and at 30 days (25% vs. 11%; p = 0.002), with no difference in the number or ratio of blood products transfused. Cost of blood products transfused was comparable, with the exception of platelets (average £38 higher post-TEG). Blood product wastage was significantly lower in the post-TEG group (1.8 ± 2.1 vs. 1.1 ± 2.0; p = 0.002). No statistically significant difference in cost was observed between the two groups (£753 ± 651 pre-TEG; £830 ± 847 post-TEG; p = 0.41). These results demonstrate TEG 6s-driven resuscitation algorithms are associated with reduced mortality, reduced blood product wastage, and are cost neutral compared to standard coagulation tests.

Although much of the media focus on knife crime has been on London,1 the epidemic of violence is occurring across the UK, as Emma Wilkinson’s article makes clear.2 Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham provides care to a population of four million across the East Midlands and has the UK’s largest major trauma centre. On average the centre now sees one patient a week with severe life threatening knife injuries, a fourfold increase over the past five years. Of most concern is that in 2018 we resuscitated 28 children with serious knife wounds, 50% more than in the previous year. Our data show that these young victims of violent crime are more likely than their peers to present to …

Uncontrolled haemorrhage as a result of trauma remains a significant surgical challenge, accounting for approximately 25–40 % of trauma-related mortality. A wide range of local internal haemostatic agents have been developed to help achieve intra-cavity control of bleeding, with choice of agent influenced by the circumstances and nature of the haemorrhage. Trauma patients are frequently coagulopathic, so products that incorporate pro-coagulant technology and thereby act independently of the clotting cascade may be more effective in these settings. A range of products that utilise thrombin and fibrinogen to promote local haemostasis at intra-cavity bleeding points are available or in development, including fibrin glues (e.g. Tisseel®/Tissucol® and Evicel®/Crosseal®/Quixil®), fibrin sealant patches (e.g. TachoSil®) and products based on a gelatin-thrombin haemostatic matrix (e.g. FloSeal®). This systematic review was performed to assess all peer-reviewed evidence of product efficacy. Fibrin sealant patches have shown haemostatic efficacy in a variety of surgical procedures and appear to offer practical advantages over liquid fibrin glues. Existing evidence suggests that patch products enable delivery of pro-coagulants to defined areas with less chance of dilution and/or displacement by blood flow, but they require a pressure buttress for a suitable amount of time to achieve good results after trauma. Our experience, supported by other reports in the literature, suggests the use of such fibrin patches may provide an effective option in helping to control haemorrhage after trauma. However, there is a general paucity of clinical data for intra-cavity haemostatic agent use, with the majority of data being based on animal models and case reports. Further clinical evidence, ideally including comparative studies between different agents, would be beneficial in helping guide surgeon choice to the most appropriate products to use in trauma settings.

Damage control surgery (DCS) is a concept of abbreviated laparotomy, designed to prioritize short-term physiological recovery over anatomical reconstruction in the seriously injured and compromised patient. Over the last 10 yr, a new addition to the damage control paradigm has emerged, referred to as damage control resuscitation (DCR). This focuses on initial hypotensive resuscitation and early use of blood products to prevent the lethal triad of acidosis, coagulopathy, and hypothermia. This review aims to present the evidence behind DCR and its current application, and also to present a strategy of overall damage control to include DCR and DCS in conjunction. The use of DCR and DCS have been associated with improved outcomes for the severely injured and wider adoption of these principles where appropriate may allow this trend of improved survival to continue. In particular, DCR may allow borderline patients, who would previously have required DCS, to undergo early definitive surgery as their physiological derangement is corrected earlier.

During a high speed road traffic accident, a 26-year-old man suffered multiple fractures of his thoracic vertebrae and bilateral pneumothoraces. The day after admission and commencement of nasogastric feeding, milky fluid was noted in his right chest drain. Feeding was stopped and a contrast oesophogram and oesophagoscopy were performed, which were normal. The chylothorax quickly resolved and both drains were removed on day 6. Initial treatment of chylothorax aims to decompress the pleural space and minimise chyle production by stopping enteral feeding. Most authors recommend conservative management for 2 weeks or more unless certain parameters are met: average daily chyle loss of >1.5 litres for a 5 day period, or imminent nutritional complications. In this case, surgical management of the chylothorax and spinal fractures was planned. However, conservative management was successful, highlighting the fact that early aggressive surgical intervention for chyle leaks in blunt trauma is not necessary.

During a high-speed road traffic accident, a 26-year-old man suffered multiple fractures of his thoracic vertebrae and bilateral pneumothoraces. The day after admission and commencement of nasogastric feeding, milky fluid was noted in his right chest drain. Feeding was stopped and a contrast oesophogram and oesophagoscopy were performed, which were normal. The chylothorax quickly resolved and both drains were removed on day 6. Initial treatment of chylothorax aims to decompress the pleural space and minimise chyle production by not feeding the patient via the enteral route. Most authors recommend conservative management for 2 weeks or more unless certain parameters are met: average daily chyle loss of > 1.5 l for a 5-day period, or imminent nutritional complications. In this case, surgical management of the chylothorax and spinal fractures was planned. However, conservative management was successful, highlighting the fact that early aggressive surgical intervention for chyle leaks in blunt trauma is not necessary.