Crystal Ives

Pregnant women are especially vulnerable to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We present a twin pregnancy case with acute respiratory distress syndrome following COVID-19 infection at 19 weeks. The patient’s ARDS was successfully managed with veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV ECMO). She recovered completely and delivered healthy twins.

Introduction: Emergency department (ED) patients are frequently ventilated with excessively large tidal volumes for predicted body weight based on height, which has been linked to poorer patient outcomes. We hypothesized that supplying tape measures to respiratory therapists (RT) would improve measurement of actual patient height and adherence to a lung-protective ventilation strategy in an ED-intensive care unit (ICU) environment.Methods: On January 14, 2019, as part of a ventilator-associated pneumonia prevention bundle in our ED-based ICU, we began providing RTs with tape measures and created a best practice advisory reminding them to record patient height. We then retrospectively collected data on patient height and tidal volumes before and after the intervention.Results: We evaluated 51,404 tidal volume measurements in 1,826 patients over the 4 year study period; of these patients, 1,579 (86.5%) were pre-intervention and 247 (13.5%) were post-intervention. The intervention was associated with a odds of the patient’s height being measured were 10 times higher post-intervention (25.1% vs 3.2%, P <0.05). After the bundle was initiated, we observed a significantly higher percentage of patients ventilated with mean tidal volumes less than 8 cubic centimeters per kilogram (93.9% vs 84.5% P < 0.05).Conclusion: Patients in an ED-ICU environment were ventilated with a lung-protective strategy more frequently after an intervention reminding RTs to measure actual patient height and providing a tape measure to do so. A significantly higher percentage of patients had height measured rather than estimated after the intervention, allowing for more accurate determination of ideal body weight and calculation of lung-protective ventilation volumes. Measuring all mechanically ventilated patients’ height with a tape measure is an example of a simple, low-cost, scalable intervention in line with guidelines developed to improve the quality of care delivered to critically ill ED patients.

The objective of this study was to examine the ability of Focused Assessment Using Sonography for Trauma (FAST) to discriminate between survivors and nonsurvivors undergoing resuscitative thoracotomy (RT). RT is a high-risk, low-salvage procedure performed in arresting trauma patients with poorly defined indications. Patients undergoing RT from 10/2010 to 05/2014 were prospectively enrolled. A FAST examination including parasternal/subxiphoid cardiac views was performed before or concurrent with RT. The result was captured as adequate or inadequate with presence or absence of pericardial fluid and/or cardiac motion. A sensitivity analysis utilizing the primary outcome measure of survival to discharge or organ donation was performed. Overall, 187 patients arrived in traumatic arrest and underwent FAST. Median age 31 (1-84), 84.5% male, 51.3% penetrating. Loss of vital signs occurred at the scene in 48.1%, en-route in 23.5%, and in the ED in 28.3%. Emergent left thoracotomy was performed in 77.5% and clamshell thoracotomy in 22.5%. Sustained cardiac activity was regained in 48.1%. However, overall survival was only 3.2%. An additional 1.6% progressed to organ donation. FAST was inadequate in 3.7%, 28.9% demonstrated cardiac motion and 8.6% pericardial fluid. Cardiac motion on FAST was 100% sensitive and 73.7% specific for the identification of survivors and organ donors. With a high degree of sensitivity for the detection of potential survivors after traumatic arrest, FAST represents an effective method of separating those that do not warrant the risk and resource burden of RT from those who may survive. The likelihood of survival if pericardial fluid and cardiac motion were both absent was zero.

Admission hypocoagulability has been associated with negative outcomes after trauma. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of hypercoagulability after trauma on the need for blood product transfusion and mortality. Injured patients meeting our level I trauma center's highest activation criteria had a thromboelastography (TEG) performed at admission, +1 h, +2 h, and +6 h using citrated blood. Hypercoagulability was defined as any TEG parameter in the hypercoagulable range, and hypocoagulability as any parameter in the hypocoagulable range. Patients were followed up prospectively throughout their hospital course. A total of 118 patients were enrolled: 26.3% (n = 31) were hypercoagulable, 55.9% (n = 66) had a normal TEG profile, and 17.8% (n = 21) were hypocoagulable. After adjusting for differences in demographics and clinical data, hypercoagulable patients were less likely to require un-cross-matched blood (11.1% for hypercoagulable vs. 20.4% for normal vs. 45.7% for hypocoagulable, adjusted P = 0.004). Hypercoagulable patients required less total blood products, in particular, plasma at 6 h (0.1 [SD, 0.4] U for hypercoagulable vs. 0.7 [SD, 1.9] U for normal vs. 4.3 [SD, 6.3] U for hypocoagulable, adjusted P < 0.001) and 24 h (0.2 [SD, 0.6] U for hypercoagulable vs. 1.1 [SD, 2.9] U for normal vs. 8.2 [SD, 19.3] U for hypocoagulable, adjusted P < 0.001). Hypercoagulable patients had lower 24-h mortality (0.0% vs. 5.5% vs. 27.8%, adjusted P < 0.001) and 7-day mortality (0.0% vs. 5.5% vs. 36.1%, adjusted P < 0.001). Bleeding-related deaths were less likely in the hypercoagulable group (0.0% vs. 1.8% vs. 25.0%, adjusted P < 0.001). Approximately a quarter of trauma patients presented in a hypercoagulable state. Hypercoagulable patients required less blood products, in particular plasma. They also had a lower 24-h and 7-day mortality and lower rates of bleeding-related deaths. Further evaluation of the mechanism responsible for the hypercoagulable state and its implications on outcome is warranted.