Surgical resident experience on most trauma services is heavily weighted to nonoperative management, with a relatively low number of procedures, little experience with DPL, and highly variable experience with ultrasound. These data have serious implications for resident training and recruitment into the specialty.

PIVCF increased significantly without impacting the overall PE rate. There was a 1.6% PE rate among PIVCF, high retrieval rate (59%), low complication rate (0.1%), and satisfactory compliance with traditional EAST guidelines.

Adolescent injury victims receive care at adult trauma centers (ATCs) and pediatric trauma centers (PTCs). The purpose of this study was to identify care variations and their impact on the outcome of adolescent trauma patients treated at PTC versus ATC. We queried the Pennsylvania Trauma Systems Foundation database for trauma patients between 13 and 18 years of age from 2005 to 2010. Mortality and hospital complication rates between ATC and PTC were compared in univariable and multivariable analysis. In addition, the differences in the delivery of care were also compared. Of 9033 total patients, 6027 (67%) received care at an ATC. Patients in the ATC group were older (16.7 vs 14.9 years, P < 0.001) and more severely injured (Injury Severity Score: 14.5 vs 12.2, P < 0.001). Admission diagnostic computed tomography (CT), emergent laparotomy and craniotomy, blood transfusion, and drug screening were more frequently performed at an ATC. After adjustment for potential confounders in multivariable regression models, treatment at a PTC was significantly associated with fewer CTs for transferred patients (odds ratio [OR], 0.28; P < 0.001) and with less frequent emergent laparotomy for all patients (OR, 0.65; P = 0.007). The ATC group had a significantly higher hospital mortality rate (2.9 vs 0.9%, P < 0.001) and complication rate (9.7 vs 4.8%, P < 0.001). However, these outcomes were not significantly different between PTC and ATC in multivariable regression models. In the state of Pennsylvania, there were no significant differences in risk-adjusted outcomes between PTC and ATC despite significant difference in use of CT scanning and emergent laparotomy.

BackgroundThe high risk behavior of intoxicated drivers, impaired reaction time, lack of seat belt use, and increased incidence of head injury raises questions of whether pre-hospital use of alcohol leads to a higher injury severity score and worse clinical outcomes. We therefore compared intoxicated and non-intoxicated drivers of motor vehicle crashes with respect to outcome measurements and also describe the resources utilized to achieve those outcomes at our Level 1 trauma center.MethodsRetrospective descriptive study (Jan 2002-June 2007) of our trauma registry and financial database comparing intoxicated drivers with blood alcohol levels (BAC) > 80 mg/dl (ETOH > 80) with drivers who had a BAC of 0 mg/dl (ETOH = 0). Drivers without a BAC drawn or who had levels ranging from 1 mg/dL to 80 mg/dL were excluded. Data was collected on demographic information (age, gender, injury severity score or ISS), outcome variables (mortality, complications, ICU and hospital LOS, ventilator days) and resource utilization (ED LOS, insurance, charges, costs, payments). Statistical analysis: p < 0.05 vs. ETOH > 80; stratified chi square.ResultsOut of 1732 drivers, the combined study group (n = 987) of 623 ETOH = 0 and 364 ETOH > 80 had a mean age of 38.8 ± 17.9, ISS of 18.0 ± 12.1, and 69.8%% male. There was no difference in ISS (p = 0.67) or complications (p = 0.38). There was a trend towards decreased mortality (p = 0.06). The ETOH = 0 group had more patients with a prolonged ICU LOS (≥ 5 days), ventilator days (≥ 8 days), and hospital LOS (> 14 days) when compared to the ETOH > 80 group (p < 0.05). The ETOH > 80 group tended to be self pay (4.9% vs. 0.7%, p < 0.5) and less likely to generate payment for hospital charges (p < 0.5). Hospital charges and costs were higher in the ETOH = 0 group (p < 0.5).ConclusionsThe data suggests that intoxicated drivers may have better outcomes and a trend towards reduced mortality. They appeared to be less likely to have prolonged hospital LOS, ICU LOS, and ventilator days. We also observed that intoxicated drivers were more likely to be self-pay, less likely to have charges > $50K, and less likely to pay ≥ 90% of the charges. Further research using multivariable analysis is needed to determine if these apparent outcomes differences are driven by acute intoxication, and the tendency for endotracheal intubation and ICU admission, rather than injury severity.

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