Category Archives: Complications

Retained Hemothorax Part 2: Lytics (again)

March 3, 2017 The Trauma Pro Leave a comment

Yesterday, I reviewed a small case report that was published a couple of years ago on lytics for treatment of retained hemothorax. But surely, there must be something better, right?

After digging around, I did find a paper from 2007 that prospectively looked at protocolized management of retained hemothorax, and its aftermath. It was carried out at a busy Level I trauma center over a 16 month period.

All patients with a hemothorax treated with chest tube received daily chest x-rays. Those with significant opacification on day 3 underwent CT scan of the chest. If more than 300 cc of retained blood was present, the patient received streptokinase or urokinase (surgeon preference and drug availability) daily, and rolled around in bed for 4 hours to attempt to distribute it. The chest tube was then unclamped and allowed to drain. This was repeated for 3 days, and if there was still opacification, a repeat CT was obtained. If the volume was still greater than 300 cc, the cycle was repeated for the next 3 days. If the opacification cleared at any point, or the repeat CT showed less than 300 cc, the protocol was stopped and the chest tube removed. If the chest was still opacified after 6 days, VATS was offered.

Here are the factoids:

A total of 203 patients with hemothorax were admitted during the study period and 25 (12%) developed a retained hemothorax
While a few had treatment start within 4 days, the majority did not receive lytics until day 9 (range 3 –30 days!)
The average length of time in hospital after start of lytics was 7 days, leading to a total length of stay of 18 days
92% of patients had “effective” evacuation of their retained hemothorax, although 1 had VATS anyway which found only 100 cc of fluid
16 patients had “complete” evacuation, and 5 had “partial” evacuation
There were no hemorrhagic complications, but one third of patients reported significant pain with drug administration

Bottom line: Sounds good, right? The drug seems reasonably effective, although lengths of stay are relatively long. However, streptokinase and urokinase are no longer available in the US, having been replaced with tissue plasminogen activator (tPA). This paper does a cost analysis of lytics vs VATS and found that the former treatment cost about $15000 (drug + hospital stay) vs $34000 for VATS. However, a big part of this was that the drug only cost about $75 per dose. tPA is much more expensive.

So once again, small series, longer lengths of stay, but at least nicely done. Unfortunately, the drug choice is no longer available so use of tPA tilts the balance away from lytics. Tomorrow, I’ll explore the results of using VATS for this condition.

Posts in this series:

Reference: Intrapleural Thrombolysis for the Management of Undrained Traumatic Hemothorax: A Prospective Observational Study. J Trauma 62(5):1175-1179, 2007.

Complications, Technique

Retained Hemothorax Part 1: Lytics

March 2, 2017 The Trauma Pro Leave a comment

Hemothorax is a common complication of chest trauma, occurring in about one third of cases. It is commonly treated with a chest tube, which usually takes care of the problem. But in a few cases some blood remains, which can result in an entrapped lung or empyema.

There are several management options. Historically, these patients underwent thoracotomy to peel out the fibrinous collection stuck to lung and chest wall. This has given way to the more humane VATS procedure (video assisted thoracoscopic surgery) which accomplishes the same thing using a scope. In some cases, another tube can be inserted, sometimes under CT guidance, to try to drain the blood.

So what about lytics? It’s fibrin, right? So why not just dissolve it with tissue plasminogen activator (tPA)? There have been very few studies published over the years. The most recent was in 2014. I’ll review it today, and another tomorrow. Finally, I’ll give you my thoughts on the best way to deal with retained hemothorax.

Here are the factoids:

This was a single center, retrospective review of data from 1.5 years beginning in 2009
A total of seven patients were identified, and most had hemothorax due to rib fractures. Three presented immediately after their injury, 4 were delayed.
Median time from injury to chest tube placement was 11 days
Median time the chest tube was in place was 13 days, with an average hospital stay of 14 days
Patients received 1 to 5 treatments, averaging 24mg per dose
There was one death in the group, unrelated to TPA treatment
No patient “required” VATS, but one underwent thoracotomy, which turned out to be for a malignancy

Bottom line: The authors conclude that tPA use for busting retained hemothorax is both safe and effective. Really? With only seven patients? The biggest problem with this study is that it uses old, retrospective data. We have no idea why these patients were selected for tPA in this 5-year old cohort of patients. Why did it take so long to put in chest tubes? Why did the chest tubes stay in so long? Maybe this is why they were in the hospital so long?

Plus, tPA is expensive. A 100mg vial runs about $6000. Does repeatedly using an expensive drug and keeping a patient in the hospital an extra week or so make financial sense? So it better work damn well, and this small series doesn’t demonstrate that.

Tomorrow, I’ll look at the next most recent paper on the topic, from way back in 2004.

Posts in this series:

Reference: Evaluation of chest tube administration of tissue plasminogen activator to treat retained hemothorax. Am J Surg 267(6):960-963, 2014.

Complications

Geriatric Week 5: Falls In The Elderly: The Consequences

January 27, 2017 The Trauma Pro Leave a comment

Falls among the elderly are a huge problem. Our trauma service typically has 6-12 elders who have sustained significant injuries on it at any given time. About a third of people living at home over the age of 65 fall in a given year. At 80 years and up, half fall every year.

Because of this, falls are the leading cause of ED visits due to an injury for those over 65. What exactly are the societal consequences of all these falls? A yet to be published study from the Netherlands looked at injuries, costs and quality of life after falls in the elderly.

The top 5 most common injuries included simple wounds, wrist and hip fractures, and brain injuries. Although hip fracture typically was #5 in the 65-74 age groups, it was uniformly #1 in the 85+ group. Patterns were similar in both men and women. Interestingly, hip fractures were by far the most expensive, making up 43% of the cost of all injuries (total €200M). The next closest injuries by total cost, superficial injuries and femur fracture, made up only 7% of the total each!

As you can imagine, quality of life suffered after falls as well. A utility score based on the EQ-5D, a validated quality of life score, was lower in fall victims. Even after 9 months, this score did not return to baseline. About 70% of elders who were admitted after their falls described mobility problems and 64% had problems with their usual activities. Over a quarter expressed problems with anxiety or depression.

Bottom line: An array of falls prevention programs are available. They need to be more aggressively implemented to reduce costs and improve the quality of life of our elders.

Reference: Social consequences of falls in the older population: injuries, healthcare costs, and long-term reduced quality of life. J Trauma 71(3):748-753, 2011.

Complications

Geriatric Week 3: Elderly Trauma And The Frailty Index

January 25, 2017 The Trauma Pro Leave a comment

Worldwide, the population is aging. Currently in the US, about 1 in 8 people are considered elderly (age >= 65). In 15 years, this number is expected to double to 1 in 4.

But as every trauma professional knows, there are the elderly, and then there are the elderly. What do I mean by this? I’ve seen 50 year olds who look and act like they are 80, with a medication list 10 deep. And I’ve also seen 90 year olds who are still ballroom dancing with the ladies.

Can we tell these cohorts apart, and do we need to? Sure, you can apply the “eyeball” test, but it’s not always accurate. Well, there are a number of frailty indexes that have been developed that try to make this process a bit more objective. The trauma group in Tucson looked at frailty index as a predictor of hospital disposition to see if it could offer any assistance in discharge planning.

Here are the factoids:

100 consecutive patients aged 65 or more were studied over a one year period at a Level I trauma center
Frailty was calculated using the Canadian Study of Health and Aging Frailty Index, using 50 of the demographic, comorbidity, medication, social history, activities of daily living, and general mood variables
Overall, patients had moderate injury with average ISS 14, AIS-Head 2, and GCS 3
69% of patients had a favorable outcome (discharged to home or rehab) vs 31% unfavorable outcome (skilled nursing facility or death)
Frailty index was highly and significantly correlated with unfavorable outcome
Age 65 or more alone was not predictive of unfavorable outcome

Bottom line: Just the fact that a patient is older does not mean that they are more likely to do poorly. The frailty index (FI) used in this study includes 50 variables, which indicates how complex this concept is. This scale has been used in non-trauma patients, and is now validated for trauma. Although somewhat complicated due to the sheer number of variables, it appears that this tool may be valuable in predicting discharge disposition if applied soon after admission. And it also raises the interesting question of whether hospital interventions may be able to change a predicted unfavorable outcome into a favorable one.

Reference: Predicting hospital discharge disposition in geriatric trauma patients: is frailty the answer? J Trauma 76(1):196-200, 2014.

Complications, Head

Rest vs Physical Activity After Mild Pediatric Concussion: Which Is Better?

January 18, 2017 The Trauma Pro Leave a comment

One of the most common recommendations after a child or young adult sustains a mild TBI is to rest. And even better, brain rest. I’ve written about that topic several times over the years.

But what about physical rest? There is a large body of literature documenting the numerous mental and physical benefits of exercise. Couldn’t they also apply after concussive injury to the brain? A study published recently tried to determine if physical activity or lack of it after mild TBI was helpful in reducing the incidence of post-concussive symptoms.

This was a planned analysis of prospectively collected data from nine research network hospital emergency departments in Canada. Children from age 5 through 17 were enrolled if they had received a concussion within 48 hours of the ED visit, as defined by the 2012 Zurich consensus. They were excluded if they had a positive head CT, GCS < 14, or pre-existing cognitive deficits.

Initial research data was collected during the ED visit, and followup phone calls were made by the research team at 7 and 28 days. They asked about self-reported level of physical activity on day 7, and post-concussive symptoms and their change over time on days 7 and 28.

Here are the factoids:

Of 3063 patients enrolled, 84% completed the ED assessment. 171 were excluded because they could not be contacted for the activity assessment on day 7.
Post-concussive symptoms were present in 30% of these children overall
70% participated in physical activity during the first week: 32% light aerobic, 9% sport-specific, 6% non-contact drills, 4% full-contact practice, and 18% full competition (ignoring doctor’s orders?)
Overall, early activity was associated with a lower risk of post-concussive symptoms (25% vs 44%)
In patients who were symptomatic at day 7, symptoms were decreased at 28 days in patients who engaged in light aerobic activity, moderate activity, and even full-contact activity

Bottom line: This was a well designed study, but obviously with a number of limitations. Physical activity was self-reported, there may have been other factors that could not be controlled, and the study did not inquire about activity between days 7 and 28.

But this study appears to suggest that, like in most other areas, exercise is good. Even for the brain recovering from a concussion. Obviously, a really good randomized study would be the gold standard, but I doubt that will be done anytime soon. Trauma professionals may want to consider a cautious return to light to moderate activity as soon as the child feels well enough. But keep in mind that, in general, the onset of fatigue is a good indicator that it is time to stop activity and rest. And full contact should probably be avoided, especially because of the risk of re-injury.

Related posts:

Reference: Association between early participation in physical activity following acute concussion and persistent postconcussive symptoms in children and adolescents. JAMA 316(23):2504-2514, 2016.

Home of the Trauma Professional's Blog