Effects of Branched-chain Amino Acids on Nutritional Metabolism and Pharmacoeconomics in Patients with Severe Abdominal Trauma

Objective:To observe the influences of branched-chain amino acids(BCAAs)on nutrition metabolism and prognosis of patients with severe abdominal trauma;at the same time,to analyze and evaluate the pharmacoeconomics of it.Methods:A total of 75 severe abdominal trauma patients were recruited from June 2016 to December 2017 and randomly divided into control group and observation group.After surgery and basic treatment,parenteral nutrition support therapy with iso-nitrogen and iso-calorie of both groups was administered.Meanwhile,an equivalent of 8.5%(18AA-Ⅱ)and 10%(20AA)compound AA injection was administrated to the control and observation groups,respectively.The nitrogen balance,serum protein level and plasma amino spectrum of the patients were observed before and after treatment.Besides,the hospital stay,survival rate,complications,adverse reactions and hospitalization costs were also compared.Results:After a 7-day course treatment,the nitrogen balance level of the two groups was significantly improved,but no significant difference was found between them.In addition,the serum protein level and plasma amino spectrum of the two groups was generally improved when compared to before treatment.Compared with the control group,the level of albumin and transferrin in the observation group was improved significantly after treatment,while no difference in plasma amino spectrum was found between the two groups.Moreover,the cost analysis showed remarkably reduced hospitalization costs in the observation group.Conclusion:To a certain degree,BCAAs could improve the nutritional metabolism and prognosis of patients with severe abdominal trauma,and have good cost-effectiveness.

Jejuno-Ileal Ruptures after Blunt Abdominal Trauma at the Teaching Hospital of Bouake

Objective: The aim of this study is to determine the causes, pattern, management, and outcome of jejunal-ileal rupture following blunt abdominal trauma at the teaching Hospital of Bouake. Methods: The study included 27 patients who underwent laparotomy for jejunoileal injuries from blunt abdominal trauma at the Teaching Hospital of Bouake over a period of 14 years from January 2007 to December 2020. A retrospective study was conducted and the patients were analyzed with respect to patient demographics data, cause, injury mechanisms, presentation, anatomical distribution, diagnostic methods, associated injuries, treatment and outcomes. Results: During the 14 year period from 2007 to 2020, 27 patients with blunt small bowel injuries were treated at our Teaching Hospital. That is 2.9% of all blunt abdominal trauma. Male to female ratio was 4.4:1 and the average age was 26.3 years (range: 15 and 50 years). The majority (66.7% 18 cases) were Victims of road traffic accident. Median delay between injury and arrival at hospital for these patients was 10.1 hours (range: 1 - 72 h). A single intestinal injury was present in 22 patients, while 5 patients suffered from 2 injuries. There were 32 perforations of the small intestine in 27 patients with two perforations being transection. All perforations were located on the antimesenteric border of the intestine. Out of the 32 jejuno-ileal ruptures 18 were located on the jejunum while 14 were located on the ileum. Associated intra-abdominal injuries were present in 6 patients and nineteen associated extra-abdominal injuries were present in 10 (70.4%) patients. A one-stage therapeutic strategy was performed in 20 cases (74.1%) and a two-stage strategy was performed in seven cases (25.9%). Intestinal continuity was restored 93.8 days later (range 60 and 140 days). The average length of hospital stay of the operated patients was 11.4 days. The operative morbidity was 25.9%. Conclusion: Jejuno-ileal ruptures are rare and characterized by a delay in management. An early diagnosis could improve the vital prognosis of the patients.

Surgical Management of Abdominal Trauma: Indications and Outcomes in Two Emergency Units with Limited Infrastructure Resources in Yaoundé(Cameroon)

Introduction: Abdominal trauma is a major public health concern. Their management is controversial and difficult. Operative indications are not codified in all situations. Patients and Methods: This was a descriptive cross- sectional study over a period of 5 years, carried out in the surgical emergency department of the Central Hospital of Yaoundé and the Emergency Centre of Yaoundé. We reviewed retrospectively medical records of patients who had laparotomy after abdominal trauma. Results: We collected 115 files. There was a male predominance (83.47%) and the average age was 33.8 years. The average time to admission was 12.3 hours and the aetiologies were dominated by road traffic accidents (53%). Abdominal contusions represented 69.56% of cases and abdominal wounds 30.44% of cases. Indications for surgery were hemodynamic instability, evidence of a lesion of a hollow viscus, the presence of evisceration or a gunshot wound, and initial non-operative treatment failure. Postoperative morbidity was 9.56% and overall mortality was 3.47%. Conclusion: Surgical management of abdominal trauma is frequent in our setting, mainly indicated for hemodynamic instability. Results are good with a low morbi-mortality.

Comparison of the diagnostic accuracy of CT scan with oral and intravenous contrast versus CT scan with intravenous contrast alone in the diagnosis of blunt abdominal trauma

Purpose:Abdominal CT scan using oral and intravenous(IV)contrast is helpful in the diagnosis of intra-abdominal injuries.However,the use of oral and IV contrast delays the process of diagnosis and increases the risk of aspiration.It has also been shown that CT scan with IV contrast alone is as helpful as CT scan with oral and IV contrast and rectal CT scan in detecting abdominal injuries.Therefore,the present study aims to prospectively compare the diagnostic value of CT scan with oral and IV contrast versus CT scan with IV contrast alone in the diagnosis of blunt abdominal trauma(BAT).Methods:Altogether 123 BAT patients,60(48.8%)women and 63(51.2%)men with the mean age of(40.4±18.7)years who referred to the emergency department of Imam Khomeini Educational and Medical Center in Sari,Iran(a tertiary trauma center in north of Iran)from November 2014 to March 2017 and underwent abdominal CT scans+laparotomy were investigated.Those with penetrating trauma or hemodynamically unstable patients were excluded.The participants were randomly allocated to two groups:abdominal CT scan with oral and IV contrast(n=63)and CT scan with IV contrast alone(n=60).No statistically significant difference was found between two groups regarding the hemodynamic parameters,age,gender,injury mechanisms(all p>0.05).The results of CT scan were compared with that of laparotomy results.The collected data were recorded in SPSS version 22.0 for Windows.Quantitative data were presented as mean and SD.Results:The sensitivity and specificity of CT scan using oral and IV contrast in the diagnosis of BAT were estimated at 96.48(95%CI:90.73-99.92)and 92.67(95% CI:89.65-94.88),respectively;while CT scan with IV contrast alone achieved a comparable sensitivity and specificity of 96.6(95% CI:87.45-99),42 and 92.84(95% CI:89.88-95.00),respectively.Conclusion:CT scan with IV contrast alone can be used to assess visceral injuries in BAT patients with normal hemodynamics to avoid diagnostic delay.

A novel machine learning-assisted clinical diagnosis support model for early identification of pancreatic injuries in patients with blunt abdominal trauma:a cross-national study

Background:The recognition of pancreatic injury in blunt abdominal trauma is often severely delayed in clinical practice.The aim of this study was to develop a machine learning model to support clinical diagnosis for early detection of abdominal trauma.Methods:We retrospectively analyzed of a large intensive care unit database(Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care[MIMIC]-IV)for model development and internal validation of the model,and performed outer validation based on a cross-national data set.Logistic regres-sion was used to develop three models(PI-12,PI-12-2,and PI-24).Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to determine variables in each model.The primary outcome was early detection of a pancreatic injury of any grade in patients with blunt abdominal trauma in the first 24 hours after hospitalization.Results:The incidence of pancreatic injuries was 5.56%(n=18)and 6.06%(n=6)in the development(n=324)and internal validation(n=99)cohorts,respectively.Internal validation cohort showed good discrimination with an area under the receiver operator characteristic curve(AUC)value of 0.84(95%confidence interval[CI]:0.71–0.96)for PI-24.PI-24 had the best AUC,specificity,and positive predictive value(PPV)of all models,and thus it was chosen as the final model to support clinical diagnosis.PI-24 performed well in the outer validation cohort with an AUC value of 0.82(95%CI:0.65–0.98),specificity of 0.97(95%CI:0.91–1.00),and PPV of 0.67(95%CI:0.00–1.00).Conclusion:A novel machine learning-based model was developed to support clinical diagnosis to detect pancreatic injuries in patients with blunt abdominal trauma at an early stage.

Clinical value of bedside abdominal sonography performed by certified sonographer in emergency evaluation of blunt abdominal trauma

Purpose:To investigate the accuracy and efficiency of bedside ultrasonography application performed by certified sonographer in emergency patients with blunt abdominal trauma.Methods:The study was carried out from 2017 to 2019.Findings in operations or on computed tomography(CT)were used as references to evaluate the accuracy of bedside abdominal ultrasonography.The time needed for bedside abdominal ultrasonography or CT examination was collected separately to evaluate the efficiency of bedside abdominal ultrasonography application.Results:Bedside abdominal ultrasonography was performed in 106 patients with blunt abdominal trauma,of which 71 critical patients received surgery.The overall diagnostic accordance rate was 88.68%.The diagnostic accordance rate for liver injury,spleen injury,kidney injury,gut perforation,retroperitoneal hematoma and multiple abdominal organ injury were 100%,94.73%,94.12%,20.00%,100%and 81.48%,respectively.Among the 71 critical patients,the diagnostic accordance rate was 94.37%,in which the diagnostic accordance rate for liver injury,spleen injury,kidney injury,gut perforation and multiple abdominal organ injury were 100%,100%,100%,20.00%and 100%.The mean time for imaging examination of bedside abdominal ultrasonography was longer than that for CT scan(4.45±1.63 vs.2.38±1.19)min;however,the mean waiting time before examination(7.37±2.01 vs.16.42±6.37)min,the time to make a diagnostic report(6.42±3.35 vs.36.26±13.33)min,and the overall time(17.24±2.33 vs.55.06±6.96)min were shorter for bedside abdominal ultrasonography than for CT scan.Conclusion:Bedside ultrasonography application provides both efficiency and reliability for the assessment of blunt abdominal trauma.Especially for patients with free peritoneal effusion and critical patients,bedside ultrasonography has been proved obvious advantageous.However,for negative bedside ultrasonography patients with blunt abdominal trauma,we recommend further abdominal CT scan or serial ultrasonography scans subsequently.

Isolated traumatic gallbladder injury: A case report

BACKGROUND Isolated gallbladder injury(GI)(IGI)directly induced by abdominal trauma is rare.Symptoms,indications,and imaging examinations of IGI are frequently non-specific,posing tremendous diagnostic challenges,which are simple to overlook and may have severe implications.Improving doctors'understanding of gallbladder injury(GI)facilitates early detection and decreases the likelihood of severe consequences,including death.CASE SUMMARY We report a case of IGI caused by blunt violence(after falling from three meters with the umbilicus as the stress point)and performed laparoscopic repair of the gallbladder rupture,which helps clinicians understand IGI and reduce the severe consequences of delayed diagnosis.Through extensive medical history and dynamic abdominal ultrasound evaluation,doctors can identify GI early and begin surgery,thereby decreasing the devastating repercussions of delayed diagnosis.CONCLUSION This article aims to improve clinicians'understanding of IGI and propose a method for the diagnosis and treatment of GI.

Indications for the surgical management of pancreatic trauma: An update

Pancreatic trauma is rare compared to other abdominal solid organ injuries,accounting for 0.2%-0.3% of all trauma patients. Moreover, this type of injury may frequently be overlooked or not readily appreciated on initial clinical examinations and investigations. The organ injury scale determines the severity of the trauma. Nonetheless, there are conflicting recommendations for the best strategy in severe cases. Overall, conservative management of induced severe traumatic pancreatitis is adequate. Modern imaging modalities such as ultrasound scanning and computed tomography scanning can detect injuries in fewer than 60% of patients. However, magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography(ERCP) have diagnostic accuracies approaching 90%-100%. Thus, management options include ERCP and stent placement or distal pancreatectomy in cases of complete gland transection and wide drainage only for damage control surgery, which can prevent mortality but increases the risk of morbidity. In the majority of cases, surgical intervention is not required and should be reserved for only severe grade Ⅲ to grade Ⅴ injuries.

Isolated pancreatic injury caused by abdominal massage:A case report

BACKGROUND Regular abdominal massage can be used to treat digestive symptoms such as bloating and constipation and is reported to reduce abdominal discomfort,improve digestive function,and increase the quality of life,without serious adverse effects.Isolated pancreatic injury is rare,and most often occurs during severe trauma such as steering wheel impact injury.To our knowledge,pancreatic injury caused by massage has not yet been reported in the literature.CASE SUMMARY A 57-year-old woman was referred to our hospital for acute abdominal pain and transient syncope.On examination,she had low hemoglobin concentration and a high white blood cell count and neutrophil percentage.Plain computed tomography of the abdomen revealed a substantial hemorrhage in the abdominal cavity.A large amount of exudate in the pancreatic area was considered a hematoma.Preoperative diagnosis was difficult.Her hemoglobin and blood pressure did not rise even after blood.We suspected progressive bleeding in the abdominal cavity and urgently performed exploratory laparotomy.During the operation,the pancreas was confirmed to be ruptured;hence,spleen-preserving pancreatic body and tail resection were performed.A pancreatic fistula was found on the 15th d after the operation,and the patient was discharged with a drainage tube on the 24th d after active treatment.Subsequently,it was discovered that the patient had undergone a vigorous abdominal massage the day before the abdominal pain began.To our knowledge,this is the first report of isolated pancreatic injury and massive abdominal hemorrhage caused by abdominal massage.CONCLUSION Our findings indicate that any action that increases intra-abdominal pressure may cause internal organ damage.We also review similar cases reported in the literature.

Rare isolated extra-hepatic bile duct injury: A case report

BACKGROUND Extra-hepatic bile duct injury(EHBDI)is very rare among all blunt abdominal injuries.According to literature statistics,it only accounts for 3%-5%of abdominal injuries,most of which are combined injuries.Isolated EHBDI is more rare,with a special injury mechanism,clinical presentation and treatment strategy,so missed diagnosis easily occurs.CASE SUMMARY We report a case of unexplained abdominal effusion and jaundice following blunt abdominal trauma in our department.Of which,surgical exploration of the case was performed and a large amount of bile leakage in the abdominal cavity was found.No obvious abdominal organ damage or bile duct rupture was found.Surgery was terminated after the common bile duct indwelled with a T tube.After 2 wk,a T-tube angiography revealed the lesion in the common bile duct pancreatic segment,confirming isolated EHBDI.And 2 mo later,the T tube was pulled out with re-examined magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography,indicating narrowing of the common bile duct injury,with no special treatment due to no clinical symptoms and no abnormality in the current follow-up.CONCLUSION This case was featured by intraoperative bile leakage and no EHBDI.This type of rare isolated EHBDI is prone to missed and delayed diagnosis due to its atypical clinical manifestations and imaging features.Surgery is still the main treatment,and the indications and principles of bile duct injury repair must be followed.

The"weekend effect"does not impact on outcome of trauma laparotomy–Experience from a level 1 trauma centre in New Zealand

Purpose:Trauma centres have been proven to provide better outcomes in developed countries for overall trauma,but there is limited literature on the systematic factors that describe any discrepancies in outcomes for trauma laparotomies in these centres.This study was conducted to examine and interrogate the effect of systematic factors on patients undergoing a trauma laparotomy in a developed country,intending to identify potential discrepancies in the outcome.Methods:This was a retrospective study of all laparotomies performed for trauma at a level 1 trauma centre in New Zealand.All adult patients who had undergone an index laparotomy for trauma between February 2012 and November 2020 were identified and laparotomies for both blunt and penetrating trauma were included.Repeat laparotomies and trauma laparotomies in children were excluded.The primary clinical outcomes reviewed included morbidity,length of hospital stay,and mortality.All statistical analysis was performed using R v.4.0.3.Results:During the 9-year study period,204 trauma laparotomies were performed at Waikato hospital.The majority(83.3%)were performed during office hours(170/204),and the remaining 16.7%were performed after hours(34/204).And 61.3%were performed on a weekday(125/204),whilst 38.7%were performed on the weekend/public holiday(79/204).Most of the parameters in office hours and after hours groups had no statistically significant difference,except lactate(p=0.026).Most of the variables in weekday and weekend groups had no statistically significant difference,except pH,lactate,length of stay,and gastrointestinal complications(p=0.012,p<0.001,p=0.003,p=0.020,respectively).Conclusion:The current trauma system at Waikato hospital is capable of delivering care for trauma laparotomy patients with the same outcome regardless of working hours or after hours,weekday or weekend.This confirms the importance of a robust trauma system capable of responding to the sudden demands placed on it.

Management and outcome of pancreatic trauma:a 6-year experience at a level I trauma center

Background: Pancreatic trauma (PT) accounts for less than 1% of all trauma admissions. Occasionally, PT is undetected during theprimary survey and becomes apparent only when complications arise. It occurs in up to 5% of blunt abdominal trauma cases and 12%of individuals with penetrating abdominal injuries. Management is determined by the status of the main pancreatic duct and associatedinjuries.Methods: This was an ambispective study conducted at the Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Center, All India Institute ofMedical Sciences,New Delhi, from January 2015 to December 2017 (retrospective), and January 2019 to December 2020 (prospective). In total, 113patients with PT were included in this study.Results:We analyzed the data of 113 patients with PT included in this study, of whichmales predominated (93.7%). Blunt PT was presentin 101 patients (89.4%) and penetrating PT in 12 patients (10.6%). Half of the patients (51.3%) had the American Association for theSurgery of Trauma grade III PT, followed by grade II (18.6%), and grade I (15%). Of the total 113 patients, 68 (60.2%) were treated withoperative management, and 45 (39.8%) with nonoperative management. Distal pancreatectomy, with or without splenectomy, was themost common procedure performed in our study, followed by drainage. There were 27 mortalities (23.8%) during the study period, ofwhich 7 were directly related to PT and 20 were due to other organ-related sepsis and hemorrhagic shock.Conclusion: Pancreatic trauma is rare but challenging for trauma surgeons, with persistent management controversies. Early diagnosisis important for favorable results;however, a delay in diagnosis has been associated with higher morbidity and mortality. Low-grade pancreaticinjuries can be successfully managed nonoperatively, whereas high-grade pancreatic injuries require surgical intervention.