Faculty Bibliography

OBJECTIVES/UNASSIGNED:The burden of geriatric trauma continues to rise. Older trauma patients experience higher morbidity and mortality and thus benefit from early goals of care (GOC) discussions and advance care planning (ACP). The American College of Surgeons (ACS) Trauma Quality Improvement Program (TQIP) recommends holding a family meeting within 72 hours of admission when treating geriatric trauma patients. At our level I trauma center, we sought to increase early GOC discussions by implementing a new history and physical (H&P) note template for geriatric trauma patients. METHODS/UNASSIGNED:Patients (aged >65 years) admitted to the trauma surgery service (≥24 hours) were included in the study. The intervention was a change in the H&P note template to include confirmation of code status or previous ACP and identification of a healthcare proxy. Primary outcomes were the rates of recognizing a pre-existing Do-Not-Resuscitate (DNR) status/advanced directives at admission and of documentation of a GOC discussion within 72 hours. Outcomes from a 3-month period (March-May) during the pre-intervention (2021) and post-intervention (2022) periods were compared. RESULTS/UNASSIGNED:The pre-intervention and post-intervention groups had 107 and 150 patients, respectively. We observed an increase in recognition of pre-existing DNR code status at time of admission from 50% to 95% (p=0.003) and documentation of a GOC discussion within 72 hours from 17% to 83% (p<0.0001). We also observed a trend showing that new DNR orders were placed more frequently in the post-intervention period (9% vs 17%, p=0.098). The in-hospital mortality was not significantly different. CONCLUSIONS/UNASSIGNED:The importance of GOC discussions and ACP documentation for geriatric trauma patients is evident, but its completion can be challenging. Our intervention of a new H&P note template increased GOC discussions, and this implementation may be feasible in other trauma centers to comply with the ACS-TQIP Geriatric Trauma Management Guidelines. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE/UNASSIGNED:Level III.

INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND:Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been shown to affect outcomes among surgical patients. We hypothesized that COVID-19 would be linked to higher mortality and longer length of stay of trauma patients regardless of the injury severity score (ISS). METHODS:We performed a retrospective analysis of trauma registries from two level 1 trauma centers (suburban and urban) from March 1, 2019, to June 30, 2019, and March 1, 2020, to June 30, 2020, comparing baseline characteristics and cumulative adverse events. Data collected included ISS, demographics, and comorbidities. The primary outcome was time from hospitalization to in-hospital death. Outcomes during the height of the first New York COVID-19 wave were also compared with the same time frame in the prior year. Kaplan-Meier method with log-rank test and Cox proportional hazard models were used to compare outcomes. RESULTS:There were 1180 trauma patients admitted during the study period from March 2020 to June 2020. Of these, 596 were never tested for COVID-19 and were excluded from the analysis. A total of 148 COVID+ patients and 436 COVID- patients composed the 2020 cohort for analysis. Compared with the 2019 cohort, the 2020 cohort was older with more associated comorbidities, more adverse events, but lower ISS. Higher rates of historical hypertension, diabetes, neurologic events, and coagulopathy were found among COVID+ patients compared with COVID- patients. D-dimer and ferritin were unreliable indicators of COVID-19 severity; however, C-reactive protein levels were higher in COVID+ relative to COVID- patients. Patients who were COVID+ had a lower median ISS compared with COVID- patients, and COVID+ patients had higher rates of mortality and longer length of stay. CONCLUSIONS:COVID+ trauma patients admitted to our two level 1 trauma centers had increased morbidity and mortality compared with admitted COVID- trauma patients despite age and lower ISS. C-reactive protein may play a role in monitoring COVID-19 activity in trauma patients. A better understanding of the physiological impact of COVID-19 on injured patients warrants further investigation.

BACKGROUND:Prejudice towards Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) people continues to decline. Despite this, LGBTQ surgeons still experience discrimination from colleagues, staff, and patients at an alarming rate. The Association of Out Surgeons and Allies (AOSA) was established to address this issue by fostering a more equitable and inclusive surgical environment. AOSA/UNASSIGNED:AOSA is a national surgical organization of LGBTQ students, trainees, faculty, and allies committed to enhancing equity in surgery through education, outreach, mentorship, and sponsorship. AOSA works in collaboration with national efforts and institutional initiatives to promote the inclusion and acceptance of LGBTQ surgeons. FUTURE DIRECTIONS/CONCLUSIONS:Achieving these goals will require a community effort of LGBTQ surgeons and allies in addition to the support of prominent academic institutions and national surgical organizations. CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer surgeons continue to face workplace discrimination. This new surgical society will help foster a supportive environment through visibility, mentorship, education, and community.

BACKGROUND:Data access through smartphone applications (apps) has reframed procedure and policy in healthcare, but its impact in trauma remains unclear. Citizen is a free app that provides real-time alerts curated from 911 dispatch data. Our primary objective was to determine whether app alerts occurred earlier than recorded times for trauma team activation and emergency department arrival. METHODS:Trauma registry entries were extracted from a level one urban trauma center from January 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019 and compared with app metadata from the center catchment area. We matched entries to metadata according to description, date, time, and location then compared metadata timestamps to trauma team activation and emergency department arrival times. We computed percentage of time the app reported traumatic events earlier than trauma team activation or emergency department arrival along with exact binomial 95% confidence interval; median differences between times were presented along with interquartile ranges. RESULTS:Of 3,684 trauma registry entries, 209 (5.7%) matched app metadata. App alerts were earlier for 96.1% and 96.2% of trauma team activation and emergency department arrival times, respectively, with events reported median 36 (24-53, IQR) minutes earlier than trauma team activation and 32 (25-42, IQR) minutes earlier than emergency department arrival. Registry entries for younger males, motor vehicle-related injuries and penetrating traumas were more likely to match alerts (P < .0001). CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:Apps like Citizen may provide earlier notification of traumatic events and therefore earlier mobilization of trauma service resources. Earlier notification may translate into improved patient outcomes. Additional studies into the benefit of apps for trauma care are warranted.

Inequity exists in surgical training and the workplace. The Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma Equity, Quality and Inclusion in Trauma Surgery Ad Hoc Task Force (EAST4ALL) sought to raise awareness and provide resources to combat these inequities.

BACKGROUND:Specialized trauma intensive care unit (TICU) care impacts patient outcomes. Few studies describe where and how TICU care is delivered. We performed an assessment of TICU structure and function at a sample of US trauma center TICUs. METHODS:This was a multicenter study in which participants supplied information about their trauma centers, staff, clinical protocols, processes of care, and study TICU (the ICU admitting the majority of trauma patients). RESULTS:Forty-five Level I trauma centers trauma centers enrolled through the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma multi-institutional trials platform; 71.1% had less than 750 beds and 55.5% treated 1,000 to 2,999 trauma activations/year. The median number of hospital ICU beds was 109 [66-185]. 46.7% were "closed" ICUs, 20% were "open," and 82.2% had mandatory intensivist consultation. 42.2% ICUs were classified as trauma (≥80% of patients were trauma), 46.7% surgical/trauma, and 11.1% medical-surgical. Trauma ICUs had a median 10 [7-12] intensivists. Intensivists were present 24 hours/day in 80% of TICUs. Centers reported a median of 8 (interquartile range [IQR], 6-10) full-time trauma surgeons, whose ICU duties comprised 25% (IQR, 20%-40%) of their clinical time and 20% (IQR, 20-33) of total work time. A median 16 (IQR, 12-23) ICU beds in use were staffed by 10 (IQR, 7-14) nurses. There was considerable variation in the number and type of protocols used and in diagnostic methods for ventilator-associated pneumonia. Daily patient care checklists were used by 80% of ICUs. While inclusion of families on rounds was performed in 91.1% of ICUs, patient- and family-centered support programs were less common. CONCLUSION:A study of structure and function of TICUs at a sample of Level I trauma centers revealed that presence of nontrauma patients was common, critical care is a significant component of trauma surgeons' professional practice, and significant variation exists in care delivery models and protocol use. Opportunities may exist to improve care through sharing of best practices. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE:Therapeutic/Care management, level IV.