Faculty Bibliography

Introduction: The dramatic spread of COVID-19 in March 2020 threatened to overwhelm ICU capacity. At the peak we had more than 120 patients in the ICU. About 40% of the ICU patients required RRT due to AKI. Our ability to provide RRT with CVVH and IHD was severely limited by critical shortages of equipment and personnel. We rapidly established an acute PD program at Bellevue hospital for AKI patients. The acute PD program turned out to be instrumental in the BH response to COVID AKI. Case Description: Patients All patients who needed RRT in the ICU were eligible to receive PD catheters except for those with prior abdominal surgery. 36/38 patients who received catheters were Covid (+). Proning was not always planned; we did not use this as a contraindication. We were able to successfully perform adequate PD on patients who were proned with minimal complications. Surgical Support Catheters were placed using a limited cut down to the peritoneal membrane through the rectus muscle at bedside; most of the patients were intubated and sedated. Training and Initial Experience A nurse affiliated with Bellevue's outpatient dialysis unit helped make videos and trained the lead nephrologist on how to perform PD and how to use a Cycler. 25 people were on the PD team and we were able to provide exchanges 24 hours per day. Exchanges were initially performed manually every 1-2 hours. Eventually we acquired 18 cyclers which greatly eased the workload. Outcomes As of May 8, 2020 63 patients were evaluated, 38 PD catheters were placed with 35 used for exchanges. 2 patients had catheters placed but recovered renal function prior to starting PD. 1/38 was nonfunctioning and changed to IHD. 15/35 survived >30 days; 8 recovered renal function; 20 expired <30 days.
Discussion(s): Because of the shortage of our typically used dialysis modalities we were compelled to start an acute PD program. No patient on PD required additional dialytic support with IHD or CVVH. PD was well tolerated by ventilated patients with hemodynamic instability. Acute PD more than adequately filled the gap in treatment options during this unprecedented crisis

Introduction: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) represents a significant source of morbidity after traumatic brain injury (TBI). The safety and timing of VTE chemoprophylaxis after TBI remain a concern, given the risk of intracranial hemorrhage progression. We evaluated the safety of anti-factor Xa assay-guided dosing for chemoprophylaxis in adult TBI patients. We hypothesized that Xa assay-guided chemoprophylaxis would be safe compared with fixed-dosing.
Method(s): An observational analysis of adult TBI patients was performed at a Level I trauma center from August 2016 to September 2017. Patients in the assay-guided group received an initial enoxaparin dose of 0.5 mg/kg, with peak anti-factor Xa activity measured 4 hours after the third dose. Prophylactic range was defined as 0.2 to 0.5 IU/mL with dose adjustment of +/-10 mg based on the assay result. The assay-guided group compared with historical fixed-dose controls, and a TBI cohort from the most recent Trauma Quality Improvement Program data set.
Result(s): Of the 179 patients included in the study, 85 patients were in the assay-guided group and 94 were in the fixed-dose group. Relative to the fixed-dose group, the assay-guided group had a lower Glasgow Coma Scale score and higher Injury Severity Score (Table). The proportion of severe (Abbreviated Injury Scale head >=4) TBI, intracranial hemorrhage progression, and VTE rates were similar between groups. However, the assay-guided group had chemoprophylaxis initiated earlier and had a higher percentage of low molecular weight heparin use relative to the Trauma Quality Improvement Program sample.
Conclusion(s): Early initiation of low molecular weight heparin anti-factor Xa assay-guided VTE prophylaxis is safe in TBI patients. These findings should be validated prospectively in a multicenter study. [Figure presented]
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BACKGROUND:A federal assault weapons ban has been proposed as a way to reduce mass shootings in the U.S. (U.S). The Federal Assault Weapons Ban (A.W.B.) of 1994 made the manufacture and civilian use of a defined set of automatic and semi-automatic weapons and large capacity magazines illegal. The ban expired in 2004. The period from 1994 to 2004 serves as a single-arm pre-post observational study to assess the effectiveness of this policy intervention. METHODS:Mass shooting data for 1981 to 2017 were obtained from three well-documented, referenced, and open-source sets of data, based on media reports. We calculated the yearly rates of mass shooting fatalities as a proportion of total firearm homicide deaths and per U.S. POPULATION/METHODS:We compared the 1994-2004 federal ban period to non-ban periods, using simple linear regression models for rates and a Poison model for counts with a year variable to control for trend. The relative effects of the ban period were estimated with odds ratios. RESULTS:Assault rifles accounted for 430 or 85.8% of the total 501 mass-shooting fatalities reported (95% CI 82.8, 88.9) in 44 mass-shooting incidents. Mass shootings in the U.S. accounted for an increasing proportion of all firearm-related homicides (coefficient for year = 0.7, p = 0.0003), with increment in year alone capturing over a third of the overall variance in the data (Adjusted R-squared = 0.3). In a linear regression model controlling for yearly trend, the federal ban period was associated with a statistically significant 9 fewer mass shooting related deaths per 10,000 firearm homicides (p = 0.03). Mass-shooting fatalities were 70% less likely to occur during the federal ban period (Relative Rate = 0.30, 95% CI 0.22,0.39). CONCLUSIONS:Mass-shooting related homicides in the U.S. were reduced during the years of the federal assault weapons ban of 1994 to 2004. STUDY TYPE/METHODS:Observational LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III/IV.

INTRODUCTION: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a common morbidity in trauma patients. Standard chemical VTE prophylaxis is often inadequate. We hypothesized that using weight-based dosing would result in appropriate prophylaxis more frequently than fixed dosing.
METHOD(S): All patients admitted to a Level I trauma service during a 6-month period were included unless contraindications for VTE prophylaxis existed. A prospective weight-based enoxa-parin dosing group was compared with a retrospective uniform-dosing group. The weight-based dosage was 0.5 mg/kg subcutaneous q12 hours rounded to the nearest 10 mg. Peak anti-factor Xa activity was measured and patients who fell outside of the prophylactic range had their dose adjusted by +/- 10 mg q12 hours. The uniform dosing group received 30 mg subcutaneous q12 hours, and did not receive dose adjustments. Data were analyzed using Pearson's correlation and Fisher's exact test, as appropriate.
RESULT(S): Eighty-three patients were included in the study. Significantly more patients in the uniform-dosing group were sub-therapeutically anti-coagulated vs the weight-based group. In the uniform dosing group, anti-Xa level correlated with body surface area (BSA) (1C = 0.24, p = 0.0010) and weight. Weight-based dosing both pre-and post-readjustment normalized the correlation of anti-Xa with BSA (ic=0.049, p = 0.18) and weight (Figure).
CONCLUSION(S): Weight-based VTE prophylaxis with anti-Xa-based dose adjustment improves the rate of appropriate prophylaxis relative to uniform dosing and eliminates variances secondary to BSA and weight in trauma patients

BACKGROUND:Between 1990 and 2003, there were 668 subway-related fatalities in New York City. However, subway-related trauma remains an understudied area of injury-related morbidity and mortality. OBJECTIVE:The objective of this study was to characterize the injuries and events leading up to the injuries of all patients admitted after subway-related trauma. METHODS:We conducted a retrospective case series of subway-related trauma at a Level I trauma center from 2001 to 2016. Descriptive epidemiology of patient demographics, incident details, injuries, and outcomes were analyzed. RESULTS:Over 15 years, 254 patients were admitted for subway-related trauma. The mean (standard error of the mean) age was 41 (1.0) years, 80% were male (95% confidence interval [CI] 74-84%) and median Injury Severity Score was 14 (interquartile range [IQR] 5-24). The overall case-fatality rate was 10% (95% CI 7-15%). The most common injuries were long-bone fractures, intracranial hemorrhage, and traumatic amputations. Median length of stay was 6 days (IQR 1-18 days). Thirty-seven percent of patients required surgical intervention. At the time of injury, 55% of patients (95% CI 49-61%) had a positive urine drug or alcohol screen, 16% (95% CI 12-21%) were attempting suicide, and 39% (95% CI 33-45%) had a history of psychiatric illness. CONCLUSIONS:Subway-related trauma is associated with a high case-fatality rate. Alcohol or drug intoxication and psychiatric illness can increase the risk of this type of injury.

In the United States in 2013, nearly 500,000 bicyclists were injured and required emergency department care. The objectives of this study were to describe the types of injuries which urban bicyclists sustain, to analyze the number and type of surgeries required, and to better delineate the services providing care. This is an observational study of injured bicyclists presenting to a Level I trauma center between February 2012 and August 2014. Most data were collected within 24 hours of injury and included demographics, narrative description of the incident, results of initial imaging studies, Injury Severity Score, admission status, length of stay, surgical procedure, and admitting and discharging service. A total of 706 injured bicyclists were included in the study, and 187 bicyclists (26.4%) required hospital admission. Of those admitted, 69 (36.8%) required surgery. There was no difference in gender between those who required surgery and those who did not (P = 0.781). Those who required surgery were older (mean age 39.1 vs 34.1, P = 0.003). Patients requiring surgery had higher Abbreviated Injury Scores for head (P