Traumacast

At the 2017 annual meeting of the Western Trauma Association, the US military Joint Trauma System (JTS) held the third session of a new educational program called "Case Records of the Joint Trauma System". This is a planned series of presentations where an expert panel is presented with interesting and challenging battlefield trauma cases drawn from the Department of Defense Trauma Regis...

Global surgery is gaining traction and trauma is a leading cause of mortality in Uganda.  Dr. Kevin Pei had the privilege of teaching an operative trauma and resuscitation course at Makerere University and Mulago Hospital in Kampala Uganda. In this traumacast, Dr. Pei discusses the role of global health surgery with Dr. Jackie, a senior trauma surgeon at the Mulago Hospital. Dr. Jackie discusses c...

Unfortunately, delivering bad news comes with our job as surgeons, particularly acute care surgeons. Clearly, our ability to effectively communicate with patients and their loved ones is of paramount importance, but are we all well equipped to handle the task?  In this episode, Drs. Nicole Stassen and Charity Evans share their experience and expertise on delivering bad news and end of life discuss...

Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) is an advanced modality for rescue of patients with hypoxic respiratory failure with or without associated cardiac failure, and failure to respond to conventional therapy and ventilator management. Previously, ECMO was limited to a few select centers and had scant supporting literature in adult patients for most indications. Over the past 5 years there ha...

In this episode of EAST Traumacast, we discuss the paper "Cadaveric comparison of the optimal site for needle decompression of tension pneumothorax by prehospital care providers" with author Dr. Dan Grabo and EAST reviewer Dr. Travis Polk.  The discussion highlights the changing dogma about needle decompression location -- you just might be convinced to change the way you use this techni...

This is the second episode in the series of “Case Records of the Joint Trauma System (JTS). Modern battlefield trauma care is characterized by highly complex and multi-system injury patterns, severe injuries, and care delivered in an austere and resource-constrained environment. This results in fertile ground for challenging management decisions, adverse events, suboptimal outcomes, and even preve...

The mass shooting of schoolchildren and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut shook the nation and forever altered the lives of a tight-knit community. A documentary film that focuses on the aftermath of this event is now being released, and we had the great fortune to hold a screening of this film and a post-screening discussion and Q/A session with the Director, Kim S...

Listen to the audio from our latest live EAST Town Hall Debate on a current “hot topic” in emergency general surgery, the use of laparoscopic lavage as a minimally invasive and non-resectional intervention for patients who require emergency surgery for perforated diverticulitis. Listen to our experts, Christian Jones and Tejal Brahmbhatt on the “Pro” side and Kevin Schuster and Andrew Bernard on t...

Drs. Marie Crandall and Christian Jones join moderators Dave Morris and Matt Martin to discuss what may become a landmark paper in emergency general surgery.  Imagine if general surgery diseases could be graded by severity like traumatic injuries are with AIS/ISS.  Dr. Crandall and her co-authors have published just such a severity scoring system, which holds the promise of standardizing our nomen...

Drs. James Byrne and Amy Makley join moderator Dr. Dave Morris to discuss a very compelling recent paper that looked at the safety of early DVT chemoprophylaxis (within 72 hours of injury) to late (> 72 hrs after injury).  Dr.s Byrne and Makley also discuss the protocols they use in their institutions for this difficult clinical problem and the relative lack of guidelines available to help guid...

In this episode, Drs. Carlos Brown and Lewis Kaplan discuss modern management of ARDS and hypoxic respiratory failure.  Both experts share practical and useful insight and raise important questions and controversies.  You won’t be disappointed!  Drs. Kevin Pei, Matt Martin, and Dave Morris served as moderators.                                                                                Suppleme...

In this episode of Traumacast, we interviewed Dr. Jason Smith and Dr. Ben Zarzaur about an exciting new EAST program called: Investigator Support Team Core, or INVEST-C. This program aims to leverage the considerable amount of research resources of the EAST membership in order to provide research mentorship, research design assistance, multicenter collaborations, statistical support, and editorial...

In this episode of Traumacast, we hosted an EAST roundtable discussion on firearms policy and firearm-related injury prevention. The discussion centered around the recently released EAST literature review and Practice Management Guideline on the efficacy of restrictive licensing and concealed carry laws for preventing firearm-related injuries, as well as the recent efforts of the Committee on Trau...

In this episode we discuss two issues highlighted in the August 2016 EAST Literature review concerning Pediatric Trauma: the meaning and definition of pediatric traumatic coagulopathy and what to do with an injured child with a tender c-spine and negative imaging. Drs. Barbara Gaines, David Mooney, and John Petty joing moderators Dave Morris and Matt Martin for a thought-provoking discussion that...

Election season is upon us…Drs. Schuster and Stassen (EAST president) face off with Drs. Patel and Skinner!  The experts debate the merits of cervical spine collar clearance based on CT alone in the obtunded patient.   This debate is based on the EAST 2015 PMG (link below).  Audience members called in and pressed our experts for answers to difficult questions.  Who won the debate…click “PLAY” and...

IMPORTANT NOTE: This podcast is a lead-in to an EAST Master Class online webinar on REBOA that will be held on October 6, 2016 at 5pm (Eastern Standard Time). See the link below to register. After that date, the webinar will be available on the EAST website to viewIn this episode of Traumacast, we interview Dr. Laura Moore and Dr. Elizabeth Benjamin on one of the current “hot topics” in trauma car...

At the 2016 annual meeting of the Military Health System Research Symposium, the US military Joint Trauma System (JTS) held the inaugural session of a new educational program called "Case Records of the Joint Trauma System". This is the first in a planned series of presentations where an expert panel is presented with interesting and challenging battlefield trauma cases drawn from the De...

Viscoelastic assays for assessing the coagulation system have been around for decades, but have recently seen a surge in interest and research in the trauma community. Thromboelastography (TEG) and Rotational Thromboelastometry (ROTEM) provide a real-time assessment of multiple aspects and factors involved in clot initiation, development and maturation, and then breakdown or lysis. Many trauma cen...

In this episode, we discuss an interesting study which was recently published in the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery (see link below) with the study’s lead author, Dr. Matthew Carrick, and the senior author, Dr. Kenneth Mattox.  Drs. Carrick and Mattox describe the extension of the hypotensive resuscitation paradigm beyond the trauma bay and into the operating room, as well as some detail...

Whole blood transfusion, once the norm, is once again rising to the forefront of hemorrhage resuscitation science.  In this podcast, Drs. Philip Spinella and Alan Murdock share their expert thoughts and opinions regarding the rationale for whole blood transfusion.  After listening, you just may want to start using whole blood in your hospital. Articles Referenced:Cotton BA, Podbielski J, Camp E, W...

In this traumacast, Dr. Howard Champion, EAST Founding Member and 1991 EAST President, and surgical simulation expert shares his experience and vision for simulation in surgery training.  Dr. Champion is a seasoned surgical educator, serving as Chief of Trauma at Washington Hospital Center for many years.  In 2001, he founded SimQuest, a leading simulation platform provider.  Dr. Champion not only...

The 29th EAST Annual Scientific Assembly took place January 12-16, 2016 in San Antonio, Texas. The meeting once again had record attendance, and boasted a wide array of educational, scientific, career development, and social programs. And of course - dodgeball! The EAST Traumacast was there to cover it all and bring you highlights, interviews, and summaries from this great meeting. This traumacast...

One of the most well known and attended trauma conferences in the world is the Trauma, Critical Care, and Acute Care Surgery Conference, held annually in Las Vegas. Also known as the “Mattox Meeting”, this conference attracts a large and diverse group of attendees with an interest in trauma and emergency surgical care. For the 49th annual meeting we joined forces with the “Behind the Knife” podcas...

In this EAST Traumacast, the state of Early Goal Directed Therapy is discussed with two dynamic speakers, Dr. Donald Yealy who is the lead author on the PROCESS trial , and Dr. Ruby Skinner who is a busy SICU director.  This and two other studies prompted changes in the Surviving Sepsis Campaign Guidelines.  Drs. Yealy and Skinner give insight into how early goal directed therapy has changed since...

Social media plays an increasingly important role in all aspects of personal and professional life, and can have profound impacts both positive and negative. Having a solid basic understanding of the mechanics and “rules of the game” is critical to successfully adopting and using social media. EAST as an organization has embraced social media, and for the 2016 Annual Scientific Assembly made a con...