Biomaterial Database

Effects of changing strategies of fracture fixation on immunologic changes and systemic complications after multiple trauma: damage control orthopedic surgery. 2008

Hans-Christoph Pape

Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA. papehc@upmc.edu

In the treatment of polytrauma patients, multiple studies have shown how the timing and the type of the initial surgery of long bone fractures influence the incidence of systemic complications. Database analyses documented that unduly long surgical procedures undertaken early after trauma increase the risk of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), especially when femoral shaft fractures are stabilized. Animal research and prospective clinical studies also support the fact that the type of stabilization of a femoral shaft fracture may influence the systemic response to trauma. Reamed intramedullary reaming and nailing for a femoral shaft fracture is associated with an increased risk of pulmonary fat embolization from the medullary canal. This can result in pulmonary compromise if certain cofactors are also present. Modified reamers have been developed to reduce this side effect. The mediating effects are immunologic changes, varying according to the magnitude of the surgical procedure. Pro-inflammatory markers (e.g., Interleukins) may be used to assess the inflammatory response to injury as well as the magnitude of surgery and the systemic impact induced by surgery. Serum levels of such markers can be used clinically to tailor the amount of surgery that is performed to the clinical condition of the patient. The potentially negative impact of excessive surgery in high-risk patients can be avoided by using a new grading system for the assessment of the clinical status of the injured patient. Most recently, a large prospective randomized multicenter study has documented that this grading system is effective for identifying these borderline patients, and that in the borderline patient a staged surgical approach, such as temporary femoral stabilization with an external fixator, reduces the incidence of systemic complications. This work has changed the surgical management of multiply injured patients toward an approach that is tailored to the clinical condition of the patient, as indicated by well-defined clinical parameters as well as objective measurements of serum cytokine levels.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007378	Interleukins	Soluble factors which stimulate growth-related activities of leukocytes as well as other cell types. They enhance cell proliferation and differentiation, DNA synthesis, secretion of other biologically active molecules and responses to immune and inflammatory stimuli.	Interleukin
D009104	Multiple Trauma	Multiple physical insults or injuries occurring simultaneously.	Injuries, Multiple,Trauma, Multiple,Wounds, Multiple,Multiple Injuries,Polytrauma,Injury, Multiple,Multiple Injury,Multiple Traumas,Multiple Wound,Multiple Wounds,Polytraumas,Traumas, Multiple,Wound, Multiple
D011183	Postoperative Complications	Pathologic processes that affect patients after a surgical procedure. They may or may not be related to the disease for which the surgery was done, and they may or may not be direct results of the surgery.	Complication, Postoperative,Complications, Postoperative,Postoperative Complication
D005264	Femoral Fractures	Fractures of the femur.	Femoral Fracture,Fracture, Femoral,Fractures, Femoral
D005593	Fracture Fixation, Internal	The use of internal devices (metal plates, nails, rods, etc.) to hold the position of a fracture in proper alignment.	Osteosynthesis, Fracture,Fixation, Internal Fracture,Fixations, Internal Fracture,Fracture Fixations, Internal,Fracture Osteosyntheses,Fracture Osteosynthesis,Internal Fracture Fixation,Internal Fracture Fixations,Osteosyntheses, Fracture
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D012308	Risk Management	The process of minimizing risk to an organization by developing systems to identify and analyze potential hazards to prevent accidents, injuries, and other adverse occurrences, and by attempting to handle events and incidents which do occur in such a manner that their effect and cost are minimized. Effective risk management has its greatest benefits in application to insurance in order to avert or minimize financial liability. (From Slee & Slee: Health care terms, 2d ed)	Hospital Incident Reporting,Incident Reporting, Hospital,Hospital Incident Reportings,Incident Reporting,Incident Reportings, Hospital,Management, Risks,Reporting, Hospital Incident,Reportings, Hospital Risk,Voluntary Patient Safety Event Reporting,Hospital Risk Reporting,Hospital Risk Reportings,Incident Reportings,Management, Risk,Reporting, Hospital Risk,Reporting, Incident,Reportings, Hospital Incident,Reportings, Incident,Risk Reporting, Hospital,Risk Reportings, Hospital,Risks Management
D014193	Trauma Centers	Specialized hospital facilities which provide diagnostic and therapeutic services for trauma patients.	Trauma Units,Center, Trauma,Centers, Trauma,Trauma Center,Trauma Unit,Unit, Trauma,Units, Trauma
D014218	Triage	The sorting out and classification of patients or casualties to determine priority of need and proper place of treatment.	Triages
D016032	Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic	Works about clinical trials that involve at least one test treatment and one control treatment, concurrent enrollment and follow-up of the test- and control-treated groups, and in which the treatments to be administered are selected by a random process, such as the use of a random-numbers table.	Clinical Trials, Randomized,Controlled Clinical Trials, Randomized,Trials, Randomized Clinical