Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31245612›Full record

ArticleTrauma surgery & acute care open2019

Damage control or definitive repair? A retrospective review of abdominal trauma at a major trauma center in South Africa.

Ross Weale, Victor Kong, Johan Buitendag, Abraham Ras, Joanna Blodgett, Grant Laing, John Bruce, Wanda Bekker, Vassil Manchev, Damian Clarke

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Trauma surgery & acute care open, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.7field-weighted citation impact, top 15% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 20 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. A decade long overview of damage control laparotomy for abdominal gunshot wounds.European journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society · 2024
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. A characterization of trauma laparotomies in a scandinavian setting: an observational study.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2022
    Observational
  6. Article
  7. Observational
  8. Article
  9. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.

Ross WealeDepartment of Surgery, North Western Deanery, Manchester, United Kingdom.ORCID 0000-0001-9296-527X
Victor KongDepartment of Surgery, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Johan BuitendagDepartment of Surgery, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa.
Abraham RasDepartment of Surgery, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa.
Joanna BlodgettDepartment of Epidemiology, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
Grant LaingDepartment of Surgery, University of KwaZulu Natal, Durban, South Africa.
John BruceDepartment of Surgery, University of KwaZulu Natal, Durban, South Africa.
Wanda BekkerDepartment of Surgery, University of KwaZulu Natal, Durban, South Africa.
Vassil ManchevDepartment of Surgery, University of KwaZulu Natal, Durban, South Africa.
Damian ClarkeDepartment of Surgery, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
University of KwaZulu-Natal · ZAStellenbosch University · ZAUniversity of the Witwatersrand · ZAHealth Education North West · GBUniversity College London · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThis study set out to review a large series of trauma laparotomies from a single center and to compare those requiring damage control surgery (DCS) with those who did not, and then to interrogate a number of anatomic and physiologic scoring systems to see which best predicted the need for DCS.

methodsAll patients over the age of 15 years undergoing a laparotomy for trauma during the period from December 2012 to December 2017 were retrieved from the Hybrid Electronic Medical Registry (HEMR) at the Pietermaritzburg Metropolitan Trauma Service (PMTS), South Africa. They were divided into two cohorts, namely the DCS and non-DCS cohort, based on what was recorded in the operative note. These groups were then compared in terms of demographics and spectrum of injury, as well as clinical outcome. The following scores were worked out for each patient: Penetrating Abdominal Trauma Index (PATI), Injury Severity Score, Abbreviated Injury Scale-abdomen, and Abbreviated Injury Scale-chest.

resultsA total of 562 patients were included, and 99 of these (18%) had a DCS procedure versus 463 (82%) non-DCS. The mechanism was penetrating trauma in 81% of cases (453 of 562). A large proportion of trauma victims were male (503 of 562, 90%), with a mean age of 29.5±10.8. An overall mortality rate of 32% was recorded for DCS versus 4% for non-DCS (p<0.001). In general patients requiring DCS had higher lactate, and were more acidotic, hypotensive, tachycardic, and tachypneic, with a lower base excess and lower bicarbonate, than patients not requiring DCS. The most significant organ injuries associated with DCS were liver and intra-abdominal vascular injury. The only organ injury consistently predictive across all models of the need for DCS was liver injury. Regression analysis showed that only the PATI score is significantly predictive of the need for DCS (p=0.044). A final multiple logistic regression model demonstrated a pH <7.2 to be the most predictive (p=0.001) of the need for DCS.

conclusionDCS is indicated in a subset of severely injured trauma patients. A pH <7.2 is the best indicator of the need for DCS. Anatomic injuries in themselves are not predictive of the need for DCS. LEVELS OF EVIDENCE: Level III.

Indexed as

critical caredamage controllaparotomytrauma

Identifiers

PMID31245612
PMCPMC6560474
OpenAlexW2935846438

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.