Active clinical trials for "Abdominal Injuries"

Damage control laparotomy (DCL) is a life saving maneuver used with success in trauma and acute general surgery patients. The technique involves source control of sepsis and hemorrhage with an abbreviated laparotomy. In other words, the surgical procedure is cut short to allow for resuscitation in the ICU after the immediately life threatening pathology is treated. Planned re-exploration is then performed within 24-48 hours. It is at this procedure that the injuries are reconstructed. This technique, unfortunately, has several complications implicit with its use including wound infection, enterocutaneous fistula formation, and intra-abdominal abscess development.[1] Additionally, in patients whom primary fascial closure is not achieved, extensive abdominal wall reconstruction will be required in 6-12 months. The key for preventing these complications is definitive closure of the abdominal fascia, however, 10-50% of patients will have a planned ventral hernia with an open abdominal wound at dismissal [1,2] Proven methods for decreasing the rate of planned ventral hernia utilize tension in the midline to counter the effects of lateral abdominal muscular retraction.[3,4,5] Despite these improvements, however, the planned ventral hernia rate continues to be substantial.[2] Botulinum toxin a (BTX) is an FDA approved neuron modulating agent which has been used extensively in cosmetic, motor and pain disorders over the past 20 years [6,7]. The toxin blocks acetylcholine and pain modulator release (calcitonin gene related peptide and substance P) from the pre-synaptic cholinergic nerve terminal. The peptides are unable to bind at their motor end plate receptors through a process that cleaves proteins involved in the transport protein cascade. This results in flaccid paralysis and neuromodulation of the abdominal wall muscles resulting in reduced lateral tension and pain. Theoretically, this could increase the rates of primary fascial closure, improve pain sensation, decrease the rate of complications associated with open abdomens all while lowering the costs and need for future abdominal wall reconstruction.

Fluid overload (FO), resulting from high volume fluid therapy, is frequent and contributes to excessive visceral edema, delayed fascial closure, and adverse outcomes among postinjury open abdomen (OA) patients. Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) is a promising tool in monitoring fluid status and FO. Thus, we sought to investigate the efficacy of BIA-directed resuscitation among postinjury OA patients.

The surgical management of penetrating bowel and intestinal injuries, inflicted via a gunshot or knife stabbing, has long been a topic of debate [1-3]. The surgical management principally consists of: (i) primary repair; (ii) primary diversion or (iii) an initial abbreviated so called "damage control" operation followed by a definitive surgical intervention once the patient is stabilized [4-9] . Different classifications systems have been proposed to help determine the best operative option [2,3,10-14], but intestinal injuries can be difficult to manage and despite improvements in the diagnostics and treatment of penetrating abdominal trauma, high mortality and morbidity rates are prevalent [15,16]. In order to determine the correct surgical option an accurate determination of intestinal viability is essential. But clinically assessing regional perfusion is challenging and surgeons' clinical risk assessment of anastomotic leaks have shown a low predictive value [17]. Hence, there is a need for more precise diagnostic tool helping the surgeon in assessing intestinal viability the extent of intestinal injury. Indocyanine green (ICG) fluorescence angiography (ICG-FA) is an applied method for to assessing visceral perfusion worldwide. The obtained fluorescent signal after intravenous injection, is considered proportional to blood flow, thus aiding the surgeon to detect and address inadequate regional perfusion, despite satisfactory macroscopic appearance, intraoperatively [18-21]. Hence, the use of perioperative ICG-FA, has reduced the risk of anastomotic leaks after esophageal and colorectal surgery [22-25] and in the setting of acute mesenteric ischemia, significantly reduced the extent of intestinal resection [26]. In retrospective review of 186 war related trauma cases the use of ICG-FA was deemed useful however only 9 of these cases were truncal/abdomen/gastrointestinal and no objective definition of usability was provided [27]. Hence, data on the usability and feasibility of ICG-FA for in penetrating abdominal trauma is limited and to our knowledge has not been investigate in a civilian population previously. The present study aimed to investigate the usability and feasibility of ICG-FA in patients undergoing open abdominal exploration for penetrating abdominal trauma

The major goal of this project is to conduct a randomized controlled trial studying an initial evaluation strategy with abdominal ultrasound versus a strategy without abdominal ultrasound for the evaluation of children with blunt abdominal trauma. The proposal's objectives are to compare the following variables in those that randomize to abdominal ultrasound versus those that do not: rate of abdominal CT scanning time to emergency department disposition the rate of missed/delayed diagnosis of intra-abdominal injury the costs.

This study aims to assess the efficacy of a custom fitted device designed to isolate enteroatmospheric fistulas effluent independent of negative pressure wound therapy and to evaluate the effects on the device related to dressing changes, time required for dressing changes, management costs, and the ease of use.

Abdominal penetrating trauma represents a frequent cause of consult into emergency rooms in Venezuela. Accidents and violence at Hospital "Miguel Perez Carreño" along april 2009 were represented by gunshots and stabbing wounds which 8th. and 18th cause for medical attention respectively within a total of 76 cases. Likewise gunshot wounds reach the first cause of morbility into general surgery services with 21 cases and the stabbing wounds the 12th cause with 12 cases within the same period. Early therapy is defined as the antibiotic dose administrated within the first 12 hours after the trauma. Abdominal cavity contamination by micro-organism is not synonymous of stablished infection, the extension of contamination and intensity of reaction should be enough in order to allow the inflammatory focus developing. Abdominal cavity needs at least 12 - 24 hours of exposure to the infectious material to allow the stablishment of such infection. Origin and amount of contaminant material influence the size of inoculated bacteria and the speed that infection develops. There is not an absolute criteria to determine when intrabdominal contamination progress to an established infection. Surgeons decides the must adequated therapy according to clinical history, radiology tests and findings during surgery. Selected patients for early antibiotic therapy in penetrating abdominal trauma includes those with traumatic intestinal wounds with less than 12 hours of evolution and those with gastroduodenal wounds lesser than 24 hours as well. There are different antibiotics indicated for intrabdominal infections. Ertapenem is a low resistance carbapenem with a broad spectrum into microbial flora presenting in penetrating abdominal trauma. Its media life and blood therapeutic levels allows the use of an unique dose within the first 24 hours of trauma. This research protocol has been designed according to established patterns for clinical investigation and our goal is to achieve criteria in decision making about antibiotic administration in patients with penetrating abdominal trauma and evaluate the security of an Early short term antibiotic therapy with Ertapenem 3 days vs 7 days, decreasing hospital costs related to indiscriminate use of antibiotics.

The aim of this clinical trial is to evaluate the concordance of diagnosis of injuries in thoracoabdominal trauma using two different echographic methods. The first method is a robot-based tele-echography performed by radiologists in a remote location. The second is bedside echography performed by emergency physicians according to the FAST (Focussed Assessment by Sonography of Trauma) examination.

This study proposes to evaluate the accuracy of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in diagnosing abdominal solid organ injuries in pediatric patients. 146 subjects will be enrolled across approximately 8 sites in the US. All subjects will have had a Computerized Tomography (CT) scan as part of standard of care, confirming at least one solid organ abdominal injury. All subjects will have an abdominal ultrasound without contrast, followed by a contrast-enhanced ultrasound using the contrast agent Lumason. Ultrasound and contrast-enhanced ultrasound results will be compared to the CT scan results. The study procedures will take place within 48 hours of injury.

Exploratory laparotomy has been traditionally used for managing penetrating abdominal trauma (PAT). Currently, minimally invasive surgery (for diagnosis and treatment purposes) is a well-established and rapidly growing modality for dealing with penetrating abdominal trauma in stable children. Herein, we aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and outcomes and emphasize the importance of timely intervention by minimally invasive surgery for PAT possessing the potential to violate the peritoneum in stable pediatric victims. This prospective study was carried out on 102 hemodynamically stable pediatric cases with highly suspicious penetrating abdominal trauma (caused by gunshot, stab, & accidental stab), admitted and managed by minimally invasive surgery (laparoscopy & laparoscopic-assisted procedures). Information recorded for analysis included demographic data, anatomical location of injury, organs affected, operative findings, operative time, need for conversion to laparoscopic-assisted approach, length of stay, complications, missed injury, and mortality rate. A total of 102 pediatric cases with highly suspicious penetrating abdominal trauma (PAT) were managed by minimally invasive surgery (MIS). They were 62 males and 40 females with mean age of 7.3±0.6 years (range, 1-14 years). They included 39 cases of gunshot, 30 cases of stab abdomen, and 33 cases of accidental stab. In this study, there was 100% accuracy in defining the injured organs with zero percent missed injuries in addition to effective therapeutic potential as regard the role of minimally invasive surgery in management of penetrating abdominal trauma in children. Type of Study: Prospective cohort study

The role of teleradiology has far reaching implications for the health of remote and underserved populations. The ability to coordinate radiographic evaluation and diagnosis from a distance has the potential to raise the standard of patient care throughout the world. Perhaps the safest and most cost effective mode of teleradiology today is telesonography. The current project attempts to determine the extent that telesonography improves the standard of care within a rural government-run primary clinic within the Dominican Republic. The work reported herein is intended to compare the use of telesonography to the current standard of sonographic examination (referral to government hospital 60km from target clinic). The study was conducted by randomly assigning 100 patients with clinical indications for sonographic examination into experimental and control groups. Following a 60-day implementation period, the following research questions will be addressed: 1) To what extent does the use of asynchronous telesonography increase the percentage of definitive diagnoses based on the total number of scans (definitive diagnoses / total number of scans)? 2) To what extent does the use of asynchronous telesonography increase the continuity of care for patients? 3) To what extent does the elapsed time between scanning and final radiological interpretation decrease with the use of asynchronous telesonography? This study will also look at the history of telemedicine / telesonography and its dissemination into the mainstream practice of medicine, explore training protocols that may be used to assist others to establish new telesonography programs in a developing nations, and discuss both advances and persistent barriers to the implementation of telesonography programs. Hypothesis: The use of a store-and-forward telesonography system in this setting will increase the speed and number of final diagnoses per scan received by the target clinic and will increase the continuity of care by increasing the number and speed of follow-up appointments to the target clinic.