Browse Trauma Articles by Topic

Computed Tomography Scans in Pediatric Trauma

Computed tomography has become an invaluable tool for the evaluation of a pediatric trauma patient. However, there are risks associated with use of this technology, and balancing the risks and benefits is critical. The authors present a balanced approach to the appropriate use of this imaging modality in children who sustain trauma.

Intimate Partner Violence

Domestic violence and abuse is a national and global healthcare problem with massive consequences, affecting men, women, and children, which worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. Awareness, recognition, and resource allocation, in addition to trauma management, is an important aspect of emergent care of the trauma patient possibly injured in a domestic violence incident.

Ethics Skills Align with Trauma-Informed Care Principles

Ethics consults often center on traumatic situations — for patients, families, and even the clinicians who are providing treatment. Trauma-informed care transforms questions about what is wrong with someone by adding more context, such as discovering information about what happened to the patient.

Novel Bedside Procedure Improves Tracheostomy Outcomes

Nurse-driven initiative led to zero incidents of tracheostomy medical device-related pressure injuries for three years.

Hemorrhage Control in Adult and Geriatric Trauma

Death from hemorrhage may be rapid and allows the acute care practitioner a limited time frame to make critical interventions. The approach has changed drastically, and the authors provide the current tactics available to minimize blood loss until definitive hemostasis may occur.

Instituting Pediatric Readiness Standards Saves Lives

Emergency departments that fully adopted national guidelines reported lower mortality rates.

Trauma Patients at Risk for Developing Opioid Use Disorder

Better identification and referral of patients with opioid use disorder could enhance the quality and continuity of care these patients receive, while also reducing reliance on EDs and the crowding that ensues.

Working Collaboratively with Law Enforcement at Trauma Patient’s Bedside

Trauma patients and law enforcement might arrive together, raising multiple ethical issues — and a potential conflict with clinicians. While some clinicians say law enforcement should never be present on trauma units, others think law enforcement needs unfettered access. The answer likely is somewhere in the middle.

EMS Trauma Stabilization and Transport: A Comprehensive Review

It is essential that acute care providers have an awareness of the prehospital system — strengths, scope of practice, different transport modalities (strengths and limitations) — to optimize patient outcomes.

High Altitude Illness

Some patients love to challenge themselves, seeking new locations and activities, pushing themselves to perform in extreme environments. In this issue, the authors explore the physiology of altitude and the various illnesses encountered by people working and playing in the higher areas of the earth.