High rates of injury recidivism in trauma patients increase the likelihood of multiple blood transfusions during their lifetime. Rh- patients who receive Rh+ blood are at risk of developing anti-Rh antibodies, putting them at risk for HTR. The conservation of Rh- blood for use in female patients may be detrimental to Rh- male patients. Laboratory diagnostic criteria for HTR are nonspecific in the trauma population and should be used with caution.
Survival in pulseless traumatic arrest is very low, but survival for patients with no cardiac motion on ultrasound is also exceedingly rare. Cardiac ultrasound had a negative predictive value approaching 100% for survival to hospital admission. For patients with prolonged prehospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation, ultrasound evaluation of cardiac motion in pulseless patients with trauma may be a rapid way to help determine which patients have no chance of survival in the setting of lethal injuries, so that futile resuscitations can be stopped.
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