BACKGROUND:The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a statewide stay-at-home (SAH) order in California beginning March 19, 2020, forcing large-scale behavioral changes and taking an emotional and economic toll. The effects of SAH orders on the trauma population remain unknown. We hypothesized an increase in rates of penetrating trauma, gunshot wounds, suicide attempts, and domestic violence in the Southern California trauma population after the SAH order. METHODS:A multicenter retrospective analysis of all trauma patients presenting to 11 American College of Surgeons levels I and II trauma centers spanning seven counties in California was performed. Demographic data, injury characteristics, clinical data, and outcomes were collected. Patients were divided into three groups based on injury date: before SAH from

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) originally emerged from China and has since spread globally, with almost 14 million confirmed cases and more than 260 000 deaths in the US as of December 1, 2020. 1 To date, there have been regional reports on outcomes among patients who developed serious symptoms requiring hospitalization. [2][3][4][5] The objectives of our study were to examine the characteristics and outcomes among adults hospitalized with COVID-19 at US medical centers and analyze changes in mortality over the initial 6-month period of the pandemic. MethodsThe data for this cohort study were obtained from the Vizient clinical database (Clinical Data Base/ Resource Manager), which is an administrative, clinical, and financial database of more than 650 academic centers and their affiliates from 47 US states. Approval for the use of the data was obtained from Vizient and from the institutional review board of the University of California, Irvine, as exempted status because patient data are deidentified. This study followed the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) reporting guideline. Discharge records of adults 18 years or older who had received a diagnosis of COVID-19 and were admitted to the hospital between March 1 and August 31, 2020, were reviewed. Patients with COVID-19 were identified using International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision code U07.1. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality, which was analyzed according to the month of admission and age group and in a subgroup of patients requiring intensive care unit (ICU) admission. Secondary outcomes included length of hospital stay, length of ICU stay, and median cost of ICU stay vs non-ICU stay. Survival probabilities by length of stay were plotted according to month of admission and patient age group. The Cochran-Armitage test was used to assess the linear trend in mortality proportions over time. Statistical significance was set at α = .05 for 2-sided P values. Analyses were performed using Stata, version 16 (StataCorp LLC). Results Among 192 550 adults hospitalized with COVID-19 who were discharged from 555 US medical centers, 101 089 (52.5%) were men, 83 567 (43.3%) were White, and 125 543 (65.2%) had Medicare or Medicaid insurance. The most common comorbidities included hypertension (118 418 [61.5%]), diabetes (73 939 [38.4%]), and obesity (52 759 [27.4%]).Of patients in this cohort, 55 593 (28.9%) were admitted to the ICU, 26 221 (13.6%) died during the index hospitalization, and 5839 (3.0%) were transferred to hospice care (Table ). In-hospital mortality increased in association with increasing age; 179 of 12 644 patients (1.4%) aged 18 to 29 years died, and 8277 of 31 135 patients (26.6%) 80 years or older died. Of the patients admitted to the ICU, 15 431 of 55 593 (27.8%) died (Figure , A). The median hospital length of stay among patients who were not admitted to the ICU was 6 days (interquartile range [IQR], 3-8 days), with a median

BACKGROUND:Outcomes following pancreatic trauma have not improved significantly over the past two decades. A 2013 Western Trauma Association algorithm highlighted emerging data that might improve the diagnosis and management of high-grade pancreatic injuries (HGPIs; grades III-V). We hypothesized that the use of magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography, pancreatic duct stenting, operative drainage versus resection, and nonoperative management of HGPIs increased over time. METHODS:Multicenter retrospective review of diagnosis, management, and outcomes of adult pancreatic injuries from 2010 to 2018 was performed. Data were analyzed by grade and time period (PRE, 2010(PRE, -2013 POST, 2014 POST, -2018 using various statistical tests where appropriate. RESULTS:Thirty-two centers reported data on 515 HGPI patients. A total of 270 (53%) had penetrating trauma, and 58% went directly to the operating room without imaging. Eighty-nine (17%) died within 24 hours. Management and outcomes of 426 24-hour survivors were evaluated. Agreement between computed tomography and operating room grading was 38%. Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography use doubled in grade IV/V injuries over time but was still low.Overall HGPI treatment and outcomes did not change over time. Resection was performed in 78% of grade III injuries and remained stable over time, while resection of grade IV/V injuries trended downward (56% to 39%, p = 0.11). Pancreas-related complications (PRCs) occurred more frequently in grade IV/V injuries managed with drainage versus resection (61% vs. 32%, p = 0.0051), but there was no difference in PRCs for grade III injuries between resection and drainage.Pancreatectomy closure had no impact on PRCs. Pancreatic duct stenting increased over time in grade IV/V injuries, with 76% used to treat PRCs. CONCLUSION:Intraoperative and computed tomography grading are different in the majority of HGPI cases. Resection is still used for most patients with grade III injuries; however, drainage may be a noninferior alternative. Drainage trended upward for grade IV/V injuries, but the higher rate of PRCs calls for caution in this practice.

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BACKGROUND:Despite the widespread institution of modern massive transfusion protocols with balanced blood product ratios, survival for patients with traumatic hemorrhage receiving ultramassive transfusion (UMT) (defined as ≥20 U of packed red blood cells [RBCs]) in 24 hours) remains low and resource consumption remains high. Therefore, we aimed to identify factors associated with mortality in trauma patients receiving UMT in the modern resuscitation era. METHODS:An Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma multicenter retrospective study of 461 trauma patients from 17 trauma centers who received ≥20 U of RBCs in 24 hours was performed (2014)(2015)(2016)(2017)(2018)(2019). Multivariable logistic regression and Classification and Regression Tree analysis were used to identify clinical characteristics associated with mortality. RESULTS:The 461 patients were young (median age, 35 years), male (82%), severely injured (median Injury Severity Score, 33), in shock (median shock index, 1.2; base excess, −9), and transfused a median of 29 U of RBCs, 22 U of fresh frozen plasma (FFP), and 24 U of platelets (PLT). Mortality was 46% at 24 hours and 65% at discharge. Transfusion of RBC/FFP ≥1.5:1 or RBC/PLT ≥1.5:1 was significantly associated with mortality, most pronounced for the 18% of patients who received both RBC/PLT and RBC/FFP ≥1.5:1 (odds ratios, 3.11 and 2.81 for mortality at 24 hours and discharge; both p < 0.01). Classification and Regression Tree identified that age older than 50 years, low initial Glasgow Coma Scale, thrombocytopenia, and resuscitative thoracotomy were associated with low likelihood of survival (14-26%), while absence of these factors was associated with the highest survival (71%). CONCLUSION:Despite modern massive transfusion protocols, one half of trauma patients receiving UMT are transfused with either RBC/FFP or RBC/PLT in unbalanced ratios ≥1.5:1, with increased associated mortality. Maintaining focus on balanced ratios during UMT is critical, and consideration of advanced age, poor initial mental status, thrombocytopenia, and resuscitative thoracotomy can aid in prognostication.

BACKGROUND This study aimed to evaluate the patterns of firearm violence against children before and after the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the patterns of specific types of firearm violence against children over time (2016–2020). METHODS Retrospective firearm violence data were obtained from the Gun Violence Archive. The rate of firearm violence was weighted per 100,000 children. A scatterplot was created to depict the rate of total annual child-involved shooting incidents over time; with a linear trendline fit to 2016 to 2019 data to show projected versus actual 2020 firearm violence. All 50 states were categorized into either “strong gun law” (n = 25) or “weak gun law” (n = 25) cohorts. Multivariate linear regressions were performed for number of child-involved shootings over time. RESULTS There were a total of 1,076 child-involved shootings in 2020, 811 in 2019, and 803 in 2018. The median total child-involved shooting incidents per month per 100,000 children increased from 2018 to 2020 (0.095 vs. 0.124, p = 0.003) and from 2019 to 2020 (0.097 vs. 0.124, p = 0.010). Child killed by adult incidents also increased in 2020 compared with 2018 ( p = 0.024) and 2019 ( p = 0.049). The scatterplot demonstrates that total child-involved shootings in addition to both fatal and nonfatal firearm violence incidents exceeded the projected number of incidents extrapolated from 2016 to 2019 data. Multivariate linear regression demonstrated that, compared with weak gun law states, strong gun law states were associated with decreased monthly total child-involved shooting incidents between 2018 and 2020 ( p < 0.001), as well as between 2019 and 2020 ( p < 0.001). CONCLUSION Child-involved shooting incidents increased significantly in 2020 surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. Given that gun law strength was associated with a decreased rate of monthly child-involved firearm violence, public health and legislative efforts should be made to protect this vulnerable population from exposure to firearms. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Epidemiological, level III.

BACKGROUND:Blunt traumatic abdominal wall hernias (TAWH) occur in approximately 15,000 patients per year. Limited data are available to guide the timing of surgical intervention or the feasibility of nonoperative management. METHODS:A retrospective study of patients presenting with blunt TAWH from January 2012 through December 2018 was conducted. Patient demographic, surgical, and outcomes data were collected from 20 institutions through the Western Trauma Association Multicenter Trials Committee. RESULTS:Two hundred and eighty-one patients with TAWH were identified. One hundred and seventy-six (62.6%) patients underwent operative hernia repair, and 105 (37.4%) patients underwent nonoperative management. Of those undergoing surgical intervention, 157 (89.3%) were repaired during the index hospitalization, and 19 (10.7%) underwent delayed repair. Bowel injury was identified in 95 (33.8%) patients with the majority occurring with rectus and flank hernias (82.1%) as compared with lumbar hernias (15.8%). Overall hernia recurrence rate was 12.0% (n = 21). Nonoperative patients had a higher Injury Severity Score (24.4 vs. 19.4, p = 0.010), head Abbreviated Injury Scale score (1.1 vs. 0.6, p = 0.006), and mortality rate (11.4% vs. 4.0%, p = 0.031). Patients who underwent late repair had lower rates of primary fascial repair (46.4% vs. 77.1%, p = 0.012) and higher rates of mesh use (78.9% vs. 32.5%, p < 0.001).Recurrence rate was not statistically different between the late and early repair groups (15.8% vs. 11.5%, p = 0.869). CONCLUSION:This report is the largest series and first multicenter study to investigate TAWHs. Bowel injury was identified in over 30% of TAWH cases indicating a significant need for immediate laparotomy. In other cases, operative management may be deferred in specific patients with other life-threatening injuries, or in stable patients with concern for bowel injury. Hernia recurrence was not different between the late and early repair groups.

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