IntroductionThe purpose of this meta-analysis was to explore the value of whole-body computed tomography (WBCT) in major trauma patients (MTPs).MethodsA comprehensive search for articles from Jan 1, 1980 to Dec 31, 2013 was conducted through PubMed, Cochrane Library database, China biology medical literature database, Web of knowledge, ProQuest, EBSCO, OvidSP, and ClinicalTrials.gov. Studies which compared whole-body CT with conventional imaging protocol (X-ray of the pelvis and chest, trans-abdominal sonography, and/or selective CT) in MTPs were eligible. The primary endpoint was all-cause mortality. The second endpoints included: time spent in the emergency department (ED), the duration of mechanical ventilation, ICU and hospital length of stay (LOS), the incidence of Multiple Organ Dysfunction Syndrome (MODS) /Multiple Organ Failure (MOF). Analysis was performed with Review Manager 5.2.10 and Stata 12.0.ResultsEleven trials enrolling 26371 patients were analyzed. In MTPs, the application of WBCT was associated with lower mortality rate (pooled OR: 0.66, 95% CI: 0.52 to 0.85) and a shorter stay in the ED (weighted mean difference (WMD), −27.58 min; 95% CI, −43.04 to −12.12]. There was no effect of WBCT on the length of ICU stay (WMD, 0.95 days; 95% CI: −0.08 to 1.98) and the length of hospital stay (WMD, 0.56 days; 95% CI: −0.03 to 1.15). Patients in the WBCT group had a longer duration of mechanical ventilation (WMD, 0.96 days, 95% CI: 0.32 to 1.61) and higher incidence of MODS/MOF (OR, 1.44, 95% CI: 1.35-1.54; P = 0.00001).ConclusionsThe present meta-analysis suggests that the application of whole-body CT significantly reduces the mortality rate of MTPs and markedly reduces the time spent in the emergency department.

BackgroundEarly fluid resuscitation is vital to patients with sepsis. However, the choice of fluid has been a hot topic of discussion. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether the use of albumin-containing fluids for resuscitation in patients with sepsis was associated with a decreased mortality rate.MethodsWe systematically searched PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane library for eligible randomized controlled trials (RCTs) up to March 2014. The selection of eligible studies, assessment of methodological quality, and extraction of all relevant data were conducted by two authors independently.ResultsIn total, 15 RCTs were eligible for analysis. After pooling the data, we found there was no significant effect of albumin-containing fluids on mortality in patients with sepsis of any severity (RR: 0.94, 95% CI: 0.87, 1.02 and RD: –0.01, 95% CI: –0.03, 0.01). The results were robust to subgroup analyses, sensitivity analyses and trial sequential analyses.ConclusionThe present meta-analysis did not demonstrate significant advantage of using albumin-containing fluids for resuscitation in patients with sepsis of any severity. Given the cost-effectiveness of using albumin, crystalloids should be the first choice for fluid resuscitation in septic patients.

BackgroundRDW (red cell distribution width) has been reported to been associated with the prognosis of patients with cardiovascular diseases. However, RDW is often overlooked by clinicians in treating patients with non-cardiovascular diseases, especially in an emergency. The objective of this systematic review is to explore the prognostic value of RDW in non-cardiovascular emergencies.MethodsPubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were systematically searched from their inception to December 31, 2015. We included studies examining the relationship between RDW and mortality rate by adjusting important covariables in non-cardiovascular emergencies. All included studies were divided into three groups. Group A: general critically ill patients; Group B: patients with infectious disease; Group C: other conditions. We extracted each study’ characteristics, outcomes, covariables, and other items independently.ResultsA total of 32 studies were eligible for inclusion in our meta-analysis. Six studies belonged to Group A, 9 studies belonged to Group B and 17 studies belonged to Group C. Among these included studies, RDW was assessed as a continuous variable (per 1% increase) in 16 studies, as a binary variable in 8 studies, and as a categorical variable in 8 studies. In addition, AUCs (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve) of RDW for predicting mortality were reported in 25 studies. All studies were published between 2011–2015. The qualities of included 32 studies were moderate or high.ConclusionThe present systematic review indicates that the increased RDW is significantly associated with a higher mortality rate in an non-cardiovascular emergency. The low cost and readily accessible of this laboratory variable may strengthen its usefulness in daily practice in the future.

BackgroundSepsis is a common condition that has a high mortality and morbidity that need prompt diagnosis and treatment. Biomarkers like Soluble CD14 subtype (sCD14-ST, presepsin) may be useful in identifying patients with sepsis and its diagnostic superiority has been confirmed by several preliminary studies. The aim of this study was systematically and quantitatively to evaluate the value of presepsin for the diagnosis of sepsis through the method of meta-analysis.MethodsFour major databases, including MEDLINE, EMBASE, ISI Web of Knowledge, and the Cochrane Library were systematically searched from inception to March 2015. Two investigators conducted the processes of literature search, study selection, data extraction, and quality evaluation independently. And the original data were extracted from all eligible individual studies to construct two-by-two tables.ResultsA total of eight studies comprising 1757 patients were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic odds ratio were 0.77 (95 % confidence interval [CI]: 0.75–0.80), 0.73 (95 % CI 0.69–0.77), and 14.25 (95 % CI 8.66–23.42), respectively. The summary receiver operating characteristic curve (SROC) area under the curve (AUC) was 0.8598. The subgroup analysis based on excluding the outliers showed that the pooled sensitivity and specificity were 0.85 (95 % CI 0.81–0.89) and 0.65 (95 % CI 0.59–0.70), respectively. The AUC was 0.8213 with no significant heterogeneity.ConclusionsPresepsin has moderate diagnostic capacity for the detection of sepsis. Further research of presepsin is needed before widespread use in emergency department. And presepsin in combination with other laboratory biomarkers in diagnosing sepsis may be the focus of future studies.

Purpose The study aimed to examine the changing incidence of geriatric trauma and evaluate the predictive ability of different scoring tools for in-hospital mortality in geriatric trauma patients. Methods Annual reports released by the National Trauma Database (NTDB) in the USA from 2005 to 2015 and the Trauma Register DGU® in Germany from 1994 to 2012 were analyzed to examine the changing incidence of geriatric trauma. Secondary analysis of a single-center cohort study conducted among 311 severely injured geriatric trauma patients in a level I trauma center in Switzerland was completed. According to the in-hospital survival status, patients were divided into the survival and non-survival group. The differences of the ISS (injury severity score), NISS (new injury severity score), TRISS (Trauma and Injury Severity Score), APACHE II (Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II), and SPAS II (simplified acute physiology score II) between two groups were evaluated. Then, the areas under the receiver-operating characteristic curve (AUC-ROC) of different scoring tools for the prediction of in-hospital mortality in geriatric trauma patients were calculated. Results The analysis of the NTDB showed that the increase in the number of geriatric trauma ranged from 18 to 30% between 2005 and 2015. The analysis of the DGU® showed that the mean age of trauma patients rose from 39.11 in 1993 to 51.10 in 2013, and the proportion of patients aged ≥ 60 years rose from 16.5 to 37.5%. The findings from the secondary analysis showed that 164 (52.73%) patients died in the hospital. The ISS, NISS, APACHE II, and SAPS II in the death group were significantly higher than those in the survival group, and the TRISS in the death group was significantly lower than those in the survival group. The AUCs of the ISS, NISS, TRISS, APACHE II, and SAPS II for the prediction of in-hospital mortality in geriatric trauma patients were 0.807, 0.850, 0.828, 0.715, and 0.725, respectively. Conclusion The total number of geriatric trauma is increasing as the population ages. The accuracy of ISS, NISS and TRISS was higher than the APACHE II and SAPS II for the prediction of in-hospital mortality in geriatric trauma patients.

BackgroundPulmonary embolism (PE) is a potentially life-threatening condition. Although computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) is the reference standard for diagnosis, its early diagnosis remains a challenge, and the concerns about the radiation exposures further limit the general use of CTPA. The primary aim of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the overall diagnostic accuracy of transthoracic lung ultrasound (TLS) in the diagnosis of PE.MethodsPubMed, Web of science, OvidSP, ProQuest, EBSCO, Cochrane Library and Clinicaltrial.gov were searched systematically. The quality of included studies was assessed using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 tool. The sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR), diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) and hierarchical summary receiver operating characteristic (HSROC) curves were used to examine the TS performance. The Bayes analysis was used to calculate the post-test probability of PE. Publication bias was assessed with Deeks funnel plot.ResultsThe results indicated that the sensitivity, specificity, PLR and NLR were 0.85 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.78 to 0.90), and 0.83 (95% CI, 0.73 to 0.90). And the DOR and HSROC were 28.82 (95% CI, 17.60 to 47.21), 0.91(95% CI, 0.88, 0.93).ConclusionsThe present meta-analysis suggested that transthoracic lung ultrasonography is helpful in diagnosing pulmonary embolism. Although the application of transthoracic lung ultrasound may change some patients’ diagnostic processes, it is inappropriate to generally use transthoracic ultrasonography in diagnosing pulmonary embolism currently.

The present meta-analysis suggests that the application of whole-body CT significantly reduces the mortality rate of MTPs and markedly reduces the time spent in the emergency department.

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