April 6th, 2023: @Twitter has been randomly shutting down API access for many apps and sadly we were affected today too. Hopefully we will be restored soon! We appreciate your patience until then.
➡️ There are ~ 5.8 million trauma deaths per year globally
➡️ Trauma is the largest cause of death below the age of 50
➡️ One-third of severely injured trauma patients are coagulopathic at hospital arrival
➡️ Fibrinogen is often used, but is it effective?
a short 🧵
1/10
➡️ Trauma-induced coagulopathy is due to inflammation & shock
➡️ It is worsened by hypothermia, acidosis, and hemodilution
➡️ Coagulopathy due to hemorrhage is strongly associated with mortality
➡️ 1/3 of early trauma deaths are due to uncontrolled haemorrhage
2/10
➡️ Fibrinogen is depleted early during major bleeding
➡️ It can be replaced with fresh frozen plasma, cryoprecipitate or fibrinogen concentrate
➡️ Cryoprecipitate includes fibrinogen, factor VIII coagulant, von Willebrand factor, fibronectin & factor XIII
3/10
➡️ Despite physiological rationale for fibrinogen in traumatic haemorrhage, an evidence gap exists
➡️ Observational data are promising, but subject to confounding
➡️ RCTs of cryoprecipitate are feasibility orientated
➡️ Fibrinogen concentrate studies have been disappointing
4/10
➡️ Despite this, the latest 2023 European trauma haemorrhage guidelines recommends its use for
🔴 initial haemostatic support
🔴 major bleeding accompanied by hypofibrinogenemia
5/10
➡️ Could fibrinogen supplementation divert focus from other more effective therapies?
➡️ Is it a cost effective practice?
➡️ What is its role in the management of the severely injured trauma patient?
6/10
🚩 Enter the CRYOSTAT-2 trial
➡️ Randomised & controlled
➡️ Early cryoprecipitate in severe traumatic haemorrhage
➡️ 3 pools (15 units – 6g fibrinogen) of cryoprecipitate
➡️ 1568 adult trauma patients
➡️ Powered for a 7% 28 day mortality difference (26% to 19%)
7/10
➡️ Join us in @TitanicBelfast to hear @karimbrohi present the results of the @CRYOSTAT_2 trial at #CCR23
➡️ Will we be using cryoprecipitate routinely for all patients with major traumatic haemorrhage?
➡️ Death has always fascinated human civilisations
➡️ Not just the ending of a life, but either preparation for the afterlife or attempts to restore an existing life
A 🧵
1/28
➡️ Ancient Egyptians preserved corpses via mummification for an afterlife
➡️ They removed internal organs, used embalming fluids, linen bandages, & intricate coffins
➡️ The wealthy had pyramids
➡️ Relatives, staff & pets were buried alive for the journey to the afterlife
2/28
➡️ In Greek Mythology, the River Styx separated the worlds of the living & dead
➡️ Charon, the Ferryman, required payment from the deceased for passage
➡️ The dead were buried with a coin
➡️ Those unable to pay were left to wander the river bank for 100 years
➡️It's widely used for treatment & prevention of haemorrhage
➡️It's in the WHO's List of Essential Medicines & recommended in the European Traumatic Haemorrhage guideline (2023)
➡️But is it as efficacious as we think?
🧵 1/17
🚩 History
➡️Drs. Utako & Shosuke Okamoto invented TXA in 1962
➡️They identified that the amino acid lysine inhibited the degradation of plasmin, a profibrinolytic enzyme
➡️Lysine was modified to first produce Epsilon- Amino-Caproic Acid and later TXA, x 27 more potent
2/17
🚩 Pharmacology
➡️TXA is a molecular analog of lysine
➡️It inhibits fibrinolysis by preventing the binding of plasminogen to fibrin
➡️This inhibits plasmin formation & displaces plasminogen from the fibrin surface
➡️It also has effects on the immune system & inflammation
➡️ REBOA is an exciting "new" therapy for non-compressible torso haemorrhage
➡️ It's used across the world, but without robust evidence
➡️ Does it work? Is it beneficial?
➡️ A thread...
2/13
🚩 Uncontrollable haemorrhage accounts for
➡️ > 80% of combat deaths
➡️ ~ 40% of civilian trauma-related deaths
🚩 Many have been determined to be preventable deaths
🚩 ~ 67% of fatal bleeding occurs in the torso region
3/13
Emergency thoracotomy (ET) has a long history in resuscitation
🚩 1880 - Paul Niehans first documented ET in human cardiac arrest
🚩 1901 - Kristian Ingelsrud performed the first successful resuscitation
🚩 1953 - Stephenson had 28% survival in 1200 cardiac arrests
➡️Carl Wilhelm Scheele, a German-Swedish pharmaceutical chemist, first identified oxygen in 1771
➡️By heating mercuric oxide, silver carbonate, magnesium nitrate, & other salts, he produced “fire air”
2/16
@DogICUma@VR_Cornelius@BodilSRasmussen@JonathanCaseyMD@toddrice_ICU ➡️although Scheele discovered oxygen & other elements, including hydrogen & chlorine, others were credited with these novel findings
➡️he received the moniker “hard luck Scheele”
➡️he then died from mercury poisoning
➡️The history of resuscitation in cardiac arrest is long and fascinating
➡️Over time, four components have emerged to provide the central basis for saving an apnoeic, pulseless person just minutes from death
A thread.....
1/30
➡️Perhaps the earliest reference to artificial breathing comes from the Egyptian Goddess Isis
➡️She resuscitated her dead husband (who was also her brother...) by breathing into his mouth
2/30
➡️The Greek physician Galen was the first to describe artificial ventilation with his famous quote:
➡️"If you take a dead animal & blow air through its larynx through a reed, you will fill its bronchi and watch its lungs attain the greatest distention"