You have been asked to assess a previously healthy 32-year-male who has presented following a high-speed motorbike accident.
He has a Glasgow Coma Score of 15, a distended abdomen and a bleeding left leg wound. His current vital signs are as follows:
The trauma surgeon plans to perform exploratory laparotomy and open reduction and fixation of a left proximal femur fracture.
The results of blood parameters are as follows:
Parameter |
Patient Value |
Normal Adult Range |
|||
Haemoglobin |
61 g/L* |
115 – 160 |
|||
White Cell Count |
13.2 x 109/L* |
4.0 – 11.0 |
|||
Platelets |
46 x 109/L* |
150 – 400 |
|||
International Normalised Ratio (INR) |
1.9* |
0.8 – 1.2 |
|||
Activated Partial Thromboplastin Time (APTT) |
43 seconds* |
22 – 27 |
|||
Fibrinogen |
1.1 g/L* |
2.0 – 4.0 |
Arterial Blood Gas values are:
Parameter |
Patient Value |
Normal Adult Range |
|||||||
FiO2 |
0.21 |
||||||||
pH |
7.29* |
7.35 – 7.45 |
|||||||
pCO2 |
25 mmHg* (3.3 kPa)* |
35 – 45 (4.6 – 6.0) |
|||||||
PaO2 |
80 mmHg (10.5 kPa) |
||||||||
HCO3 |
12 mmol/L* |
22 – 27 |
|||||||
Lactate |
3.7 mg/L* |
< 1.5 |
|||||||
Base Excess |
-11 mmol/L* |
-2 – +2 |
a) Describe your strategies to control the bleeding in this patient. (70% marks)
b) What evidence is there for the use of tranexamic acid in this setting? (30% marks)
Medical Measures to control bleeding
Activate Massive Transfusion Protocol as per local hospital guidelines. Close liaison with surgeon and haematologist is warranted.
Local pressure including adjunctive tourniquet use to control bleeding from the left leg wound.
Target lower systolic blood pressure (e.g. 80 mmHg) until major bleeding has been stopped (absence of brain injury permits the same). Permissive hypotension is tolerated and has shown survival benefits in some studies.
Correct hypothermia and acidosis.
Packed cells transfusion to target haemoglobin concentration 70 – 90 g/L to achieve adequate tissue perfusion.
Fresh Frozen Plasma to maintain INR & APTT < 1.5 x mean control. Usual dose 15 mL/kg.
Cryoprecipitate to maintain Fibrinogen levels > 1.5 g/L. Usual dose is 3-4 g or 50 mg/kg. (Fibrinogen
concentrate is also allowed).
Platelet transfusion to keep platelets > 50 x 109/L. With multiple injuries and suspicion of micro-vascular bleeding; platelet count can be aimed at > 100 x 109/L.
Supplemental Calcium to maintain ionised calcium > 1.1 mmol/L
Fluid Resuscitation with warmed crystalloid solutions. Aggressive fluid resuscitation is no longer recommended due to risk of pulmonary oedema, worsening of thrombocytopenia and coagulopathy due to haemoduilution.
Use of ROTEM/TEG targets Tranexamic Acid (see below)
Recombinant Factor VIIa: Not indicated at this stage (prior to surgery).
b)
Tranexamic Acid (TXA) is a synthetic lysine analogue that is a competitive inhibitor of plasminogen. TXA is distributed throughout all tissues with plasma half-life of 120 minutes.
Evidence: Recently published CRASH 2 trial; a multi-centre randomised, controlled trial examined the role of TXA against placebo in trauma patients, with, or at risk of significant haemorrhage. In more than 20,000 patients; TXA demonstrated a significant reduction in all-cause mortality at 4 weeks after injury (14.5% vs. 16%; RR = 0.91, P = 0.0035) and risk of death from bleeding (4.9% vs. 5.7%; RR=0.85, p=0.00077).
The risk of precipitated thrombosis with the use of the lysine analogues has been of major theoretical concern; however, CRASH-2 showed that the rate of thrombosis, especially myocardial infarction, was lower with the use of TXA. No adverse events were described with the use of TXA in CRASH-2, although an increased rate of seizures has been described in patients receiving a high dose of TXA when undergoing cardiac surgery.
A further analysis of CRASH-2 data showed that early treatment (< 1 hour and 1-3 hour from injury) significantly reduced the death rate of bleeding but treatment administered after 3 hours; increased the risk of death due to bleeding. Hence, TXA should be administered within 3 hours of injury.
TXA should be considered as adjunctive therapy in patients with traumatic haemorrhage in the setting of overall patient management; including strict attention to the control of bleeding, physiological and metabolic parameters, coagulation and temperature maintenance.
Additional Examiners’ Comments:
Most candidates answered this question well although knowledge relating to the evidence for tranexamic acid was overall limited. Some gave a reasonable discussion of the medical management of bleeding but omitted surgical strategies.
The mess we're in:
Immediate resuscitation:
Within the first 6 hours:
Endpoint goals within the first 6 hours:
Evidence for the use of tranexamic acid in trauma
Criticism of this evidence
Sankarankutty, Ajith, et al. "TEG® and ROTEM® in trauma: similar test but different results." World J Emerg Surg 7.Suppl 1 (2012): S3.
Shoemaker, William C. "Comparison of the relative effectiveness of whole blood transfusions and various types of fluid therapy in resuscitation." Critical care medicine 4.2 (1976): 71-78.
El Sayad, Mohamed, and Hussein Noureddine. "Recent Advances of Hemorrhage Management in Severe Trauma." Emergency medicine international 2014 (2014).
Castellucci, Lana Antoinette. Evaluating Risk of Delayed Major Bleeding in Critically Ill Trauma Patients. Diss. University of Ottawa, 2016.
Stensballe, Jakob, and John B. Holcomb. "Hemostatic resuscitation is neither hemostatic nor resuscitative in trauma hemorrhage—But did they in fact test the effect of hemostatic resuscitation?." Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery 78.6 (2015): 1237.
MacLeod, Jana BA, et al. "Early coagulopathy predicts mortality in trauma." Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery 55.1 (2003): 39-44.
Lier, Heiko, et al. "Preconditions of hemostasis in trauma: a review. The influence of acidosis, hypocalcemia, anemia, and hypothermia on functional hemostasis in trauma." Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery 65.4 (2008): 951-960.