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Finger thoracostomy in patients with chest trauma performed by paramedics on a helicopter emergency medical service.
- Source :
-
Emergency Medicine Australasia . Aug2020, Vol. 32 Issue 4, p650-656. 7p. 1 Diagram, 3 Charts. - Publication Year :
- 2020
-
Abstract
- Objective: To determine the frequency of finger thoracostomy performed by intensive care flight paramedics after the introduction of a training programme in this procedure and complications of the procedure that were diagnosed after hospital arrival. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of adult and paediatric trauma patients undergoing finger thoracostomy performed by paramedics on a helicopter emergency medical service between June 2015 and May 2018. Hospital data were obtained through a manual search of the medical records at each of the three receiving major trauma services. Additional data were sourced from the Victorian State Trauma Registry. Results: The final analysis included 103 cases, of which 73.8% underwent bilateral procedures with a total of 179 finger thoracostomies performed. The mean age of patients was 42.8 (standard deviation 21.4) years and 73.8% were male. Motor vehicle collision was the most common mechanism of injury accounting for 54.4% of cases. The median Injury Severity Score was 41 (interquartile range 29–54). There were 30 patients who died pre‐hospital, with most (n = 25) having finger thoracostomy performed in the setting of a traumatic cardiac arrest. A supine chest X‐ray was performed prior to intercostal catheter insertion in 38 of 73 patients arriving at hospital; of these, none demonstrated a tension pneumothorax. There were three cases of potential complications related to the finger thoracostomy. Conclusion: Finger thoracostomy was frequently performed by intensive care flight paramedics. It was associated with a low rate of major complications and given the deficiencies of needle thoracostomy, should be the preferred approach for chest decompression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 17426731
- Volume :
- 32
- Issue :
- 4
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Emergency Medicine Australasia
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 144749579
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1111/1742-6723.13549