Researchers at a Massachusetts biotechnology company have been working for years to develop an injectable foam that can control severe internal bleeding. A recent translational research study has demonstrated the optimal human dose of the foam, according to a press release from Arsenal Medical, developer of the technology. The company expects to seek regulatory approval…
Author: Trauma News
The American College of Surgeons has declined to grant full three-year verification to Ben Taub General Hospital, a Level I trauma center in Houston. In a letter to hospital leaders, the ACS cited significant concerns about the availability of operating rooms and the adequacy of surgeon staffing, according to a Houston Chronicle report. The hospital…
The state of Nebraska has denied Creighton University Medical Center’s application for Level I trauma center designation. Until last August, the Omaha hospital operated a collaborative trauma program with nearby Nebraska Medical Center. In a January 9 letter, the state Department of Health and Human Services cited Creighton’s failure to meet four standards for comprehensive…
More than one-third of seriously injured patients in the U.S. do not receive the appropriate level of trauma care, according to a recent study in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine. Patients most likely to be undertriaged are elderly or have traumatic brain injury. The authors of the paper estimate that the U.S. would need…
Trauma specialists at the University of Miami recently launched a telemedicine program providing medical support to a major hospital in Haiti. The program gives Haitian physicians around-the-clock access to consultation on difficult injury cases. The new program links trauma and critical care experts at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine to physicians at…
A “trauma drama” battle in Florida’s Marion County appears to have reached an uneasy truce. Grim predictions of lost patient volumes have not come true, but questions remain about costs and appropriateness of care, according to an article in the Ocala Star-Banner. Ocala Regional Medical Center began operating as a Level II trauma center in…
A group of researchers at Arizona State University are investigating ways to use nanoscale devices to detect and treat traumatic brain injury. Their goal is to create interventions that target the molecular “microenvironment” of the injured brain. The investigation is being led by Sarah Stabenfeldt, a biomedical engineer at ASU’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of…
The University of Arizona Medical Center, a Level I trauma center in Tucson, Ariz., recently opened a new burn treatment room, according to a hospital press release. The room is equipped with: A shower trolley that enables seriously injured patients to undergo wound cleaning and debridement while laying down. The trolley may go to bedside…
Two recent studies strengthened the case that mild traumatic brain injury can increase a person’s risk of stroke. In Taiwan, a group of researchers used a health insurance claims database to identify patients with mild TBI and patients with ischemic stroke. The study controlled for multiple comorbidities, including diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, atrial fibrillation and other…
A large phase III clinical trial has shown that treatment of acute traumatic brain injury with progesterone provides no significant benefit to patients when compared with a placebo, according to an Emory University press release. The ProTECT III study involved 49 trauma centers across the United States, and it took place between July 2009 and…