View clinical trials related to Trauma.
Filter by:Teenage driving safety continues to be a major public health issue. Two factors have been found to contribute to a higher teenage driving accident rate than adults: lack of driving experience, and risky behaviors. Insufficient driving experience puts teenagers at a disadvantage in detecting and responding to hazards while driving. Factors contributing to distracted driving (a diversion in the driver's attention from the road) may include: talking or text messaging on a cell phone, applying makeup, having multiple passengers, listening to loud music, eating/drinking, smoking or reading while driving. This is a prospective study designed to evaluate the effect of an educational program on the risks associated with distracted driving for teenage drivers. The researchers will compare cell phone usage behaviors in Pennsylvania, where no cell phone laws are in place, and New Jersey, where cell phone laws exist, and will educate the beginner driver on the potential dangers associated with driving without a seat belt, substance use, and participating in distracting driving behaviors. Knowledge of state laws will also be assessed. Objectives 1. Educate participants on the potential dangers of distracted driving. 2. Evaluate the impact of the educational program on teenage distracted driving behaviors by obtaining and analyzing information from student surveys, state law quizzes, and anonymous observation, pre, post, and delayed post education. 3. Quantify distracted driving behavior in teenage driver's attending local area high schools by obtaining and analyzing information from student surveys, state law quizzes, and anonymous observation, pre, post, and delayed post education. 4. Qualify distracted driving behavior in teenage driver's attending local area high schools by obtaining and analyzing information from student surveys, anonymous observation, and anonymous voicemails, text messages, and/or emails pre, post, and delayed post education. Qualify distracted driving behavior in adults through anonymous observations near local area high schools. 6. Compare teenage driving behaviors as reported and observed between Pennsylvania and New Jersey. 7. Compare seat belt usage, driving behaviors, and substance use in the study population to the state and national averages pre and post education. 8. Compare averages of student's knowledge of state driving laws pre and post education.
This work will use a new approach to measure how surgery effects human biochemistry and metabolism. It will create a metabolic signature or 'phenotype' for surgical injury that will help clinicians choose the right surgical treatments for an individual. This is because metabolism is based on an individual's genes, disease burden and environmental influences such as gut microbiota. This study will use a scientific method based on computational analysis of spectra taken from techniques known as Mass Spectrometry (MS) and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. This science is called 'metabonomics' and it has many advantages. Firstly, it provides a measure of thousands of metabolites at a single moment in time that are unique to the individual and it therefore gives a 'systems' overview of a persons metabolism. Secondly it is able to process many hundreds of samples quickly. The investigators are aiming to integrate the investigators metabolic data with genetic information about patients or bacteria wherever possible. This will be the first time that a 'systems biology' approach has been used in surgery, with potentially significant gains to me made in pre operative risk stratification and optimisation. By performing this analysis at all stages of the surgical journey (preoperatively, during the operation and after the surgery) it will ensure the right treatments are given to the right patient at the right time. By creating longitudinal models of the biochemical responses to surgery, predict at a much earlier stage those patients at risk of developing complications. This will improve outcome after surgery. This work will use a metabonomic approach to create new tools for surgeons to use during operations based on tissue biology. For example the investigators will be able to measure the metabolic content of tumours in real time by measuring the biological content of diathermy smoke. This has the potential to change intra-operative decision making and further improve outcome.
This project is the first to use a clinical laboratory method in emerging adults to test the hypothesis that a trauma history with or without concommitant posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) alters response to a stressor and promotes drinking compared to normal controls. The study will be the first to explore whether trauma-exposed (TE) and PTSD groups differ on these outcomes. It will also examine the relationship between stress reactivity and subsequent stress-induced drinking in these samples. The goal of this program is to better understand the relationship between stress and factors related to the development and maintenance of alcohol problems in early adults, so that ultimately, better treatments may be developed that reduce the incidence and severity of alcohol related problems.
Severe sepsis (ie. life-threatening infections) is triggered by harmful microorganisms or their toxins in the blood or tissues. These harmful agents damage the lining of blood vessels which can lead to inflammation, blood clot formation, and vessel obstruction. In Canada, there are approximately 90,000 patients with severe sepsis each year. Of these, 30% to 50% will die. The identification of highly reliable outcome predictors in severe sepsis patients is important for several reasons including: to help describe the severity of sepsis, to classify patients for enrollment in clinical studies, and to monitor a patient's response to treatment and procedures. In the investigators lab, the investigators examined the incremental usefulness of adding multiple biomarkers to clinical scoring systems for predicting ICU mortality in patients with severe sepsis. In a preliminary study of 80 patients with sepsis, the investigators found that high levels of plasma DNA predicted ICU death better than any other clinical or biological factor. In this grant, the investigators propose to confirm these findings in an external group of 400 patients in a blinded fashion. The investigators also plan to study how plasma DNA levels change over time and whether high plasma DNA levels can be used to distinguish sepsis from other critically ill conditions. For this the investigators will compare the investigators septic patients to a cohort of 600 patients in the ICU with other conditions. The investigators believe this research has the potential to significantly improve the management and treatment of septic patients.
The rationale for this study is to assess the change in ambulatory care visit rates for acute otitis media between the period before (2001-2009) and after the introduction of the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (13vPnC) (2011-2013) among children less than 5 years old in the United States.
This study is planning to develop the audiovisual videos and determine whether educational videos are superior to routine discussion for informing trauma patients in emergency department (ED) about risks, benefits, and alternatives to receiving surgery.
The purpose of this study is to determine if the presence of fetal fibronectin in the cervicovaginal secretions of pregnant patients with minor maternal trauma predicts impending preterm delivery due to abruptio placenta.
The aim of this study is to establish plasma metabonomics fingerprinting atlas for severe multiple trauma patient using 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) based metabonomics methodology and advanced mathematics tools.
Trauma and major operation are associated with an excessive inflammation reaction due to tissue injury. This overwhelming immune response is considered to be a major risk factor in the pathogenesis of late inflammatory complications such as acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) and sepsis. The investigators hypothesize that administration of C1-esterase inhibitor (C1-INH) will attenuate the humane inflammatory response and, thereby, reduce the risk of inflammatory complications due to surgical interventions in trauma patients with a femur or pelvic fracture
Objectives: Patient satisfaction is a key determinant of the quality of care and an important component of pay for performance metrics. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of a simple intervention aimed to increase patients' understanding of their orthopaedic trauma surgeon and improve patient satisfaction with the overall quality of inpatient care delivered by the attending surgeon. Design: Prospective quality improvement initiative using a randomized intervention. Setting: Level 1 academic trauma center. Patients/Participants: Two hundred twelve patients were eligible; 100 patients were randomized to the intervention group, and 112 patients were randomized to the control group. Overall, 76 patients could be reached for follow-up satisfaction survey, including 34 patients in the intervention group and 42 patients in the control group. Intervention: Patients randomized to the intervention group received an attending biosketch card, which included a picture of the attending orthopaedic surgeon with a brief synopsis of his educational background, specialty, surgical interests, and research interests. Main Outcome Measures: Our primary outcome measure was a patient satisfaction survey assessing patients' rating of the overall quality of inpatient care delivered by the attending surgeon.