Fewer delays in starting a trauma list can reduce cancellations. A novel system has been previously described where a patient is identified the day before and optimised for theatre. The patient is listed first and designated “Golden Patient”. This project aimed to assess the impact of introducing a “Golden Patient” system on trauma list start times in a district general hospital. Two months of first case sending and anaesthetic start times were recorded retrospectively (43 cases). The “Golden Patient” system was introduced with a multi-disciplinary implementation group. Target send time of 0830 hours (hrs) and anaesthetic start time of 0900hrs was agreed. First patients on trauma lists were noted in two cycles, two months apart (Cycle 1: 46, Cycle 2: 38). Prior to implementation: Mean Send Time (MST) of 0855hrs, Mean Anaesthetic Start Time (AST) of 0921hrs.
Implementation of the “Golden Patient” produced a significant improvement in trauma list starts overall. Specifically, “Golden Patients” help to improve efficiency in sending and anaesthetic start times, by up to 19 minutes on average.
A single centre, prospective study of 196 closed tibial diaphyseal fractures treated by monolateral external fixation. Surgical management of all patients followed a protocol of the senior author (PBMT), with regard to technique and fracture reduction. Operations were performed by several different surgeons including the senior author. A definitive fixator was used as a reduction tool in 34 cases, and a separate fracture reduction device was used in 162 patients. Follow-up was in a dedicated external fixator clinic by the senior author until one year post-fracture healing. Fracture healing was determined by fracture stiffness measurements. 196 tibial fractures in 196 patients, average age 29 (range 12-80). 111 right sided and 85 left sided. 166 male and 30 female. 116 fractures due to low energy and 80 due to high energy. football 75, fall 52, RTA 49, others 20. 33 patients had an additional 74 injuries: 38 fractures/dislocations (3 open), 7 compartment syndromes, 7 head injuries, 16 chest injuries, 9 soft tissue injuries. According to AO classification system: 33 A1, 47 A2, 42 A3, 15 B1, 46 B2, 7 B3. Time to fracture healing was 19 weeks on average (range 9-87). 15 patients had coronal deformity >5 degrees and 1 also had saggital deformity >10 degrees. One osteotomy for correction of malunion. 279 pin site infections requiring antibiotics in 35 patients. 7 fixators removed early due to pin site infection. One established osteomyelitis-lautenbach. 7 refractures, all healed (5 with pop, 2 with further fixator). Non-union: 5 hypertrophic, 2 atrophic-all healed with further external fixation. Our results show that external fixation of closed tibial fracture is a viable alternative to other treatment methods with regard to healing time and angular deformity. Our study also uses a well validated end point to define fracture healing and does not rely on the difficulty of defining union on clinical and radiological grounds.Mechanism of injury
