For severe lung injuries or acute respiratory distress syndrome that occurs during critical care due to trauma, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) may be used as a salvage treatment. This study aimed to describe the experiences at a single center with the use of ECMO in trauma patients.

We enrolled a total of 25 trauma patients who were treated with ECMO between January 2015 and December 2019 at a regional trauma center. We analyzed and compared patients’ characteristics between survivors and non-survivors through a medical chart review. We also compared the characteristics of patients between direct and indirect lung injury groups.

The mean age of the 25 patients was 45.9±19.5 years, and 19 patients (76.0%) were male. The mean Injury Severity Score was 26.1±10.1. Ten patients (40.0%) had an Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) 3 score of 4, and six patients (24.0%) had an AIS 3 score of 5. There were 19 cases (76.6%) of direct lung injury. The mortality rate was 60.0% (n=15). Sixteen patients (64.0%) received a loading dose of heparin for the initiation of ECMO. There was no significant difference in heparin use between the survivors and non-survivors (70% in survivors vs. 60% in non-survivors, p=0.691). When comparing the direct and indirect lung injury groups, there were no significant differences in variables other than age and ECMO onset time.

If more evidence is gathered, risk factors and indications will be identified and we expect that more trauma patients will receive appropriate treatment with ECMO.

Resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta (REBOA) is an emergency procedure and extremely time-dependent, and the proficiency of the physician is important. Due to a lack of REBOA education programs in Republic of Korea, few physicians have been trained in the procedure. In this study, we examined how REBOA education affects clinical outcomes in a single center.

A retrospective study conducted from February 2017 to June 2020 at a regional trauma center. We collected data of patients who underwent REBOA and analyzed the factors that influenced the outcome. The patients were divided into the educated and non-educated groups (based on REBOA training received by their physicians), and the success and failure groups.

A total of 24 patients underwent REBOA during the study. There were eight patients in the success group and 16 patients in the failure group. There are no significant differences between the educated and non-educated groups in sex, age, ISS, shock, injury-to-REBOA time, injury mechanism, injury sites, arrest, access site, type of catheter, type of REBOA, target Zone, mortality, and the result of REBOA. The non-educated group had a higher risk for failure compared to the educated group in multivariate analysis (odds ratio [OR] 154.64, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.11-22.60).

Failure in REBOA is harmful to patients. The risk of failure is increased in the non-educated group. Physicians working in the trauma center or emergency department need to complete the REBOA education program.

This retrospective multicenter study analyzed trauma patients who underwent resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta (REBOA) in the Republic of Korea.

This study was conducted from February 2017 to May 2018 at three regional trauma centers in the Republic of Korea. The patients were divided into two groups (cardiopulmonary resuscitation [CPR] and No-CPR) for comparative analysis based on two criteria (complication and mortality) for logistic regression analysis (LRA).

There were significant differences between the CPR and No-CPR groups in mortality (p=0.003) and treatment administered (p=0.016). By LRA for complications, total occlusion has significantly lesser risk than intermittent or partial occlusion in both univariate (odds ratio [OR] 0.06, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.00-0.36, p=0.01) and multivariate (OR 0.05, 95% CI 0.00-0.38, p=0.01) analyses. The Rescue had a higher risk than the Coda or Reliant in univariate analysis (OR 4.91, 95% CI 1.14-34.25, p=0.05); however, it was not statistically significant in multivariate analysis (OR 6.98, 95% CI 1.03-74.52, p=0.07). By LRA for mortality, the CPR group was the only variable that had a significantly higher risk of mortality than the No-CPR group in both univariate (OR 17.59, 95% CI 3.05-335.25, p=0.01), and multivariate (OR 24.92, 95% CI 3.77-520.51, p=0.01) analyses.

This study was conducted in the early stages of REBOA implementation in the Republic of Korea and showed conflicting results from studies conducted by multiple institutions. Therefore, additional research with more accumulated data is needed.