Heart-Rate Complexity for Prediction of Prehospital Lifesaving Interventions in Trauma Patients

Abstract

Traditional vital signs often fail to identify critically injured patients soon enough to permit timely intervention. To improve our ability to forecast the need for prehospital lifesaving interventions (LSIs), we applied heart-rate complexity (HRC) analysis to the electrocardiogram (ECG) of patients en route to trauma centers. Methods: Analysis of ECG and clinical data from 374 patients en route by helicopter to three urban Level I trauma centers was conducted. Waveforms from 182 patients were excluded (because of ectopy, noise, or inadequate length). Of the remaining 192 patients, 54 received 66 LSIs in the field (LSI group): intubation (n = 52), cardiopulmonary resuscitation (n = 5), cricothyroidotomy (n = 2), and pneumothorax decompression (n = 7); 138 patients did not (non-LSI group). In the field, heart rate, blood pressure, and the Glasgow Coma Scale score (GCS TOTAL ) and its motor component (GCS MOTOR ) were recorded. ECG was recorded during flight. Ectopy-free, 800-beat sections of ECG were identified off-line and analyzed by HRC methods including Sample Entropy (SampEn) and Detrended Fluctuations Analysis (DFA). Results: There was no difference be- tween LSI and non-LSI patients in heart rate or blood pressure.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 01, 2008
Accession Number
ADA627686

Entities

People

  • Andriy I Batchinsky
  • Charles E Wade
  • John B Holcomb
  • Josè Salinas
  • Leopoldo C. Cancio
  • Tom Kuusela
  • Victor A Convertino

Organizations

  • United States Army Institute of Surgical Research

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Airway Management
  • Cardiovascular Physiological Phenomena
  • Data Sets
  • Databases
  • Frequency
  • Frequency Domain
  • Health Services
  • Heart Rate
  • Hospitals
  • Information Science
  • Intervention
  • Medical Personnel
  • Myocardial Ischemia
  • Patient Care
  • Statistical Analysis
  • Vital Signs

Fields of Study

  • Medicine

Readers

  • Cardiovascular Physiology
  • Trauma or Military Medicine