International trauma teleconference: evaluating trauma care and facilitating quality improvement

Evaluation, development, and implementation of trauma systems in Latin America are challenging undertakings as no model is currently in place that can be easily replicated throughout the region. The use of teleconferencing has been essential in overcoming other challenges in the medical field and improving medical care. This article describes the use of international videoconferencing in the field of trauma and critical care as a tool to evaluate differences in care based on local resources, as well as facilitating quality improvement and system development in Latin America.

In February 2009, the International Trauma and Critical Care Improvement Project was created and held monthly teleconferences between U.S. trauma surgeons and Latin American general surgeons, emergency physicians, and intensivists. In-depth discussions and prospective evaluations of each case presented were conducted by all participants based on resources available. Care rendered was divided in four stages: (1) pre-hospital setting, (2) emergency room or trauma room, (3) operating room, and (4) subsequent postoperative care. Furthermore, the participating institutions completed an electronic survey of trauma resources based on World Health Organization/International Association for Trauma and Surgical Intensive Care guidelines.

During a 17-month period, 15 cases in total were presented from a Level I and a Level II U.S. hospital (n=3) and five Latin American hospitals (n=12). Presentations followed the Advanced Trauma Life Support sequence in all U.S. cases but in only 3 of the 12 Latin American cases. The following deficiencies were observed in cases presented from Latin America: pre-hospital communication was nonexistent in all cases; pre-hospital services were absent in 60% of cases presented; lack of trauma team structure was evident in the emergency departments; during the initial evaluation and resuscitation, the Advanced Trauma Life Support protocol was followed one time and the Clinical Randomization of an Antifibrinolytic in Significant Hemorrhage protocol on two occasions; it was determined that imaging resources were adequately used in half of the cases; the initial care was mostly provided by emergency room physicians; and a surgeon, operating room, and intensive care unit were not readily available 83% of the time. The ease of patient flow was cumbersome because of a lack of a structured system for trauma care except for one academic urban center. Adequate trauma resources are present in less than 50% of the time. Multidisciplinary resources, quality improvement programs, protocols, and guidelines were deficient.

A well-structured international teleconference can be used as a dynamic window of observation to evaluate and identify deficiencies in trauma care in the Latin American region. These findings can be used to formulate specific recommendations based on local resources. Furthermore, by raising local awareness, leaders could be identified to become the executors of more efficient healthcare policies that can potentially affect trauma care.