Less is more: Overlapping communication in trauma resuscitation

• Published in: The American journal of surgery 2025-01, Vol.239, p.116058, Article 116058
• Main Authors: Wooder, Emily R., Ye, Fei, Fan, Run, Patel, Mayur B., Maiga, Amelia W.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Auscultation; Blood pressure; Blood products; Communication; Data collection; Emergency medical care; Female; Hemorrhagic shock; Humans; Hypotension - etiology; Hypotension - therapy; Injury Severity Score; Male; Middle Aged; Mortality; Non-technical skills; Observational studies; Ostomy; Patient Care Team - organization & administration; Patients; Prospective Studies; Quality improvement; Resuscitation; Resuscitation - methods; Speech; Time Factors; Trauma; Trauma resuscitation; Trauma teams; Video communication; Voice communication; Wounds and Injuries - therapy
• ISSN: 0002-9610; 1879-1883; 1879-1883
• DOI: 10.1016/j.amjsurg.2024.116058

Timely management of trauma patients is crucial. Better team performance means faster care, but roles of specific communication practices remain unclear. We hypothesized that overlapping communication is associated with less efficient resuscitations. This single-center prospective observational study included hypotensive trauma patients from June–September 2023. Data were collected using Trauma Video Review. The association between overlapping communication and resuscitation length was assessed using multivariable linear regression adjusting for demographics, injury mechanism, Injury Severity Score (ISS), vitals, and number of procedures performed. We included 87 patients with median ISS 26.0 [interquartile range IQR: 14.0–34.0] and median systolic blood pressure 84.0 [70.0–90.5]. Median resuscitation length was 19.1 [15.4–23.1] minutes. Overlapping communication occurred for median 1.22 [0.7–2.1] minutes. Overlapping communication was associated with longer resuscitations (p ​