The study protocol for the Head Injury Retrieval Trial (HIRT): a single centre randomised controlled trial of physician prehospital management of severe blunt head injury compared with management by paramedics.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The utility of advanced prehospital interventions for severe blunt traumatic brain injury (BTI) remains controversial. Of all trauma patient subgroups it has been anticipated that this patient group would most benefit from advanced prehospital interventions as hypoxia and hypotension have been demonstrated to be associated with poor outcomes and these factors may be amenable to prehospital intervention. Supporting evidence is largely lacking however. In particular the efficacy of early anaesthesia/muscle relaxant assisted intubation has proved difficult to substantiate.

Methods

This article describes the design and protocol of the Head Injury Retrieval Trial (HIRT) which is a randomised controlled single centre trial of physician prehospital care (delivering advan

SUBMITTER: Garner AA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3847583 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature