Guideline on Treatment of Patients with Severe and Multiple ... - AWMF
Guideline on Treatment of Patients with Severe and Multiple ... - AWMF
Guideline on Treatment of Patients with Severe and Multiple ... - AWMF
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S3 <str<strong>on</strong>g>Guideline</str<strong>on</strong>g> <strong>on</strong> <strong>Treatment</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Patients</strong> <strong>with</strong> <strong>Severe</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Multiple</strong> Injuries<br />
A Rati<strong>on</strong>ale und goals<br />
Introducti<strong>on</strong><br />
Medical guidelines are systematically developed decisi<strong>on</strong> aids for service providers <strong>and</strong> patients<br />
<strong>on</strong> the appropriate method applicable in specific health problems [1]. <str<strong>on</strong>g>Guideline</str<strong>on</strong>g>s are important<br />
tools for providing a rati<strong>on</strong>al <strong>and</strong> transparent basis for decisi<strong>on</strong>s in medical care [2]. Through<br />
imparting knowledge, they are intended to c<strong>on</strong>tribute towards improving care [3].<br />
The process <strong>of</strong> developing guidelines must be systematic, independent <strong>and</strong> transparent [2].<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>Guideline</str<strong>on</strong>g> development for Level 3 guidelines follows the criteria according to the <strong>AWMF</strong>/ÄZQ<br />
[German Medical Center for Quality in Medicine] specificati<strong>on</strong>s including all elements <strong>of</strong><br />
systematic development [4].<br />
Table 1: <strong>AWMF</strong> table <strong>of</strong> levels for guideline development [4].<br />
Level 1 Experts group:<br />
A representatively formed group <strong>of</strong> experts from the Scientific Medical Society<br />
draws up a guideline in informal c<strong>on</strong>sensus, which is approved by the board <strong>of</strong><br />
the society.<br />
Level 2 Formal evidence research or formal c<strong>on</strong>sensus finding:<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>Guideline</str<strong>on</strong>g>s are developed from formally assessed statements in scientific<br />
literature or discussed <strong>and</strong> approved in <strong>on</strong>e <strong>of</strong> the proven formal c<strong>on</strong>sensus<br />
processes. Formal c<strong>on</strong>sensus processes c<strong>on</strong>sist <strong>of</strong> the nominal group process, the<br />
Delphi method <strong>and</strong> the c<strong>on</strong>sensus c<strong>on</strong>ference.<br />
Level 3 <str<strong>on</strong>g>Guideline</str<strong>on</strong>g> including all elements <strong>of</strong> systematic development:<br />
Formal c<strong>on</strong>sensus finding, systematic literature search <strong>and</strong> evaluati<strong>on</strong>, <strong>and</strong><br />
classificati<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> studies <strong>and</strong> recommendati<strong>on</strong>s according to the criteria <strong>of</strong><br />
evidence-based medicine, clinical algorithms, outcome analysis, decisi<strong>on</strong><br />
analysis.<br />
The present guideline is a Level 3 guideline.<br />
Starting positi<strong>on</strong><br />
Accidents are the most comm<strong>on</strong> cause <strong>of</strong> death in children <strong>and</strong> young adults [5]. In 2007, 8.22<br />
milli<strong>on</strong> people were injured in accidents <strong>and</strong> 18,527 people suffered a fatal accident according to<br />
statistics from the German Federal Institute for Occupati<strong>on</strong>al Safety <strong>and</strong> Health (Bundesanstalt<br />
für Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizin) [6]. The management <strong>of</strong> a severely injured pers<strong>on</strong> is<br />
typically an interdisciplinary task. It presents a major challenge to those involved in the<br />
provisi<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> care because <strong>of</strong> the sudden occurrence <strong>of</strong> the accident situati<strong>on</strong>, the unpredictability<br />
<strong>of</strong> the number <strong>of</strong> injured pers<strong>on</strong>s <strong>and</strong> the heterogeneity <strong>of</strong> the patient populati<strong>on</strong> [7].<br />
An S1 guideline was issued by the German Society <strong>of</strong> Trauma Surgery in 2002 <strong>on</strong> the<br />
management <strong>of</strong> multiply injured patients <strong>and</strong> those <strong>with</strong> severe injuries. However, there is no upto-date,<br />
general, comprehensive, evidence-based guideline. This was the rati<strong>on</strong>ale for drawing up<br />
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