Rethinking Calcium Use in Trauma Resuscitation

About this episode

The episode discusses the impact of calcium abnormalities on early mortality in trauma patients based on recent research findings.

JEMS Development Editor Mike Brown sits down with Dr. Stacy Shackelford, a coauthor of a new JAMA Network Open paper, to unpack findings about calcium abnormalities in trauma patients. The authors tracked a cohort of 1,270 trauma patients arriving at three level I trauma centers and found that 22% presented with hypocalcemia and 5% with hypercalcemia. Early mortality varied significantly by calcium status: 11.9% among hypocalcemic patients, 4.3% among eucalcemic patients, and 22.8% among hypercalcemic patients. Although hypercalcemia was less common than hypocalcemia, it was associated with substantially worse early mortality, suggesting the need for further research into the underlying mechanisms.

People in this episode

Host: Mike Brown

Guest: Dr. Stacy Shackelford

Topics covered

• calcium use
• trauma resuscitation
• hypocalcemia
• hypercalcemia
• mortality rates
• trauma patients

Keywords

• calcium
• trauma
• resuscitation
• hypocalcemia
• hypercalcemia
• mortality
• JAMA Network Open

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: JAMA Network Open, JEMS

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