29 December 2020

Geneva ‘JBLM Grant’ Winners Advancing New Standard of Care for Trauma Victim Resuscitation

LTC (P) Matthew Eckert, MD and CAPT Daniel Lammers, MD will present their research findings at  the 34^th East Scientific Assembly.

During acute trauma scenarios, medical personnel are in a battle with time as the challenge becomes: is there enough time to stop ongoing blood loss?

Hemorrhage from major trauma is the leading cause of death on the battlefield and survival depends on prompt surgical interventions. A military research team at Madigan Army Medical Center, Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) is looking at novel ways to treat blood loss using a cardiac agent shown to improve patient survival in some models. Their research was funded by a ‘JBLM Small Grant Competition,’ made possible by a partnership between Geneva and the L.T. Murray Family Foundation.

Army Lieutenant Colonel (P) Matthew Eckert MD, FACS and Army Captain Daniel Lammers, MD received the JBLM Small Grant award for their pilot study titled “Combatting Ischemia Reperfusion Injury from Traumatic Injury Requiring Occlusion of the Aorta via Adenosine, Lidocaine, and Magnesium (ALM).”

“Methods such as blood transfusions can help replace shed blood but if the rate of blood loss exceeds the rate of transfusion, the battle will be lost unless the patient is able to get to the operating room for surgical repair,” said CAPT. Lammers. The current standard of care for trauma victim resuscitation is resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta (REBOA), a minimally invasive technique that utilizes a balloon catheter to temporarily occlude large vessels in support of hemorrhage control. CAPT Lammers and LTC (P) Eckert’s research focuses on using a cocktail of ALM during REBOA use or acute traumatic resuscitation to tip the scales toward preventing death from exsanguination.

“We believe the administration of ALM, in conjunction with REBOA usage, could not only allow for decreased morbidity and mortality associated with balloon inclusion, but also may allow for substantially longer exclusive times in scenarios where surgical capabilities may not be readily available,” said CAPT Lammers. “Novel and innovative solutions that aim to improve our ability to keep servicemembers with devastating injuries alive for prolonged periods of time prior to any definitive repair represent a therapeutic gap in current trauma care.”

CAPT Lammers is a fourth-year General Surgery Resident at Madigan Army Medical Center and Surgery Teaching Fellow at Uniformed Services University. LTC (P) Eckert, an Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina, was stationed at Madigan Army Medical Center at JBLM for eight years as a General Surgeon, Associate Program Director of the General Surgery Residency Program, Chief of Surgical Clinics, and Assistant Trauma Medical Director.

“ALM may prove a potentially exciting opportunity for acute traumatic resuscitation. Geneva is pleased to partner with this research team at Madigan to advance this innovative and possibly life-saving research to further widespread adoption,” said Geneva’s President and CEO Elise Huszar. “I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to the L.T. Murray Family Foundation for their generous donation which made this seed funding possible.”

Winning the Small Grant Competition allowed Eckert and Lammers to pilot this research and test their hypothesis. Following the obtainment of data from this initial award, the research team was awarded a larger grant through The Zoll Foundation for a follow-on study that will allow them to increase their sample size, study multiple aortic occlusion times, and assess various markers of coagulopathy.

CAPT Lammers and LTC (P) Eckert will present their research on January 13-14, 2021 at the 34^th EAST Annual Scientific Assembly and they were also invited to submit their research to the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery.

For more information on how to support future Geneva Small Grant Competitions, please contact Geneva’s philanthropy department at donate@genevaUSA.org.

 

Disclaimer: The views expressed do not reflect the official policy of the Army, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.