Introduction: The “trauma tele-grand rounds” (TTGR) in telemedicine format enables international institutions to meet and debate the treatment of patients in critical condition. This useful tool not only fills in training gaps but also provides ongoing medical updates and exposure to various approaches to treating patients with multiple traumas. This study's goal was to describe the role of the university hospital in supporting the conferences and its characteristics during TTGR.
Methods: Retrospective evaluation of trauma videoconference records hosted by the Panamerican Trauma Society (PTS) with global participation in English, and by the Brazilian Trauma Society (SBAIT) and Division of Trauma Surgery (DCT) of Unicamp, with national participation in Portuguese. All conferences were free and were analyzed in the pre-COVID-19 pandemic period (2011–2019), evaluating the topics covered, the interactivity of trauma centers, and participants.
Results: Over the 9-year study period, 362 meetings involving 92 different institutions from all five continents occurred and were reviewed. Around 26 TTGR (6.8%) focused on nontraumatic acute care cases were excluded. The remaining 336 (93.2%) TTGR focused on trauma, mostly penetrating or blunt trauma. Of the 336 meetings, 240 were promoted by PTS (in English), 58 by SBAIT, and 41 by DCT, including 11 evidence-based telemedicine–trauma and acute care surgery (EBT-TACS). In addition to the presentation of uncommon cases, the TTGR allowed for constructive disagreements, educational opportunities, and lessons learned related to current natural disasters, mass casualties, and challenging decision-making in real-life situations. The university hospital conference room received a total of 818 participants, mainly medical students (93.8%), surgery residents (2.8%), and assistants (3.4%).
Conclusion: In conclusion, our review indicates that TTGRs can attract students and residents to discuss trauma. This educational tool offers diverse lessons learned during discussions about challenging real-life cases led by experienced professionals. This experience promoted international information exchange and increased the motivation for discussing trauma cases and using the telemedicine room. The participation of different trauma centers allowed the acquisition of a robust technical repertoire that can be adapted to the reality of the participants, filling gaps in medical education and training participants to offer better care to trauma patients.
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