TY - JOUR
T1 - A regional trauma system to optimize the pre-hospital triage of trauma patients
AU - TRENAU group
AU - Bouzat, Pierre
AU - Ageron, François Xavier
AU - Brun, Julien
AU - Levrat, Albrice
AU - Berthet, Marion
AU - Rancurel, Elisabeth
AU - Thouret, Jean Marc
AU - Thony, Frederic
AU - Arvieux, Catherine
AU - Payen, Jean François
AU - Albasini, François
AU - Champly, Frédéric
AU - Danel, Vincent
AU - Debaty, Guillaume
AU - Grailles, Fabienne
AU - Habold, Daniel
AU - Hoareau, Christophe
AU - Peribois, Guillaume
AU - Savary, Dominique
AU - Vallenet, Claire
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Bouzat et al.; licensee BioMed Central.
PY - 2015/3/18
Y1 - 2015/3/18
N2 - Introduction: Pre-hospital triage is a key element in a trauma system that aims to admit patients to the most suitable trauma center, and may decrease intra-hospital mortality. We evaluated the performance of a pre-hospital procedure in a regional trauma system through measurements of the quality of pre-hospital medical assessment and the efficacy of a triage protocol. Methods: Our regional trauma system included 13 hospitals categorized as Level I, II or III trauma centers according to their technical facilities. Each patient was graded A, B or C by an emergency physician, according to the seriousness of their injuries at presentation on scene. The triage was performed according to this grading and the categorization of centers. This study is a registry analysis of a three-year period (2009 to 2011). Results: Of the 3,428 studied patients, 2,572 were graded using the pre-hospital grading system (Graded group). The pre-hospital gradation was closely related with injury severity score (ISS) and intra-hospital mortality rate. The triage protocol had a sensitivity of 92% (95% confidence interval (CI) 90% to 93%) and a specificity of 41% (95% CI 39% to 44%) to predict adequate admission of patients with ISS more than 15. A total of 856 patients were not graded at the scene (Non-graded group). Undertriage rate was significantly reduced in the Graded group compared with the Non-graded group, with a relative risk of 0.47 (95% CI 0.40 to 0.56) according to the definition of the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma (P <0.001). Where adjusted for trauma severity, the expected mortality rate at discharge from hospital was higher than observed mortality, with a difference of +2.0% (95% CI 1.4 to 2.6%; P <0.01). Conclusions: Implementation of a regional trauma system with a pre-hospital triage procedure was effective in detecting severe trauma patients and in lowering the rate of pre-hospital undertriage. A beneficial effect on outcome of such an organization is suggested.
AB - Introduction: Pre-hospital triage is a key element in a trauma system that aims to admit patients to the most suitable trauma center, and may decrease intra-hospital mortality. We evaluated the performance of a pre-hospital procedure in a regional trauma system through measurements of the quality of pre-hospital medical assessment and the efficacy of a triage protocol. Methods: Our regional trauma system included 13 hospitals categorized as Level I, II or III trauma centers according to their technical facilities. Each patient was graded A, B or C by an emergency physician, according to the seriousness of their injuries at presentation on scene. The triage was performed according to this grading and the categorization of centers. This study is a registry analysis of a three-year period (2009 to 2011). Results: Of the 3,428 studied patients, 2,572 were graded using the pre-hospital grading system (Graded group). The pre-hospital gradation was closely related with injury severity score (ISS) and intra-hospital mortality rate. The triage protocol had a sensitivity of 92% (95% confidence interval (CI) 90% to 93%) and a specificity of 41% (95% CI 39% to 44%) to predict adequate admission of patients with ISS more than 15. A total of 856 patients were not graded at the scene (Non-graded group). Undertriage rate was significantly reduced in the Graded group compared with the Non-graded group, with a relative risk of 0.47 (95% CI 0.40 to 0.56) according to the definition of the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma (P <0.001). Where adjusted for trauma severity, the expected mortality rate at discharge from hospital was higher than observed mortality, with a difference of +2.0% (95% CI 1.4 to 2.6%; P <0.01). Conclusions: Implementation of a regional trauma system with a pre-hospital triage procedure was effective in detecting severe trauma patients and in lowering the rate of pre-hospital undertriage. A beneficial effect on outcome of such an organization is suggested.
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U2 - 10.1186/s13054-015-0835-7
DO - 10.1186/s13054-015-0835-7
M3 - Article
C2 - 25887150
AN - SCOPUS:84928014455
SN - 1364-8535
VL - 19
JO - Critical Care
JF - Critical Care
IS - 1
M1 - 111
ER -