Did This Patient Need a Trauma Center?

Although the Injury Severity Score is central to trauma center designation by the American College of Surgeons, it does not correlate well with the need for specialized trauma resources.

Determining retrospectively whether patients had injuries that were serious enough to require the resources of a major trauma center often is based on anatomic injury measured by the Injury Severity Score (ISS), but is this the best criterion? To find out, investigators retrospectively assessed the association between the ISS and use of specialized trauma resources in a cohort of 33,699 consecutive injured patients who met statewide trauma criteria and were transported to 48 hospitals (levels I–IV) during a 6-year period in Oregon. Patients who died in the field, refused transport, left the hospital against medical advice, or were directly admitted were excluded from analysis.

Eleven percent of patients were aged 14 years or younger. The ove…

Reviewing Author

Kristi L. Koenig, MD, FACEP

Disclosures

Editorial boardsKoenig & Schultz's Disaster Medicine: Comprehensive Principles and Practices

Kristi L. Koenig, MD, FACEP

Disclosures

Editorial boardsKoenig & Schultz's Disaster Medicine: Comprehensive Principles and Practices