Influence of a New Province-Wide Trauma System on Motor Vehicle Trauma Care and Mortality

Effects of major trauma care organisation on mortality in a European level 1 trauma centre: A retrospective analysis of 2016-2023

INTRODUCTION

The centralisation of care for trauma patients in trauma centres, alongside the creation of inclusive trauma networks, has proven to reduce mortality. In Europe, such structured trauma programs and trauma networks are in development.

OBJECTIVE

To describe the aetiology and evolution of in-hospital mortality in a developing European level 1 trauma centre, to determine the early effect of trauma care reorganisation on mortality and to identify the areas for future investments in trauma care.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This retrospective analysis included the calculation of the standardised mortality ratio (SMR), the time to in-hospital death and the cause of in-hospital death of all primary major trauma admissions to the Antwerp University Hospital from 2016 to 2023.

RESULTS

A total of 1470 patients was included with a crude mortality of 16.4 %, a median Revised Injury Severity Classification II (RISC II) adjusted mortality of 1.47 %, and a SMR of 1.12. A limitation of care directive was registered for 18.1 % of the patients. The causes of in-hospital death were traumatic brain injury (TBI) in 60 %, haemorrhagic shock in 15 %, organ failure in 10 %, miscellaneous in 14 % and unknown in 1 %. Sixty percent died in the first 48 h of hospital admission (mainly due to TBI and haemorrhagic shock) and 27 % died after more than seven days (mainly due to organ failure and TBI). In 24 % of the deceased patients with severe TBI, a non-TBI related cause of death was found. Overall, the SMR showed a nonsignificant decreasing trend, with a significant decrease of the SMR in the highest risk group (RISCII > 75 %) and a nonsignificant increase in the lowest risk group (RISC II <15 %).

CONCLUSION

The standardised mortality ratio declined over a period of 8 years, even though the SMR increased nonsignificantly in the lowest risk-adjusted mortality group. Future analysis of this subgroup could clarify whether this trend is due to an increase of limitation of care directives and if these deaths could have been prevented with improved trauma care. There might be opportunities to increase the survival of patients with severe TBI who have a non-TBI cause of death.

Effectiveness of road safety interventions: An evidence and gap map

Background

Road Traffic injuries (RTI) are among the top ten leading causes of death in the world resulting in 1.35 million deaths every year, about 93% of which occur in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Despite several global resolutions to reduce traffic injuries, they have continued to grow in many countries. Many high-income countries have successfully reduced RTI by using a public health approach and implementing evidence-based interventions. As many LMICs develop their highway infrastructure, adopting a similar scientific approach towards road safety is crucial. The evidence also needs to be evaluated to assess external validity because measures that have worked in high-income countries may not translate equally well to other contexts. An evidence gap map for RTI is the first step towards understanding what evidence is available, from where, and the key gaps in knowledge.

Objectives

The objective of this evidence gap map (EGM) is to identify existing evidence from all effectiveness studies and systematic reviews related to road safety interventions. In addition, the EGM identifies gaps in evidence where new primary studies and systematic reviews could add value. This will help direct future research and discussions based on systematic evidence towards the approaches and interventions which are most effective in the road safety sector. This could enable the generation of evidence for informing policy at global, regional or national levels.

Search Methods

The EGM includes systematic reviews and impact evaluations assessing the effect of interventions for RTI reported in academic databases, organization websites, and grey literature sources. The studies were searched up to December 2019.

Selection Criteria

The interventions were divided into five broad categories: (a) human factors (e.g., enforcement or road user education), (b) road design, infrastructure and traffic control, (c) legal and institutional framework, (d) post-crash pre-hospital care, and (e) vehicle factors (except car design for occupant protection) and protective devices. Included studies reported two primary outcomes: fatal crashes and non-fatal injury crashes; and four intermediate outcomes: change in use of seat belts, change in use of helmets, change in speed, and change in alcohol/drug use. Studies were excluded if they did not report injury or fatality as one of the outcomes.

Data Collection and Analysis

The EGM is presented in the form of a matrix with two primary dimensions: interventions (rows) and outcomes (columns). Additional dimensions are country income groups, region, quality level for systematic reviews, type of study design used (e.g., case-control), type of road user studied (e.g., pedestrian, cyclists), age groups, and road type. The EGM is available online where the matrix of interventions and outcomes can be filtered by one or more dimensions. The webpage includes a bibliography of the selected studies and titles and abstracts available for preview. Quality appraisal for systematic reviews was conducted using a critical appraisal tool for systematic reviews, AMSTAR 2.

Main Results

The EGM identified 1859 studies of which 322 were systematic reviews, 7 were protocol studies and 1530 were impact evaluations. Some studies included more than one intervention, outcome, study method, or study region. The studies were distributed among intervention categories as: human factors (n = 771), road design, infrastructure and traffic control (n = 661), legal and institutional framework (n = 424), post-crash pre-hospital care (n = 118) and vehicle factors and protective devices (n = 111). Fatal crashes as outcomes were reported in 1414 records and non-fatal injury crashes in 1252 records. Among the four intermediate outcomes, speed was most commonly reported (n = 298) followed by alcohol (n = 206), use of seatbelts (n = 167), and use of helmets (n = 66). Ninety-six percent of the studies were reported from high-income countries (HIC), 4.5% from upper-middle-income countries, and only 1.4% from lower-middle and low-income countries. There were 25 systematic reviews of high quality, 4 of moderate quality, and 293 of low quality.

Authors' Conclusions

The EGM shows that the distribution of available road safety evidence is skewed across the world. A vast majority of the literature is from HICs. In contrast, only a small fraction of the literature reports on the many LMICs that are fast expanding their road infrastructure, experiencing rapid changes in traffic patterns, and witnessing growth in road injuries. This bias in literature explains why many interventions that are of high importance in the context of LMICs remain poorly studied. Besides, many interventions that have been tested only in HICs may not work equally effectively in LMICs. Another important finding was that a large majority of systematic reviews are of low quality. The scarcity of evidence on many important interventions and lack of good quality evidence-synthesis have significant implications for future road safety research and practice in LMICs. The EGM presented here will help identify priority areas for researchers, while directing practitioners and policy makers towards proven interventions.

The effectiveness of trauma care systems at different stages of development in reducing mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Traumatic injury remains the leading cause of death, with more than five million deaths every year. Little is known about the comparative effectiveness in reducing mortality of trauma care systems at different stages of development. The objective of this study was to review the literature and examine differences in mortality associated with different stages of trauma system development.

METHOD

A systematic review of peer-reviewed population-based studies retrieved from MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CINAHL. Additional studies were identified from references of articles, through database searching, and author lists. Articles written in English and published between 2000 and 2020 were included. Selection of studies, data extraction, and quality assessment of the included studies were performed by two independent reviewers. The results were reported as odds ratio (OR) with 95 % confidence intervals (CI).

RESULTS

A total of 52 studies with a combined 1,106,431 traumatic injury patients were included for quantitative analysis. The overall mortality rate was 6.77% (n = 74,930). When patients were treated in a non-trauma centre compared to a trauma centre, the pooled statistical odds of mortality were reduced (OR 0.74 [95% CI 0.69-0.79]; p < 0.001). When patients were treated in a non-trauma system compared to a trauma system the odds of mortality rates increased (OR 1.17 [95% CI 1.10-1.24]; p < 0.001). When patients were treated in a post-implementation/initial system compared to a mature system, odds of mortality were significantly higher (OR 1.46 [95% CI 1.37-1.55]; p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

The present study highlights that the survival of traumatic injured patients varies according to the stage of trauma system development in which the patient was treated. The analysis indicates a significant reduction in mortality following the introduction of the trauma system which is further enhanced as the system matures. These results provide evidence to support efforts to, firstly, implement trauma systems in countries currently without and, secondly, to enhance existing systems by investing in system development.

SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION NUMBER

PROSPERO CRD42019142842 .

Retrospective analysis of alcohol testing in trauma team activation patients at a Canadian tertiary trauma centre

OBJECTIVES

Although alcohol screening is an essential requirement of level I trauma centre accreditation, actual rates of compliance with mandatory alcohol testing in trauma patients are seldom reported. Our objective was to determine the prevalence of blood alcohol concentration (BAC) testing in patients requiring trauma team activation (TTA) for whom blood alcohol testing was mandatory, and to elucidate patient-level, injury-level and system-level factors associated with BAC testing.

DESIGN

Retrospective cohort study.

SETTING

Tertiary trauma centre in Halifax, Canada.

PARTICIPANTS

2306 trauma patients who required activation of the trauma team.

PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURE

The primary outcome was the rate of BAC testing among TTA patients. Trends in BAC testing over time and across patient and injury characteristics were described. Multivariable logistic regression examined patient-level, injury-level and system-level factors associated with testing.

RESULTS

Overall, 61% of TTA patients received BAC testing despite existence of a mandatory testing protocol. Rates of BAC testing rose steadily over the study period from 33% in 2000 to 85% in 2010. Testing varied considerably across patient-level, injury-level and system-level characteristics. Key factors associated with testing were male gender, younger age, lower Injury Severity Score, scene Glasgow Coma Scale score <9, direct transport to hospital and presentation between midnight and 09:00 hours, or on the weekend.

CONCLUSIONS

At this tertiary trauma centre with a policy of empirical alcohol testing for TTA patients, BAC testing rates varied significantly over the 11-year study period and distinct factors were associated with alcohol testing in TTA patients.

Implementing Major Trauma Audit in Ireland

BACKGROUND

There are 27 receiving trauma hospitals in the Republic of Ireland. There has not been an audit system in place to monitor and measure processes and outcomes of care. The National Office of Clinical Audit (NOCA) is now working to implement Major Trauma Audit (MTA) in Ireland using the well-established National Health Service (NHS) UK Trauma Audit and Research Network (TARN).

AIMS

The aim of this report is to highlight the implementation process of MTA in Ireland to raise awareness of MTA nationally and share lessons that may be of value to other health systems undertaking the development of MTA.

METHODS

The National Trauma Audit Committee of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, consisting of champions and stakeholders in trauma care, in 2010 advised on the adaptation of TARN for Ireland. In 2012, the Emergency Medicine Program endorsed TARN and in setting up the National Emergency Medicine Audit chose MTA as the first audit project. A major trauma governance group was established representing stakeholders in trauma care, a national project co-ordinator was recruited and a clinical lead nominated. Using Survey Monkey, the chief executives of all trauma receiving hospitals were asked to identify their hospital's trauma governance committee, trauma clinical lead and their local trauma data co-ordinator. Hospital Inpatient Enquiry systems were used to identify to hospitals an estimate of their anticipated trauma audit workload.

RESULTS

There are 25 of 27 hospitals now collecting data using the TARN trauma audit platform. These hospitals have provided MTA Clinical Leads, allocated data co-ordinators and incorporated MTA reports formally into their clinical governance, quality and safety committee meetings. There has been broad acceptance of the NOCA escalation policy by hospitals in appreciation of the necessity for unexpected audit findings to stimulate action.

CONCLUSION

Major trauma audit measures trauma patient care processes and outcomes of care to drive quality improvement at hospital and national level. MTA will facilitate the strategic development of trauma care in Ireland by monitoring processes and outcomes and the effects of changes in trauma service provision.

Measuring acute rehabilitation needs in trauma: preliminary evaluation of the Rehabilitation Complexity Scale

BACKGROUND

Injury severity, disability and care dependency are frequently used as surrogate measures for rehabilitation requirements following trauma. The true rehabilitation needs of patients may be different but there are no validated tools for the measurement of rehabilitation complexity in acute trauma care. The aim of the study was to evaluate the potential utility of the Rehabilitation Complexity Scale (RCS) version 2 in measuring acute rehabilitation needs in trauma patients.

METHODS

A prospective observation study of 103 patients with traumatic injuries in a Major Trauma Centre. Rehabilitation complexity was measured using the RCS and disability was measured using the Barthel Index. Demographic information and injury characteristics were obtained from the trauma database.

RESULTS

The RCS was closely correlated with injury severity (r=0.69, p<0.001) and the Barthel Index (r=0.91, p<0.001). However the Barthel was poor at discriminating between patients rehabilitation needs, especially for patients with higher injury severities. Of 58 patients classified as 'very dependent' by the Barthel, 21 (36%) had low or moderate rehabilitation complexity. The RCS correlated with acute hospital length of stay (r=0.64, p=<0.001) and patients with a low RCS were more likely to be discharged home. The Barthel which had a flooring effect (56% of patients classified as very dependent were discharged home) and lacked discrimination despite close statistical correlation.

CONCLUSION

The RCS outperformed the ISS and the Barthel in its ability to identify rehabilitation requirements in relation to injury severity, rehabilitation complexity, length of stay and discharge destination. The RCS is potentially a feasible and useful tool for the assessment of rehabilitation complexity in acute trauma care by providing specific measurement of patients' rehabilitation requirements. A larger longitudinal study is needed to evaluate the RCS in the assessment of patient need, service provision and trauma system performance.

Influence of a province-wide trauma system on motor vehicle collision process of trauma care and mortality: a 10-year follow-up evaluation

BACKGROUND

Mature trauma systems have evolved to respond to major injury-related morbidity and mortality. Studies of mature trauma systems have demonstrated improved survival, especially among seriously injured patients. From 1995 to 1998, a province-wide trauma system was implemented in the province of Nova Scotia. We measured the proportion of admissions to a tertiary level trauma centre and the proportion of in-hospital deaths among patients with major injuries as a result of a motor vehicle collisions (MVCs) before and 10 years after provincial trauma systems implementation.

METHODS

We identified major trauma patients aged 16 years and older using external cause of injury codes pertaining to MVCs from population-based hospital claims and vital statistics data. Individuals who were admitted to hospital or died because of an MVC in 1993-1994 (preimplementation), were compared with those who were admitted to hospital or died in 2003-2005 (postimplementation).

RESULTS

Postimplementation, there was a 9% increase in the number of seriously injured individuals with primary admission to tertiary care. This increase was statistically significant even after we adjusted for age, head injury and municipality of residence (relative risk [RR] 1.09, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.04-1.14). The probability of dying while in hospital in the postimplementation period decreased by 29% (adjusted RR 0.57, 95% CI 0.32-1.03), although this difference was not statistically significant.

CONCLUSION

Individuals seriously injured in MVCs in Nova Scotia were more likely to be admitted to tertiary care after the implementation of a province-wide trauma system. There was a trend toward decreased mortality, but further research is warranted to confirm the survival benefit and delineate other contributing factors.

Uncharted paths: hospital networks in critical care

Wide variation between hospitals in the quality of critical care lead to many potentially avoidable deaths. Regionalization of critical care is a possible solution; regionalization has been implemented for trauma and neonatal intensive care, and it is under active discussion for medical and cardiac critical care. However, regionalization is only one possible approach to reorganizing critical care services. This commentary introduces the technique of network analysis as a framework for the following: (1) understanding how critically ill patients move between hospitals, (2) defining the roles hospitals play in regional care delivery, and (3) suggesting systematic improvements that may benefit population health. We examined transfers of critically ill Medicare patients in Connecticut in 2005 as a model system. We found that patients are systematically transferred to more capable hospitals. However, we find the standard distinction of hospitals into either "secondary hospitals" or "tertiary hospitals" poorly explains observed transfer patterns; instead, hospitals show a continuum of roles. We further examine the implications of the network pattern in a simulation of quarantine of a hospital to incoming transfers, as occurred during the severe acute respiratory syndrome epidemic. Network perspectives offer new ways to study systems to care for critically ill patients and provide additional tools for addressing pragmatic problems in triage and bed management, regionalization, quality improvement, and disaster preparedness.

A statewide system of trauma care in Victoria: effect on patient survival

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether the statewide system of trauma care introduced in 2000 has resulted in improved survival for all major trauma patients in Victoria.

DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS

Population-based cohort study using data from the Victorian State Trauma Registry (VSTR), a registry of all hospitalised major trauma patients in Victoria. The study included major trauma patients with an Injury Severity Score > 15 captured by the VSTR between July 2001 and June 2006.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE

In-hospital mortality.

RESULTS

The number of major trauma cases captured by the registry rose from 1153 in 2001-02 to 1737 in 2005-06. Adjusting for key predictors of mortality, there was a significant overall reduction between 2001-02 and 2005-06 in the risk of death for patients treated in the trauma system (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 0.62 [95% CI, 0.48-0.80]). The reduced risk of death was also significant when road trauma cases (AOR, 0.56 [95% CI, 0.39-0.80]) and serious head injury cases (AOR, 0.62 [95% CI, 0.46-0.83]) were analysed separately. The proportion of road trauma patients definitively treated at one of the three major trauma service (MTS) hospitals in Victoria rose by 7% over the 5-year period. Direct transfers from the scene of injury to MTS hospitals rose by 8% for all cases and 13% for road trauma cases over the same period.

CONCLUSIONS

Introduction of a statewide trauma system was associated with a significant reduction in risk-adjusted mortality. Such inclusive systems of trauma care should be regarded as a minimum standard for health jurisdictions.

Road injury-related mortality in a medium-sized Brazilian city after some preventive interventions

OBJECTIVE

Some measures have been put into practice in Brazil over the last few years, to reduce the mortality due to road traffic-related injuries. The present study had the aim of evaluating the trends and characteristics of mortality due to this cause among the inhabitants of a medium-sized Brazilian city that has good-quality mortality data.

METHOD

This was a time series study carried out using consolidated data from the Ministry of Health, covering 1994 to 2005.

RESULTS

The results indicate that the obligatory use of seat belts in urban areas (starting in September 1995), implementation of speed control radar at some strategic points (end of 1995 and 1996), and introduction of prehospital attention for victims of road traffic events (starting in June 1996) had a small impact on mortality among victims of road traffic injuries, which continued at a high rate (more than 35 per 100,000 population). In 1999, the year after a new national road traffic code had been implemented, a larger reduction in mortality levels was observed (to 27.2 per 100,000). However, this downward trend was not maintained over subsequent years, with mortality levels continuing to be around 23 to 29 per 100,000 population. Pedestrians, motorcyclists, elderly people, and men were the victims at highest risk of death.

CONCLUSION

This study shows that, despite the general reduction in mortality rate after the new road traffic code was introduced, this trend was not maintained over subsequent years. This shows the need for new strategies aimed at reducing road traffic deaths in towns, particularly among pedestrians and motorcyclists.

Trauma Management Outcomes Associated With Nonsurgeon Versus Surgeon Trauma Team Leaders

STUDY OBJECTIVE

We compare the effectiveness of surgeon and nonsurgeon trauma team leaders.

METHODS

This retrospective study was conducted using data from a Canadian trauma registry database. Data from April 1, 1998, to March 31, 2005, from blunt and penetrating trauma patients aged 16 years or older and with trauma team activation (and without major burns) were included. Patient age, sex, trauma team leader (surgeon or nonsurgeon), mechanism of injury, Injury Severity Score, survival to 3 hours and to discharge, length of stay in the hospital, and Trauma and Injury Severity Score (TRISS) z scores were tabulated.

RESULTS

Data from 807 patients were included. Because of the limited number of penetrating trauma cases, analyses focused on blunt trauma. Surgeon and nonsurgeon trauma team leader groups did not differ on injury severity, age, or sex. No difference was noted in survival to discharge (nonsurgeon 84.8%-surgeon 81.8%=3%; 95% confidence interval [CI] -3.5% to 9.5%), survival to 3 hours (nonsurgeon 96.8%-surgeon 96%=0.8%; 95% CI -2.2% to 3.8%), length of stay (median 13 days for nonsurgeon and 12 days for surgeon groups), or difference between actual and predicted survival (TRISS z scores nonsurgeon 0.64; surgeon 0.99). No trend toward group differences on any outcome variable was observed in penetrating trauma cases.

CONCLUSION

No differences were found in the outcome of trauma patients treated by nonsurgeon versus surgeon trauma team leaders. These findings support a more collaborative approach to resuscitative trauma management with involvement of nonsurgeons as trauma team leaders.