Role of trauma center level in the outcome of severely injured geriatric patients

Abstract

Background

According to the nationally imposed standard of care in the Netherlands, severely injured patients should be brought to a Level-1 trauma center for primary treatment. If not, they are considered to be undertriaged. This study aimed to determine the incidence of undertriage among severely injured geriatric patients and to evaluate the relation between hospital-undertriage and patient outcomes in elderly.

Methods

This retrospective cohort study used anonymized data from the regional trauma registry of 1,431 patients aged ≥70 years with an Injury Severity Score ≥16 that were admitted to hospitals within the Trauma Region West-Netherlands between 2015 and 2022. Poor patient outcome was defined as in-hospital mortality or as a Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) score ≤3 at hospital discharge. The association between hospital level and poor outcomes was analyzed using multivariable logistic regression analysis with adjustment for confounders after multiple imputation of missing values.

Results

Seventeen percent of the severely injured geriatric patients were primarily transported to a Level-2/3 hospital. Female patients, older patients, and patients that had suffered a low-energy fall were most likely to be undertriaged. The adjusted odds ratio's for in-hospital mortality and GOS score ≤3 in Level-1 versus Level-2/3 hospitals were 1.26 (95 % confidence interval, 0.83–1.93; p = 0.28) and 0.81 (95 % confidence interval, 0.57–1.15; p = 0.24), respectively.

Conclusion

Undertriaged severely injured geriatric patients did not have a higher risk for poor outcomes. Level-2/3 hospitals seem to present a safe alternative for the treatment of these patients.