Abstract
Background
With the aging population, the number of older patients with multiple injuries is
increasing. The aim of this study was to understand the patterns and outcomes of older
patients admitted to a major trauma centre in Hong Kong from 2006 to 2015, and investigate
the performance of the trauma team activation (TTA) criteria for these elderly patients.
Methods
This was a retrospective cohort study from a university hospital major trauma centre
in Hong Kong from 2006 to 2015. Patients aged 55 or above who entered the trauma registry
were included. Patients were divided into those aged 55–70, and above 70. To test
the performance of the TTA criteria, we defined injured patients with severe outcomes
as those having any of the following: death within 30 days; the need for surgery;
or the need for intensive care unit (ICU) care.
Results
2218 patients were included over the 10 year period. The 30-day mortality was 7.5%
for aged 55–70 and 17.7% for those aged above 70. The sensitivity of TTA criteria
for identifying severe outcomes for those aged 55 or above was 35.6%, with 91.6% specificity.
The under-triage rate was 59% for age 55–70, and 69.1% for those aged above 70.
Conclusion
There is a need to consider alternative TTA criteria for our geriatric trauma population,
and to more clearly define the process and standards of care in Hong Kong.
Keywords
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: June 05, 2018
Accepted:
June 5,
2018
Received in revised form:
May 14,
2018
Received:
February 26,
2018
Identification
Copyright
© 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
