Mortality after trauma intubation without drugs in Scottish emergency departments

Trauma patients who are intubated without anaesthetic drugs in the pre-hospital phase of care have universally poor outcomes. This study aimed to determine the mortality of trauma patients intubated without drugs in emergency departments in Scotland.

This retrospective cohort study used the prospective Scottish Trauma Audit Group (STAG) database to identify how many patients were intubated and how many required drugs for intubation between 1 January 1999 and 31 December 2002. The mortality of those intubated with drugs and without drugs was determined from the database.

24,756 patients were included in the STAG database. There were 1469 intubations: 1287 with drugs and 182 without drugs. 92.5% of all intubations were for blunt trauma. There was no difference in the proportion of males or median age between groups. Median GCS was 8 (E1M5V2) in the drugs group and 3 (E1M1V1) in the no drugs group (p<0.001). Median ISS was higher in those intubated without drugs (33 versus 25, p<0.001). Median RTS and probability of survival were lower in those intubated without drugs (both p<0.001). Mortality was higher in those intubated without drugs (91.2% versus 29.4%, p<0.001). Sixteen patients, intubated without drugs, survived. These patients had a higher median respiratory rate (9 versus 0, p=0.013) and higher median systolic blood pressure (80 mmHg versus 0 mmHg, p=0.041) than non-survivors.

Trauma patients in Scottish emergency departments who are intubated without drugs have high mortality rates. Outcomes are not universally fatal and aggressive resuscitation efforts may be of benefit to a small number of such patients.