Modified early warning score: evaluation of trauma patients

Area of Science:

• Emergency Medicine
• Trauma Care
• Clinical Assessment

Background:

• Trauma patients require rapid and accurate severity assessment for timely intervention.
• Existing scoring systems may not fully capture the dynamic nature of trauma patient deterioration.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the Modified Early Warning Score (MEWS) as a predictor of severity in emergency trauma patients.
• To correlate MEWS scores with patient outcomes such as surgical intervention and ICU admission.

Main Methods:

• A retrospective cross-sectional study of 115 orange-classified trauma patients.
• Data collected included demographics, injury types, and MEWS scores.
• Statistical analysis included descriptive statistics and inferential tests (Pearson Chi-square, ANOVA, Tukey).

Main Results:

• The study population was predominantly male (81.7%) with a mean age of 39.46 years.
• Major trauma (48.7%) and traumatic brain injury (37.4%) were common.
• MEWS scores of 1-3 correlated with referrals to the operating room and ICU.

Conclusions:

• A starting MEWS score of 2-3 points is a significant indicator of increased patient severity.
• MEWS is a valuable tool for predicting the need for urgent interventions in trauma patients.
• The scale demonstrated good predictive value for patient severity, particularly for those presenting after 6 hours.