Determinants of prehospital lactate in trauma patients: a retrospective cohort study

Point of care serum lactate measurement is emerging as an adjunct to prehospital clinical assessment and has the potential to guide triage and advanced treatment decision-making. In this study we aimed to assess which factors potentially affect prehospital lactate levels.

We performed a retrospective cohort study of all trauma patients attended by the Air Ambulance, Kent, Surrey & Sussex (AAKSS) between July 2017 and April 2018 in whom a pre-hospital lactate was measured. Lactate was measured before AAKSS treatments were commenced, but generally after prehospital treatment by ground ambulance crews was initiated. Primary endpoint of interest was the association of various patient- and treatment characteristics with prehospital lactate levels.

During the study period, lactate was measured in 156 trauma patients. Median lactate was 3.0 [2.0-4.1] mmol/l. Patients with an elevated lactate more often had deranged indices of end organ perfusion- and oxygenation (shock index 0.80 [0.58-1.03] vs 0.61 [0.40-0.82], p < 0.001, SpO₂ 96 [89-100%] vs 98 [96-100%], p = 0.025). They more often suffered from head injuries (62% vs 41%, p = 0.008), and received less analgesia prior to arrival of the AAKSS team (51.6% vs 67.2%, p = 0.03). In multivariate analysis, indices of end organ perfusion- and oxygenation only explained 15% of the variation in lactate levels.

Prehospital lactate levels are not solely associated with indices of end organ perfusion- and oxygenation. Injury type, treatments given on scene and many other (unmeasured) factors likely play an important role as well. This should be taken into account when lactate is used in clinical algorithms to guide prehospital triage or treatment.