Errors in adult trauma resuscitation: a systematic review

Area of Science:

• Emergency Medicine
• Surgical Critical Care
• Patient Safety

Background:

• Trauma resuscitation in dedicated centers involves high-stakes, time-sensitive tasks by ad-hoc teams, increasing the risk of errors.
• Current error reporting in trauma resuscitation is inconsistent and lacks standardized terminology, hindering improvement efforts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review and characterize errors occurring during adult trauma resuscitation.
• To identify and categorize unique error types to inform the development of improved trauma care systems.

Main Methods:

• A systematic review was conducted using Ovid Medline, Scopus, and Embase databases up to February 24, 2021.
• Included were English-language studies published after 2001 focusing on adult trauma resuscitation errors, with data extracted and categorized by two independent reviewers.

Main Results:

• The review identified 26 eligible studies from 4658 initially retrieved articles.
• A total of 39 unique error types were identified and classified into 9 categories, including issues with handover, airway management, assessment, monitoring, transfusion, injury management, communication, procedures, and disposition.

Conclusions:

• The study identified 39 distinct error types in trauma resuscitation, highlighting significant areas for potential system improvements.
• Recognizing and categorizing these errors is a critical first step toward developing enhanced protocols and enhancing patient safety in trauma care.