Comparison the Emergency Severity Index and Manchester Triage System in Trauma Patients

To compare the emergency severity index (ESI) and Manchester triage system (MTS) in trauma patients.

This cross-sectional study was conducted by census method in Hasheminejad hospital during 2019. Patients referred to a trauma center triaged by five trained triage nurses based on ESI and MTS. Outcomes were considered as length of stay at the emergency department, admission to the other sectors and discharge or leave the hospital. Information from the triage form, nursing registry office and hospital registry system were extracted and analyzed by SPSS software.

Totally 447 and 468 patients triaged with the ESI and MTS were included, respectively. Seventy percent of patients triaged with ESI and 34% with MTS were placed in level 3 or the yellow group (equivalent group 3 triage). The hospitalization rate is approximately equal at each triage level in the both systems. The mortality rate in both groups was 0%. Mean length of stay was significantly lower in the MTS group compared to ESI in the emergency department (p<0.05).

Using of ESI triage in the trauma center causes to arrive more patients to the emergency department instead of the fast track and leads to waste the time and energy of staff'. However, further studies are needed to prove this result.