Analysis of trauma scoring system for patients with abdominal trauma

This study investigated the correlations between several trauma scoring systems, including the injury severity score (ISS), clinical abdominal scoring system (CASS), new injury severity score (NISS), and clinical outcomes, including laparotomy, in-hospital mortality (IHM), and long hospital stay (LS) in patients with abdominal trauma.

Data of 749 patients with abdominal trauma between January 2009 and December 2019 were reviewed retrospectively. Data from medical records included age, sex, initial vital signs, type and mechanism of trauma, hospital stay, laparotomy, and IHM. Injured organs and grades were collected using computed tomography. Correlations between the scoring system and clinical outcomes were analyzed using the area under Curves (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.

The mean age of the patients was 40.14±19.47 years. Blunt trauma was the most common type of trauma in 704 patients (94.0%), and traffic accident was the most common mechanism in 475 (63.4%). Injured organs included liver (45.1%) and spleen (25.1%). A total of 179 patients (23.9%) underwent laparotomy and IHM was reported in 35 (4.6%). The AUC of ROC for ISS, NISS, and CASS was significantly associated with laparotomy (0.682; p=0.001, 0.713; p=0.001; 0.845; p=0.001). The AUCs showed significant for IHM (0.606; p=0.034, 0.626; p=0.012, 0.701; p=0.001). The AUCs for LS were 0.554 (p=0.041), 0.549 (p=0.062), and 0.581 (p=0.002).

The CASS is excellent for predicting laparotomy, IHM, and LS in patients with abdominal trauma. The NISS is more appropriate than the ISS for predicting laparotomy and IHM.