How Many Trauma Admissions Require Acute Trauma Team Interventions?

The aim of this study was to assess the percentage of trauma patients admitted and receiving intervention, and to identify which of these interventions were performed by non-trauma specialists.

The authors conducted a retrospective chart review of all adult patients who presented to the trauma service between January 2019 and June 2019. Collected data included demographics, trauma activation level, total interventions performed, interventions performed by the trauma team, interventions performed by subspecialty teams, and isolated injuries requiring orthopedic, neurosurgical, or other specialized care. Descriptive analyses were used to evaluate the data.

The authors reviewed a total of 287 patient charts. Of these, 111 patients (38.7%) underwent operative intervention. Seventy-five patients (26.1%) received operative intervention from the orthopedic surgery team, 16 patients (5.6%) from the neurosurgery team, and 14 patients (4.9%) from other subspecialty teams. Only six patients (2.1%) underwent operative intervention by the trauma team.

The data suggest that many trauma admissions do not require trauma team interventions. This highlights the potential need to reassess the criteria for admitting trauma patients.