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Measuring the severity of injury
Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine
|January 1, 1980
Summary
Researchers explored using plasma lactate levels to enhance the Injury Severity Score (ISS). Results indicate that Baker
Area of Science:
- Trauma research
- Medical scoring systems
Background:
- The Injury Severity Score (ISS) by Baker et al. is a standard for trauma assessment.
- Improving ISS accuracy is crucial for effective patient management.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the utility of plasma lactate levels in refining the Injury Severity Score (ISS).
- To determine if plasma lactate data can improve the predictive accuracy of the ISS.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of plasma lactate concentrations in 277 trauma patients shortly after injury.
- Correlation of log plasma lactate concentration with the established Injury Severity Score (ISS).
- Exploration of modifications to the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) values.
Main Results:
- A positive correlation was observed between log plasma lactate concentration and ISS across its range.
- Modifications to AIS values did not significantly reduce the variance of log plasma lactate concentration.
- Alternative scoring methods based on all injuries showed no statistically significant improvement.
Conclusions:
- Baker's ISS remains the optimal method for grading injuries in acute trauma studies.
- Plasma lactate levels, while correlated, did not significantly enhance the ISS in this cohort.
- Further research may be needed to explore other biomarkers or refine existing scoring systems.