Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32123951›Full record

ArticleEuropean journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society2021

Survey on worldwide trauma team activation requirement.

Christian Waydhas, Heiko Trentzsch, Timothy C Hardcastle, Kai Oliver Jensen, World-Trauma TAcTIC Study Group

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in European journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Observational
  2. Article
  3. Pediatric trauma management in Switzerland: insights from a nationwide survey.Clinical and experimental emergency medicine · 2025
    Article
  4. Undertriage in geriatric trauma: insights from a multicentre cohort study.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2025
    Observational
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Trauma-team-activation in Germany: how do emergency service professionals use the activation due to trauma mechanism? Results from a nationwide survey.European journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society · 2022
    Article
  8. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Christian WaydhasBerufsgenossenschaftliches Universitätsklinikum Bergmannsheil, Bürkle-de-la-Camp-Platz 1, 44789, Bochum, Germany. christian.waydhas@bergmannsheil.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5291-0853
Heiko TrentzschInstitut für Notfallmedizin und Medizinmanagement (INM), Klinikum Der Universität München, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Schillerstr. 53, 80336, Minich, Germany.
Timothy C HardcastleInkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital, Mayville and University of Kwa Zulu Natal, 800 Vusi Mzimela Rd, Congella, 4058, South Africa.
Kai Oliver JensenKlinik für Traumatologie, UniversitätsSpital Zürich, Rämistrasse 100, 8091, Zurich, Switzerland.
World-Trauma TAcTIC Study Group

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeTrauma team activation (TTA) is thought to be essential for advanced and specialized care of very severely injured patients. However, non-specific TTA criteria may result in overtriage that consumes valuable resources or endanger patients in need of TTA secondary to undertriage. Consequently, criterion standard definitions to calculate the accuracy of the various TTA protocols are required for research and quality assurance purposes. Recently, several groups suggested a list of conditions when a trauma team is considered to be essential in the initial care in the emergency room. The objective of the survey was to post hoc identify trauma-related conditions that are thought to require a specialized trauma team that may be widely accepted, independent from the country's income level.

methodsA set of questions was developed, centered around the level of agreement with the proposed post hoc criteria to define adequate trauma team activation. The participants gave feedback before they answered the survey to improve the quality of the questions. The finalized survey was conducted using an online tool and a word form. The income per capita of a country was rated according to the World Bank Country and Lending groups.

resultsThe return rate was 76% with a total of 37 countries participating. The agreement with the proposed criteria to define post hoc correct requirements for trauma team activation was more than 75% for 12 of the 20 criteria. The rate of disagreement was low and varied between zero and 13%. The level of agreement was independent from the country's level of income.

conclusionsThe agreement on criteria to post hoc define correct requirements for trauma team activation appears high and it may be concluded that the proposed criteria could be useful for most countries, independent from their level of income. Nevertheless, more discussions on an international level appear to be warranted to achieve a full consensus to define a universal set of criteria that will allow for quality assessment of over- and undertriage of trauma team activation as well as for the validation of field triage criteria for the most severely injured patients worldwide.

Indexed as

Trauma CentersWounds and InjuriesConsensusEmergency Service, HospitalHumansPatient Care TeamRetrospective StudiesTriageField triageOvertriageTrauma teamTrauma team activation

Identifiers

PMID32123951
PMCPMC8476357

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.