Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34013050›Full record

ArticleTrauma surgery & acute care open2021

Trauma resource pit stop: increasing efficiency in the evaluation of lower severity trauma patients.

Imad S Dandan, Gail T Tominaga, Frank Z Zhao, Kathryn B Schaffer, Fady S Nasrallah, Melanie Gawlik, Dunya Bayat, Tala H Dandan, Walter L Biffl

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Trauma surgery & acute care open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
0.7field-weighted citation impact, top 29% of its field
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

1 citing paper in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. 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

9 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Imad S DandanTrauma Service, Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla, La Jolla, California, USA.
Gail T TominagaTrauma Service, Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla, La Jolla, California, USA.
Frank Z ZhaoTrauma Service, Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla, La Jolla, California, USA.
Kathryn B SchafferTrauma Service, Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla, La Jolla, California, USA.
Fady S NasrallahTrauma Service, Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla, La Jolla, California, USA.
Melanie GawlikTrauma Service, Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla, La Jolla, California, USA.
Dunya BayatTrauma Service, Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla, La Jolla, California, USA.
Tala H DandanTrauma Service, Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla, La Jolla, California, USA.
Walter L BifflTrauma Service, Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla, La Jolla, California, USA.
Scripps Memorial Hospital · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundOvertriage of trauma patients is unavoidable and requires effective use of hospital resources. A 'pit stop' (PS) was added to our lowest tier trauma resource (TR) triage protocol where the patient stops in the trauma bay for immediate evaluation by the emergency department (ED) physician and trauma nursing. We hypothesized this would allow for faster diagnostic testing and disposition while decreasing cost.

methodsWe performed a before/after retrospective comparison after PS implementation. Patients not meeting trauma activation (TA) criteria but requiring trauma center evaluation were assigned as a TR for an expedited PS evaluation. A board-certified ED physician and trauma/ED nurse performed an immediate assessment in the trauma bay followed by performance of diagnostic studies. Trauma surgeons were readily available in case of upgrade to TA. We compared patient demographics, Injury Severity Score, time to physician evaluation, time to CT scan, hospital length of stay, and in-hospital mortality. Comparisons were made using 95% CI for variance and SD and unpaired t-tests for two-tailed p values, with statistical difference, p<0.05.

resultsThere were 994 TAs and 474 TRs in the first 9 months after implementation. TR's preanalysis versus postanalysis of the TR group shows similar mean door to physician evaluation times (6.9 vs. 8.6 minutes, p=0.1084). Mean door to CT time significantly decreased (67.7 vs. 50 minutes, p<0.001). 346 (73%) TR patients were discharged from ED; 2 (0.4%) were upgraded on arrival. When admitted, TR patients were older (61.4 vs. 47.2 years, p<0.0001) and more often involved in a same-level fall (59.5% vs. 20.1%, p<0.0001). Undertriage was calculated using the Cribari matrix at 3.2%. DISCUSSION: PS implementation allowed for faster door to CT time for trauma patients not meeting activation criteria without mobilizing trauma team resources. This approach is safe, feasible, and simultaneously decreases hospital cost while improving allocation of trauma team resources. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level II, economic/decision therapeutic/care management study.

Indexed as

field triageresourcetrauma activationtrauma triage

Identifiers

PMID34013050
PMCPMC8094379
OpenAlexW3159948379

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

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.