Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39505595›Full record

ArticleSurgery2025

Beyond Glasgow Coma Scale: Prehospital prediction of traumatic brain injury.

Jessica E Schucht, Shayan Rakhit, Michael C Smith, Jin H Han, Joshua B Brown, Areg Grigorian, Stephen P Gondek, Jason W Smith, Mayur B Patel, Amelia W Maiga

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Surgery, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
11citing 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

11 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. A different perspective in trauma patients: can pan-immune-inflammation value (PIV) predict mortality?Ulusal travma ve acil cerrahi dergisi = Turkish journal of trauma & emergency surgery : TJTES · 2026
    Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Review
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Review
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

10 authors.

Jessica E SchuchtDivision of Acute Care Surgery, Department of Surgery, Section of Surgical Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN. Electronic address: jessica.schucht@gmail.com.
Shayan RakhitDivision of Acute Care Surgery, Department of Surgery, Section of Surgical Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN; Critical Illness, Brain Dysfunction, and Survivorship Center, Vanderbilt Center for Health Services Research, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN.
Michael C SmithDivision of Acute Care Surgery, Department of Surgery, Section of Surgical Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN.
Jin H HanCritical Illness, Brain Dysfunction, and Survivorship Center, Vanderbilt Center for Health Services Research, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN; Department of Emergency Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN; Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center, Tennessee Valley Healthcare System, Nashville, TN.
Joshua B BrownDepartment of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.
Areg GrigorianDepartment of Surgery, University of California, Irvine, CA.
Stephen P GondekDivision of Acute Care Surgery, Department of Surgery, Section of Surgical Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN.
Jason W SmithDepartment of Surgery, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY.
Mayur B PatelDivision of Acute Care Surgery, Department of Surgery, Section of Surgical Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN; Critical Illness, Brain Dysfunction, and Survivorship Center, Vanderbilt Center for Health Services Research, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN; Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center, Tennessee Valley Healthcare System, Nashville, TN.
Amelia W MaigaDivision of Acute Care Surgery, Department of Surgery, Section of Surgical Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN; Critical Illness, Brain Dysfunction, and Survivorship Center, Vanderbilt Center for Health Services Research, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN.

Funding

BRAIN-ICU-2 Study: Bringing to Light the Risk Factors And Incidence of Neuropsychological Dysfunction (Dementia) in ICU Survivors, 2nd StudyR01AG058639 · NIA · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER · PI ELY, E WESLEY, JEFFERSON, ANGELA L. · 2019 to 2024
$18.3M
The INSIGHT-ICU Study: Illuminating Neuropsychological dysfunction and Systemic Inflammatory mechanisms Gleaned after Hospitalization in Trauma-ICU StudyR01GM120484 · NIGMS · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER · PI PATEL, MAYUR B · 2017 to 2021
$3.0M
Interdisciplinary Training in Injury and Critical IllnessT32GM135094 · NIGMS · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER · PI PATEL, MAYUR B · 2021 to 2025
$967k
Improving Prognostication for Traumatic Brain InjuryK23GM150110 · NIGMS · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER · PI Amelia Maiga · 2023 to 2026
$695k
NIA NIH HHS R01 AG058639NIGMS NIH HHS K23 GM150110NIGMS NIH HHS R01 GM120484NIGMS NIH HHS T32 GM135094RRD VA I01 RX002992
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionEarly identification of traumatic brain injury followed by timely, targeted treatment is essential. We aimed to establish the ability of prehospital Glasgow Coma Scale score alone and combined with vital signs to predict hospital-diagnosed traumatic brain injury.

methodsThis study included adults from the 2017-2020 Trauma Quality Improvement Program data set with blunt mechanism. We calculated test characteristics of prehospital Glasgow Coma Scale score ≤12 alone and Glasgow Coma Scale score combined with heart rate and systolic blood pressure for predicting (1) any traumatic brain injury and (2) moderate to severe traumatic brain injury. Diagnostic performances were calculated in all patients and older adults (≥55 years). We used decision curve analysis to determine the net diagnostic benefit of prehospital Glasgow Coma Scale score combined with heart rate + systolic blood pressure over Glasgow Coma Scale score alone.

resultsOf 1,687,336 patients, 39.1% had any traumatic brain injury, 3.7% had moderate to severe traumatic brain injury, and 9.1% had a prehospital Glasgow Coma Scale score ≤12. Prehospital Glasgow Coma Scale score ≤12 alone had a sensitivity 83.1%, specificity 93.7%, negative predictive value 99.3%, and positive predictive value 33.7% for predicting moderate to severe traumatic brain injury. Adding prehospital heart rate <65/min and systolic blood pressure >150 mm Hg to Glasgow Coma Scale score ≤12 improved the positive predictive value for moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (55.3%), with a preserved negative predictive value of 96.4%. Decision curve analysis showed the traumatic brain injury prediction model including prehospital heart rate and systolic blood pressure had the greatest net benefit across most threshold probabilities.

conclusionLess than a third of adult blunt trauma patients with a prehospital Glasgow Coma Scale score ≤12 have moderate to severe traumatic brain injury. Supplementing Glasgow Coma Scale score with prehospital vital signs improves diagnostic accuracy, potentially by filtering out patients with altered consciousness due to shock. Future work should better identify patients for traumatic brain injury-specific treatments in prehospital settings, including triage destination.

Indexed as

Brain Injuries, TraumaticEmergency Medical ServicesGlasgow Coma ScaleAdultAgedBlood PressureFemaleHeart RateHumansMaleMiddle AgedPredictive Value of TestsRetrospective StudiesSensitivity and Specificity

Identifiers

PMID39505595
PMCPMC12951582

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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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.