A Comparison of the Effectiveness of Before and After the Regional Trauma Center's Establishment

Song,  Bo Hyung; Hyun,  Sung Youl; Kim,  Jin Joo; Cho,  Jin Seong; Ma,  Dae Sung; Kim,  Ha Kyung; Lee,  Geun

doi:2016.29.3.68

J Trauma Inj > Volume 29(3); 2016 > Article

Original Article

Journal of Trauma and Injury 2016;29(3):68-75.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.20408/jti.2016.29.3.68 Published online September 30, 2016.

A Comparison of the Effectiveness of Before and After the Regional Trauma Center's Establishment

Bo Hyung Song, Sung Youl Hyun, Jin Joo Kim, Jin Seong Cho, Dae Sung Ma, Ha Kyung Kim, Geun Lee

¹Department of Emergency Medicine, Gachon University Gil Medical Center, Incheon, Korea.
²Department of Trauma Surgery, Gachon University Gil Medical Center, Incheon, Korea. sungyoul@gilhospital.com

Received: 13 July 2016 • Revised: 20 July 2016 • Accepted: 12 September 2016

Abstract

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to analyze the effectiveness of regional trauma center's management.
METHODS
Data collected between January 2013 and December 2015 from a regional trauma center registry was retrospectively reviewed. The patients who had injury severity score (ISS) greater than 15 and over the age of 18 were included. We compared annual general characteristics, the injury mechanism, the pathway of transportation, the injury severity score, the length of stay in emergency department (ED) and hospital, the in-hospital mortality.
RESULTS
The annual numbers of enrolled patients were 337, 334 and 278, respectively. No significant differences were found in the annual patient's median ages, injury mechanism, ISS and in-hospital mortality. The annual proportions of coming from other hospital and the median length of stay in hospital were increased after establishment of regional trauma center. The annual median lengths of stay in ED were decreased remarkably.
CONCLUSION
Through the establishment of regional trauma center, the length of stay in ED can be reduced but not in-hospital mortality. More multidisciplinary cooperation and well-organized study is needed to reduce mortality of major trauma patients and maximize effect of regional trauma center.

Key Words: Regional trauma center; Injury severity score; Length of stay; Mortality rate