RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: We retrospectively analyzed trauma patients who were transported by a physician-staffed helicopter (doctor helicopter) to investigate the clinical significance of the fibrinogen degradation product (FDP) level on arrival. METHODS: From February 2011 to July 2016, a medical chart review was retrospectively performed for all patients with trauma who were transported by the doctor helicopter. The subjects were divided into 2 groups: a survival group and a fatal group. RESULTS: There were 135 patients in the survival group and 16 in the fatal group. The ratio of head injury, value of Injury Severity Score (ISS), and level of FDP in the fatal group were significantly greater than in the survival group. The average Glasgow Coma Scale and systolic blood pressure in the fatal group were significantly smaller than in the survival group. The FDP level at arrival was positively associated with the ISS (R = 0.74, P < .0001). After excluding subjects with shock, unconsciousness, and head injury, the FDP level was still positively associated with the ISS (R = 0.60, P < .0001). CONCLUSION: Therefore, the FDP level may be a useful biochemical parameter for the initial evaluation of the severity of trauma, even in blunt trauma patients without head injury or with stable vital signs.