Severe head injury in elderly: 6-year comparison of treatment and outcome between southern Finland and Navarra (Spain).

PURPOSE: To compare the profile, treatment and outcome of elderly patients with severe traumatic brain injuries (TBI) between southern Finland and Navarra (Spain). METHODS: Data collected from, 2010 to 2015, in the Major Trauma Registry of Navarra (MTR-N) and the Helsinki Trauma Registry (HTR) were compared. Patients with New Injury Severity Score (NISS) ≥ 16 and age ≥ 65 with isolated severe TBI were considered. Patients who had been admitted to the hospital ≥ 24 h after the trauma, had been pronounced dead before hospital arrival, or had been injured by hanging, drowning or burns, were excluded. Outcome was defined by 30-day hospital mortality. The expected mortality was calculated using the Revised Injury Severity Classification score II (RISC II). Other compared data included demographics, injury mechanism, pre-hospital and hospital treatment, and time intervals. RESULTS: A total of 305 (MTR-N) and 137 (HTR) patients were included in the outcome analysis. The standardized mortality ratio with 95% confidence interval was for MTR-N 1.4 (1.1-1.6) and for HTR 0.8 (0.6-1.1). Patients in Navarra were older (average 79.7 vs. 75.0) while in southern Finland the percentage of pre-hospital intubation in patients with GCS ≤ 8 (75.0% vs 50.0%) and ICU admission (72.2% vs 22.0%) were higher. CONCLUSION: The better adjusted outcome of elderly patients with severe TBI in southern Finland in comparison to Navarra could be due to higher rate of pre-hospital intubation and/or higher rate of ICU admissions in southern Finland. Increasing number of elderly patients with severe TBI necessitate uniformly accepted protocols in pre- and in-hospital management.