Reality of treatment for severely injured patients: are there age-specific differences?
BMC Emerg Med
; 24(1): 14, 2024 Jan 24.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38267869
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Major trauma and its consequences are one of the leading causes of death worldwide across all age groups. Few studies have conducted comparative age-specific investigations. It is well known that children respond differently to major trauma than elderly patients due to physiological differences. The aim of this study was to analyze the actual reality of treatment and outcomes by using a matched triplet analysis of severely injured patients of different age groups.METHODS:
Data from the TraumaRegister DGU® were analyzed. A total of 56,115 patients met the following inclusion criteria individuals with Maximum Abbreviated Injury Scale > 2 and < 6, primary admission, from German-speaking countries, and treated from 2011-2020. Furthermore, three age groups were defined (child 3-15 years; adult 20-50 years; and elderly 70-90 years). The matched triplets were defined based on the following criteria 1. exact injury severity of the body regions according to the Abbreviated Injury Scale (head, thorax, abdomen, extremities [including pelvis], and spine) and 2. level of the receiving hospital.RESULTS:
A total of 2,590 matched triplets could be defined. Traffic accidents were the main cause of severe injury in younger patients (child 59.2%; adult 57.9%). In contrast, low falls (from < 3 m) were the most frequent cause of accidents in the elderly group (47.2%). Elderly patients were least likely to be resuscitated at the scene. Both children and elderly patients received fewer therapeutic interventions on average than adults. More elderly patients died during the clinical course, and their outcome was worse overall, whereas the children had the lowest mortality rate.CONCLUSIONS:
For the first time, a large patient population was used to demonstrate that both elderly patients and children may have received less invasive treatment compared with adults who were injured with exactly the same severity (with the outcomes of these two groups being opposite to each other). Future studies and recommendations should urgently consider the different age groups.Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Accidentes de Tránsito
/
Extremidades
Tipo de estudio:
Guideline
Límite:
Adolescent
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Adult
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Aged
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Child
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Child, preschool
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Humans
Idioma:
En
Año:
2024
Tipo del documento:
Article