Background The International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Edition, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) Injury Severity Score (ICISS) is a risk adjustment model when injuries are recorded using ICD-9-CM coding. The trauma mortality prediction model (TMPM-ICD9) provides better calibration and discrimination compared with ICISS and injury severity score (ISS). Though TMPM-ICD9 is statistically rigorous, it is not precise enough mathematically and has the tendency to overestimate injury severity. The purpose of this study is to develop a new ICD-10-CM injury model which estimates injury severities for every injury in the ICD-10-CM lexicon by a combination of rigorous statistical probit models and mathematical properties and improves the prediction accuracy. Methods We developed an injury mortality prediction (IMP-ICDX) using data of 794,098 patients admitted to 738 hospitals in the National Trauma Data Bank from 2015 to 2016. Empiric measures of severity for each of the trauma ICD-10-CM codes were estimated using a weighted median death probability (WMDP) measurement and then used as the basis for IMP-ICDX. ISS (version 2005) and the single worst injury (SWI) model were re-estimated. The performance of each of these models was compared by using the area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUC), the Hosmer-Lemeshow (HL) statistic, and the Akaike information criterion statistic. Results IMP-ICDX exhibits significantly better discrimination (AUCIMP-ICDX, 0.893, and 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.887 to 0.898; AUCISS, 0.853, and 95% CI, 0.846 to 0.860; and AUCSWI, 0.886, and 95% CI, 0.881 to 0.892) and calibration (HLIMP-ICDX, 68, and 95% CI, 36 to 98; HLISS, 252, and 95% CI, 191 to 310; and HLSWI, 92, and 95% CI, 53 to 128) compared with ISS and SWI. All models were improved after the extension of age, gender, and injury mechanism, but the augmented IMP-ICDX still dominated ISS and SWI by every performance. Conclusions The IMP-ICDX has a better discrimination and calibration compared to ISS. Therefore, we believe that IMP-ICDX could be a new viable trauma research assessment method.

Between 2000 and 2004, 40 cases (average age 38, range 16-65 years) of spinal tuberculosis were treated with anterior debridement and iliac bone graft with one-stage anterior or posterior instrumentation in our unit. All patients received at least 2 weeks of regular antituberculous chemotherapy before surgery. We followed up all patients for 12-48 months (mean 22 months). Local symptoms of all patients were relieved significantly 1-3 weeks postoperatively; 23 of 25 cases (92%) with neurogical deficit had excellent or good clinical results. Erythrocyte sedimentation rates (ESR) returned from 51 mm/h to 32 mm/h (average) two weeks postoperatively. Kyphosis degrees were corrected by a mean of 16 degrees . Fusion rate of the grafting bone was 72.5% one year postoperatively and 90% two years postoperatively. Severe complications did not occur. We therefore believe that patients undergoing anterior debridement and iliac bone grafting with one-stage anterior or posterior instrumentation achieve satisfactory clinical and radiographic outcomes.

We report the outcome of 30 patients with multilevel noncontiguous spinal fractures treated between 2000 and 2005. Ten cases were treated conservatively (group A), eight cases were operated on at only one level (group B), and 12 cases were treated surgically at both levels (group C). All cases were followed up for 14-60 months (mean 32 months). Initial mobilisation with a wheelchair or crutches in group A was 9.2±1.1 weeks, which was significantly longer than groups B and C with 6.8±0.7 weeks and 3.1±0.4 weeks, respectively. Operative time and blood loss in group C were significantly more than group B. The neurological deficit improved in six cases in group A (60%), six in group B (75%) and eight in group C (80%). Correction of kyphotic deformity was significantly superior in groups C and B at the operated level, and increasing deformity occurred in groups A and B at the non-operated level. From the results we believe that three treatment strategies were suitable for multilevel noncontiguous spinal fractures, and individualised treatment should be used in these patients. In the patients treated surgically, the clinical and radiographic outcomes are much better.