Background: An accurate estimate of the survival and mortality at the initial trauma evaluation is essential to ensure appropriate triage and stratification of the patients for progressive care. One of the recognized tools for predicting mortality is the BIG Score, composed of admission base deficit, international normalized ratio (INR), and Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS). This study evaluates the BIG scale in predicting survival and mortality rates among pediatric trauma patients.
Methods: Pediatric trauma patients, aged <18 years, visiting the emergency department of a tertiary hospital in the North of Jordan from 2014 to 2019 were included. Demographic data, trauma details, and lab results were collected. The BIG score for each patient was calculated. A receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve was generated to determine the best suitable BIG cutoff point and its probabilities.
Results: A total of 424 patients were included in this study. About two-thirds of the patients were males (n=298). The mean±SD of pH and GCS values were significantly lower among dead patients (6.0±2.5, 3.7±3.9, respectively) in comparison to alive ones (7.3±2.7, 11.5±5.5, respectively) (
p
=0.026,
p
<0.001, respectively). On the other hand, base deficit and INR values were significantly higher among dead patients (6.5±6.2, 1.9±2.5, respectively) than alive ones (1.9±3.6, 0.8±0.5, respectively), (
p
<0.001). The BIG score with a cutoff point of ≥10.0 has a high sensitivity (88.5%) and specificity (76.3%) for mortality prediction. The survival rate was correctly predicted in 100% of patients with a BIG score between 2.1 and 6. Also, the best survival predictions were seen in intubated patients (100%), followed by RTA-related trauma and ICU admission with decreasing frequency.
Conclusions: The current study has shown the added value of the BIG score as a simple and rapid tool to predict prognosis in pediatric trauma settings. The BIG score with a cutoff point of ≥10.0 is highly efficient in predicting pediatric trauma patients' mortality rates. However, the BIG score demonstrates greater accuracy in predicting survival outcomes compared to its ability to predict mortality among pediatric trauma patients.