Time to Surgery and Injury Severity Score

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the association between time to surgery and injury severity score (ISS). Methods: Medical charts and records were reviewed for polytrauma patients who underwent trauma surgery from November 2014 to March 2016. The patients were divided into two groups based on the ISS.Results: Among the 217 operated patients, 22 patients underwent first and second surgery. The patients with an ISS over 17 (mean 13.0 days) had a longer interval between surgeries than patients with an ISS of 17 or less (mean 7.5 days) (p=0.031). One hundred and twenty-one patients only underwent elective surgery and there is a positive correlation between ISS and time to elective surgery (p<0.028, Pearson's correlation coefficient=0.224). Seventy-four patients underwent emergent surgery only. Among these, the patients with an ISS of 17 or less underwent general surgery (86%) but the patients with an ISS more than 17 underwent neurological surgery (47%).Conclusion: Patients with high ISS need critical care during the preoperative and postoperative period. [ J Trauma Inj 2016; 29: 151-154 ]