Predicting the critical administration threshold in bleeding trauma patients

Delays in promptly recognizing and appropriately managing hemorrhagic injuries contribute to preventable trauma related deaths nationwide. We sought to identify patient variables available at the time of emergency department arrival associated with meeting the critical administration threshold.

We conducted a trauma registry review from September 2016 to March 2020 of trauma team activations at The Ottawa Hospital, a Level 1 Trauma Center. Our primary outcome was the frequency of meeting the critical administration threshold. Secondary outcomes included time to critical administration threshold, 24-h all-cause mortality, and 30-day all-cause mortality. Multivariate logistic regression identified factors independently associated with meeting the critical administration threshold.

We assessed 762 patients, of which 78 (10.2%) met the critical administration threshold. The median time to critical administration threshold was 28.9 min. Mortality at 24 h occurred in 58 (7.6%) patients. Four variables available upon patient arrival predicted the critical administration threshold, including systolic blood pressure ≤ 90 mmHg (OR 6.6; 95% CI 3.7–12.0), Glasgow Coma Scale ≤ 8 (OR 5.9; 95% CI 3.2–10.6), heart rate ≥ 100 beats/minute (OR 4.4; 95% CI 2.4–8.1), and respiratory rate ≥ 20 breaths/min (OR 2.2; 95% CI 1.2–4.0).

We identified four clinical variables readily available to physicians upon patient arrival associated with meeting the critical administration threshold: systolic blood pressure ≤ 90 mmHg, Glasgow Coma Scale ≤ 8, heart rate ≥ 100 beats/minute, and respiratory rate ≥ 20 breaths/min. Patients presenting with any of these clinical parameters should prompt physicians to consider ordering blood products immediately.