Time to Surgery and Injury Severity Score

Oh,  Chang Seon; Lee,  Jae Gil; Kim,  Seung Hyun

doi:2016.29.4.151

J Trauma Inj > Volume 29(4); 2016 > Article

Original Article

Journal of Trauma and Injury 2016;29(4):151-154.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.20408/jti.2016.29.4.151 Published online December 31, 2016.

Time to Surgery and Injury Severity Score

Chang Seon Oh, Jae Gil Lee, Seung Hyun Kim

¹Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. sseunghk@yuhs.ac
²Department of Surgery, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
³Trauma Training Center, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University Health System, Seoul, Korea.

Received: 16 November 2016 • Revised: 1 December 2016 • Accepted: 20 January 2017

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.

Key Words: Polytrauma; Injury severity score (ISS); Surgery