Baseline of trauma admissions at the intermediate and intensive care units
| Total, n=1320 | IMCU, n=675 | ICU, n=645 | |||
| n (%) | n (%) | Missing, n (%) | n (%) | Missing, n (%) | |
| General characteristics | |||||
| Age (SD) | 52.3 (21.0) | 54.2 (20.5) | 0 (0.0%) | 50.3 (21.3) | 0 (0.0%) |
| Sex, male (%) | 910 (68.9%) | 462 (68.4%) | 0 (0.0%) | 448 (69.5%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| Trauma mechanism (%) | |||||
| Traffic—HET | 500 (37.9%) | 251 (37.2%) | 0 (0.0%) | 249 (38.6%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| Traffic—LET | 130 (9.8%) | 57 (8.4%) | 73 (11.3%) | ||
| Fall—HET | 136 (10.3%) | 76 (11.3%) | 60 (9.3%) | ||
| Fall—LET | 373 (28.3%) | 207 (30.7%) | 166 (25.7%) | ||
| Penetrating—firearms | 21 (1.6%) | 7 (1.0%) | 14 (2.2%) | ||
| Penetrating—other | 59 (4.5%) | 36 (5.3%) | 23 (3.6%) | ||
| Drowning | 5 (0.4%) | 0 (0.0%) | 5 (0.8%) | ||
| Burn/inhalation trauma | 31 (2.3%) | 14 (2.1%) | 17 (2.6%) | ||
| Other | 65 (4.9%) | 27 (4.0%) | 38 (5.9%) | ||
| Global injury severity | |||||
| ISS (IQR) | 19 (13–26) | 17 (11–22) | 0 (0.0%) | 22 (14–30) | 0 (0.0%) |
| Maximum AIS score (%) | |||||
| ≤3 | 551 (41.7%) | 332 (49.2%) | 0 (0.0%) | 219 (34.0%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| 4 | 543 (41.1%) | 288 (42.7%) | 255 (39.5%) | ||
| 5–6 | 226 (17.1%) | 55 (8.1%) | 171 (26.5%) | ||
| Head injury severity | |||||
| First ED GCS score | |||||
| 14–15 | 666 (54.6%) | 528 (78.2%) | 53 (7.9%) | 138 (21.4%) | 47 (7.3%) |
| 9–12 | 152 (12.5%) | 75 (11.1%) | 77 (11.9%) | ||
| ≤8 | 402 (33.0%) | 19 (2.8%) | 383 (59.4%) | ||
| Maximum head AIS score | |||||
| ≤2 | 626 (47.4%) | 366 (54.2%) | 0 (0.0%) | 260 (40.3%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| 3 | 160 (12.1%) | 84 (12.4%) | 76 (11.8%) | ||
| 4–6 | 534 (40.5%) | 225 (33.3%) | 309 (47.9%) | ||
| Thoracoabdominal injury severity | |||||
| Maximum thorax AIS score | |||||
| ≤2 | 843 (63.9%) | 439 (65.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 404 (62.6%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| 3 | 260 (19.7%) | 135 (20.0%) | 125 (19.4%) | ||
| 4–6 | 217 (16.4%) | 101 (15.0%) | 116 (18.0%) | ||
| Maximum abdominal AIS score | |||||
| ≤2 | 1222 (92.6%) | 634 (93.9%) | 0 (0.0%) | 588 (91.2%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| 3 | 60 (4.5%) | 28 (4.1%) | 32 (5.0%) | ||
| 4–5 | 38 (2.9%) | 13 (1.9%) | 25 (3.9%) | ||
| Extremity injury severity | |||||
| Maximum extremity AIS score | |||||
| ≤2 | 1108 (83.9%) | 570 (84.4%) | 0 (0.0%) | 538 (83.4%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| 3 | 195 (14.8%) | 97 (14.4%) | 98 (15.2%) | ||
| 4–5 | 17 (1.3%) | 8 (1.2%) | 9 (1.4%) | ||
| Vital signs at presentation (SD) (IQR) | |||||
| Systolic blood pressure | 135 (28.5) | 137 (24.6) | 29 (4.3%) | 133 (32.1) | 31 (4.8%) |
| Respiratory rate | 19 (5.9) | 19 (5.3) | 123 (18.2%) | 18 (6.6) | 156 (24.2%) |
| Saturation | 1.00 (0.97–1.00) | 1.00 (0.97–1.00) | 42 (6.2%) | 1.00 (0.97–1.00) | 57 (8.8%) |
| Laboratory parameters at presentation (SD) (IQR) | |||||
| Hemoglobin | 8.5 (1.2) | 8.6 (1.0) | 38 (5.6%) | 8.3 (1.4) | 46 (7.1%) |
| Lactate | 2.2 (1.5–3.3) | 2 (1.4–2.8) | 208 (30.8%) | 2.6 (1.7–3.9) | 135 (20.9%) |
| pH | 7.4 (7.3–7.4) | 7.4 (7.4–7.4) | 174 (25.8%) | 7.3 (7.3–7.4) | 64 (9.9%) |
| pCO2 | 44 (10.5) | 41 (7.5) | 174 (25.8%) | 47 (11.8) | 64 (9.9%) |
| pO2 | 178 (99–292) | 149 (91–238) | 174 (25.8%) | 205 (106–349) | 64 (9.9%) |
| HCO3 | 23.9 (3.6) | 24.4 (3.1) | 174 (25.8%) | 23.4 (4.0) | 64 (9.9%) |
| BE | −1.0 (−4.0 to 1.0) | 0.0 (−2.6 to 2.0) | 174 (25.8%) | −2.0 (−5.0 to 1.0) | 49 (7.6%) |
| Saturation | 1.00 (1.00–1.00) | 1.00 (1.00–1.00) | 202 (29.9%) | 1.00 (1.00–1.00) | 83 (12.9%) |
This baseline table shows the overall characteristics of trauma admissions which received critical care during the study period, stratified per location of delivered critical care (intermediate or intensive care unit).
AIS, Abbreviated Injury Scale; BE, base excess; ED, emergency department; GCS, Glasgow Coma Scale; ICU, intensive care unit; IMCU, intermediate care unit; ISS, Injury Severity Score; HET, high energy trauma; LET, low energy trauma; BCA, bootstrapped confidence interval; ICP, Intracranial pressure.