Differences between trauma admissions at the neuro(surgical) and mixed-surgical intermediate care unit
| Neuro IMCU, n=324 | Surgical IMCU, n=351 | |||
| n (%) | Missing, n (%) | n (%) | Missing, n (%) | |
| General characteristics | ||||
| Age (SD) | 58.3 (20.3) | 0 (0.0%) | 50.3 (20.0) | 0 (0.0%) |
| Sex, male (%) | 212 (65.4%) | 0 (0.0%) | 250 (71.2%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| Trauma mechanism | ||||
| Traffic—HET | 82 (25.3%) | 0 (0.0%) | 169 (48.1%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| Traffic—LET | 43 (13.3%) | 14 (4.0%) | ||
| Fall—HET | 25 (7.7%) | 51 (14.5%) | ||
| Fall—LET | 153 (47.2%) | 54 (15.4%) | ||
| Penetrating—firearms | 1 (0.3%) | 6 (1.7%) | ||
| Penetrating—other | 8 (2.5%) | 28 (8.0%) | ||
| Burn/inhalation trauma | 0 (0.0%) | 14 (4.0%) | ||
| Other | 12 (3.7%) | 15 (4.3%) | ||
| Global injury severity | ||||
| ISS (SD) | 18.1 (8.4) | 0 (0.0%) | 16.6 (9.2) | 0 (0.0%) |
| Maximum AIS score | ||||
| ≤3 | 107 (33.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 225 (64.1%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| 4 | 178 (54.9%) | 110 (31.3%) | ||
| 5–6 | 39 (12.0%) | 16 (4.6%) | ||
| Head injury severity | ||||
| First ED GCS score | ||||
| 14–15 | 223 (68.8%) | 25 (7.7%) | 305 (86.9%) | 28 (8.0%) |
| 9–12 | 62 (19.1%) | 13 (3.7%) | ||
| ≤8 | 14 (4.3%) | 5 (1.4%) | ||
| Maximum head AIS score | ||||
| ≤2 | 72 (22.2%) | 0 (0.0%) | 294 (83.8%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| 3 | 50 (15.4%) | 34 (9.7%) | ||
| 4–6 | 202 (62.3%) | 23 (6.6%) | ||
| Thoracoabdominal injury severity | ||||
| Maximum thorax AIS score | ||||
| ≤2 | 273 (84.3%) | 0 (0.0%) | 166 (47.3%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| 3 | 32 (9.9%) | 103 (29.3%) | ||
| 4–6 | 19 (5.9%) | 82 (23.4%) | ||
| Maximum abdominal AIS score | ||||
| ≤2 | 322 (99.4%) | 0 (0.0%) | 312 (88.9%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| 3 | 2 (0.6%) | 26 (7.4%) | ||
| 4–5 | 0 (0.0%) | 13 (3.7%) | ||
| Extremity injury severity | ||||
| Maximum extremity AIS score | ||||
| ≤2 | 307 (94.8%) | 0 (0.0%) | 263 (74.9%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| 3 | 17 (5.2%) | 80 (22.8%) | ||
| 4–5 | 0 (0.0%) | 8 (2.3%) | ||
| Vital signs at presentation (SD)[IQR] | ||||
| Systolic blood pressure | 139 (23.9) | 20 (6.2%) | 136 (25.2) | 9 (2.6%) |
| Respiratory rate | 19 (5.3) | 66 (20.4%) | 19 (5.2) | 57 (16.2%) |
| Saturation | 1.00 [0.97 to 1.00] | 30 (9.3%) | 1.00 [0.98 to 1.00] | 12 [3.4%] |
| Laboratory parameters at presentation (SD)[IQR] | ||||
| Hemoglobin | 8.6 [8.5 to 8.7] | 22 (6.8%) | 8.7 [8.6 to 8.8] | 16 (4.6%) |
| Lactate | 2.0 [1.5 to 2.9] | 128 (39.5%) | 1.9 [1.4 to 2.8] | 80 (22.8%) |
| pH | 7.4 [7.4 to 7.4] | 116 (35.8%) | 7.4 [7.3 to 7.4] | 58 (16.5%) |
| pCO2 | 40 (7.8) | 116 (35.8%) | 42 (7.0) | 58 (16.5%) |
| pO2 | 154 [96 to 238] | 116 (35.8%) | 148 [88 to 243] | 58 (16.5%) |
| HCO3 | 24.2 (3.0) | 116 (35.8%) | 24.6 (3.1) | 58 (16.5%) |
| BE | 0.0 [−3.0 to 2.0] | 116 (35.8%) | 0.0 [−2.0 to 2.0] | 58 (16.5%) |
| Saturation | 1.00 [1.00 to 1.00] | 129 (39.8%) | 1.00 [1 to 1.00] | 73 (20.8%) |
The numbers presented here are the descriptive statistics of intermediate care unit admissions after sustained trauma, stratified per intermediate care unit: the neuro(surgical) and mixed-surgical.
AIS, Abbreviated Injury Scale; BE, base excess; ED, emergency department; GCS, Glasgow Coma Scale; IMCU, intermediate care unit; ISS, Injury Severity Score.