Three-year Analysis of Patients and Treatment Experiences in the Regional Trauma Center of Gachon University Gil Hospital between 2011 and 2013

Yoon, Yong Cheol; Lee, Jung Nam; Chung, Min; Jeon, Yang Bin; Park, Jae Jeong; Yu, Byung Chul; Lee, Gil Jae; Cho, Hyun Jin; Ma, Dae Sung; Lee, Min A; Choi, Jung Ju; Son, Seong

Abstract

PURPOSE
The first regional trauma center selected in Korea was the Gachon University Gil hospital regional trauma center; expectation on its role has been high because of its location in the Seoul metropolitan region. To determine if those expectations are being met, we analyzed the patients visiting the center and their treatment experiences for the past 3 years in order to propose a standard for the operation of a trauma center.
METHODS
The visiting route, visiting methods, performance of emergency surgery, the ward and the length of stay, the injury mechanism, the injury severity score (ISS), the department that managed the surgery, and the cause of death were analyzed for 367 patients visiting the center from its establishment in June 2011 through December 2013.
RESULTS
The mean age of the patients was 47 years (285 male and 82 female patients). A total of 187 patients directly visited the center whereas 180 were transferred to the center. Traffic accidents comprised the majority of injury mechanisms, and 178 patients underwent emergency surgery. The mean length of stay per patient was 11 days for those in the ICU and 27 days for those in a general ward. These patients occupied 4 beds in the ICU and 10 beds in the general ward per day. A total of 1.21 surgeries were performed per patient, and the mean number of surgeries performed per day was 0.49. The mean ISS was 15.91, and 183 patients (50%) had an ISS of > or =16. Thirty-one patients died; they had a mean ISS of 28.42. The most frequent cause of death was multi-organ failure. The mean number of treatment consultations during a patient's stay was 6.32. Forty-five patients (13%) were discharged from the center, and 291 (79%) were transferred to another hospital.
CONCLUSION
A systematic approach to establishing a treatment model for trauma patients, including injury mechanism, multidisciplinary treatment, and trauma surgeon intervention, is required for treating trauma patients.