Epidemiology of severe trauma in Spain. Registry of trauma in the ICU (RETRAUCI). Pilot phase

Objective: To describe the characteristics and management of severe trauma disease in Spanish Intensive Care Units (ICUs). Registry of trauma in the ICU (RETRAUCI). Pilot phase.

Design: A prospective, multicenter registry.

Setting: Thirteen Spanish ICUs.

Patients: Patients with trauma disease admitted to the ICU.

Interventions: None.

Main variables of interest: Epidemiology, out-of-hospital attention, registry of injuries, resources utilization, complications and outcome were evaluated.

Results: Patients, n=2242. Mean age 47.1±19.02 years. Males 79%. Blunt trauma 93.9%. Injury Severity Score 22.2±12.1, Revised Trauma Score 6.7±1.6. Non-intentional in 84.4% of the cases. The most common causes of trauma were traffic accidents followed by pedestrian and high-energy falls. Up to 12.4% were taking antiplatelet medication or anticoagulants. Almost 28% had a suspected or confirmed toxic influence in trauma. Up to 31.5% required an out-of-hospital artificial airway. The time from trauma to ICU admission was 4.7±5.3hours. At ICU admission, 68.5% were hemodynamically stable. Brain and chest injuries predominated. A large number of complications were documented. Mechanical ventilation was used in 69.5% of the patients (mean 8.2±9.9 days), of which 24.9% finally required a tracheostomy. The median duration of stay in the ICU and in hospital was 5 (range 3-13) and 9 (5-19) days, respectively. The ICU mortality rate was 12.3%, while the in-hospital mortality rate was 16.0%.

Conclusions: The pilot phase of the RETRAUCI offers a first impression of the epidemiology and management of trauma disease in Spanish ICUs.