Evaluation of mortality markers in trauma patients admitted to the emergency department

Trauma is tissue damage caused by external influences. Traffic accidents and falls are the leading causes worldwide. All age groups, especially the young population, are affected. It is an important source of mortality and morbidity for humans and a burden on national economies. In the emergency department where trauma patients are evaluated, time is precious in the golden hours and critical patients should be differentiated. Trauma scores have been derived for this purpose. These scores are usually dependent on detailed examination, laboratory and imaging results and require complex calculations. There is an ongoing need for a trauma score that can be used globally. Our study aims to respond to this need by using blood gas ratios. Our study was performed retrospectively and single-center in a tertiary care hospital. The data of 236 patients who met the inclusion criteria were scanned from hospital registration systems. Trauma scores and blood gas ratios were calculated. The data obtained were statistically analyzed and significance levels were determined as p<0.05. The mean age of the patients was 43.21±18.39 years and males were the majority. The most common injuries were blunt injuries and vehicular traffic accidents. Intubation status was 23.73%. In addition to injury site, blood glucose, vitals, trauma scores, sodium, chlorine, bicarbonate, lactate, base deficit were associated with death, ionized calcium was not (p>0.05). Potassium/ionized calcium, Lactate/ionized calcium, Base minus/ionized calcium, Bicarbonate/ionized calcium were associated with death (p<0.05). Age, fever, intubation status, trauma scores, potassium, sodium, chlorine, bicarbonate, lactate, base minus, Potassium/ionized calcium, Sodium/ionized calcium, Chlorine/ionized calcium, Lactate/ionized calcium, Base minus/ionized calcium, Bicarbonate/ionized calcium are factors affecting mortality. LICA-H score is the trauma score with the highest mortality prediction power (0.97), sensitivity (0.96) and specificity (0.88). We found that the LiCa index is a strong predictor of mortality in all respects. We found the LICA-H score to be the trauma score with the highest predictive power, specificity and sensitivity for mortality. This new information, which is new to the literature, needs to be supported by comprehensive and multiple studies.