Direct transport to the operating room for resuscitation of trauma patients

Two hundred forty trauma patients were transported directly from the scene to a specially designed operating room (OR) for resuscitation, bypassing the Emergency Department (ED). Triage criteria included a systolic BP <80 mm Hg, penetrating torso trauma, multiple long-bone fractures, major limb amputation, extensive soft-tissue wounds, severe maxillofacial hemorrhage, and witnessed arrest (WA). The mechanism of injury, transport mode, age, sex, admitting Revised Trauma Score (RTS), Injury Severity Score (ISS), Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS), operative procedures, and outcome were recorded. Utilizing the current weights from the Major Trauma Outcome Study, the predicted survival (TRISS) of the total group and of several subgroups was compared to the observed survival. The mean ISS was 29.3. The survival rate for the total group was 70.4%. For the 58.7% who required major operative intervention, the mean time of OR arrival to anesthesia induction was 8.5 minutes. Non-arrested, hypotensive blunt trauma victims requiring therapeutic laparotomy had a higher than predicted survival (observed survival = 0.75 versus average TRISS = 0.55; p < 0.0002) and therefore appeared to benefit from this technique. Patients suffering witnessed arrest in the field did not benefit.