High risk trauma children in a mandated -vs. A non-mandated trauma system (I)‎ : a comparative distribution

الملخص EN

Background : At the trauma system maturity level, differ fences in the patterns of care of high-risk patients exist.

Even those states without formal trauma systems may have developed attributes of systematic care (e.g., pre-hospital triage protocols, trauma prevention programs). Aims : this study aimed to identify how the differences in the level of maturity of trauma systems influence the patterns of care of high-risk patients. Methods : Two years (1999-2000) of hospital trauma patient discharge data from Florida (FL), (mature trauma system) and Indiana (IN), (immature trauma system) were analyzed to describe trauma center distribution for high-risk pediatric trauma patients with injury severity score (ISS) >25 in three age groups (l-5y, 6- lOy, ll-15years) in the two states. Results : Data analysis showed that trauma children in Florida generally receive trauma center care more frequently than in Indiana.

However, there was no difference in the rates of trauma center care among high-risk children in the two states.

No significant difference between the two states in the rates of comorbidity was found for the same risk-group children. Conclusion: in conclusion, hospital discharge data can demonstrate the expected patient distribution difference when comparing a mature trauma system with a voluntary evolving system.

Unexpected distribution and treatment differences in these two systems warrant more analysis using exact patient matching techniques.