A Comparison of the Kampala Trauma Score with the Revised Trauma Score in a Cohort of Colombian Trauma Patients

Abstract

ABSTRACT Introduction To date, no trauma scoring system has emerged as the gold standard for use in developing countries, where limited resources for data collection are a major issue. The purpose of this study is to compare the relatively recently developed and simply calculated KTS (Kampala Trauma Score) with the more widely used RTS (Revised Trauma Score) within a cohort of Colombian trauma patients. Materials and methods Data on over 2,200 patients was derived from a newly developed trauma registry in Colombia. A statistical analysis was done using SPSS software, and included simple linear and logistical regression as appropriate. Results Both the KTS and RTS were statistically significant in terms of their ability to predict death and length of stay in hospital with the KTS being a better predictor of both. The simplest model predicting death used only the neurologic component of the KTS. However, none of these three scores explained a very large amount of the variation in the dataset. Conclusion Although statistically significant, neither the KTS nor the RTS performed well at predicting death or length of hospital stay. However, the simpler KTS did perform somewhat better than the slightly more complex RTS. Using the extremely simple neurologic component of the KTS on its own proved to be the best predictor of length of hospital stay, and also outperformed the RTS in regards to death prediction. It is clear from this study that the optimal injury scoring system for use in under resourced environments remains allusive with further research warranted. How to cite this article Clarkson CA, Clarkson C, Rubiano AM, Borgaonkar M. A Comparison of the Kampala Trauma Score with the Revised Trauma Score in a Cohort of Colombian Trauma Patients. Panam J Trauma Critical Care Emerg Surg 2012;1(3):146-149.