Timing of computed tomography imaging in adult patients with severe trauma: A nationwide cohort study in Japan

Abstract

PurposeComputed tomography (CT) has become essential for the management of trauma patients. However, appropriate timing of CT acquisition remains undetermined. The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between time to CT acquisition and mortality among adult patients with severe trauma. MethodsWe conducted a retrospective cohort study using data from the Japan Trauma Data Bank, which had 256 participating institutions from all over Japan between 2004 and 2018. Patients were categorized upon arrival as either severe trunk trauma with signs of shock or severe head trauma with coma and separately analyzed. Cases were further divided into three groups based on time elapsed between arrival at hospital and CT acquisition as immediate (0–29 min), intermediate (30–59 min), or late (≥60 min). Primary outcome was mortality on discharge, and multivariate logistic regression with adjusting for confounders was used for evaluation. ResultsA total of 8467 (3640 in immediate group, 3441 in intermediate group, 1386 in late group) with trunk trauma patients and 6762 (4367 in immediate group, 2031 in intermediate group, 364 in late group) with head trauma patients were eligible for analysis included in the trunk and head trauma groups, respectively. The trunk trauma patients with shock on hospital arrival was 56.4% (4773/8467), and the head trauma patients with deep coma upon EMS arrival was 44.2% (2988/6762). Mortality rate gradually increased from 5.7% to 15.8% with prolonged time to CT imaging among trunk trauma patients. Multivariate logistic regression for death on discharge among trunk trauma patients yielded an adjusted odds ratio of 1.79 (95% confidence interval: 1.42–2.27) for the late group compared to the immediate group. In contrast, among head trauma patients, an adjusted odds ratio was 0.93 (95% confidence interval: 0.71–1.20) for the late group compared to the immediate group. ConclusionCT scan at or after 60 min was associated with increased death on discharge among patients with severe trunk trauma but not in those with severe head trauma.