Predictors of missed injuries in hospitalized trauma patients in the emergency department

To determine the extent of missed injuries in patients hospitalized with major trauma in a Turkish Level 1 emergency department. We also tried to identify the primary factors contributing to each missed injury and to determine their subsequent adverse short-term clinical outcomes.

This is a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data on a cohort of trauma patients. Trauma patients were divided into two groups: patients with missed injury and others. Logistic regression was used to define factors affecting “missed injury”.

A total of 670 hospitalized trauma patients were included. The incidence of missed injuries in the patients and the rate of missed injury per patient were 13.3% (95% CI 6–20) and 1.64, respectively. The most frequently missed diagnosis was injuries of the musculoskeletal system (38%; 95% CI 30–46). It was “clavicle fracture and/or dislocation” (35%; 95% CI 16–53) when the rate of missed diagnosis according to the frequency of the specific injury was calculated. A multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the predictors of missed injuries were patient’s age (OR 0.74, 95% CI 0.63–0.87), total number of injuries (OR 1.74, 95% CI 1.38–2.20), and ISS (OR 1.10, 95% CI 1.03–1.18). Radiological errors were prominent in almost 90% (95% CI 85–95). Missed injury caused additional hospital stay (30%; 95% CI 21–40) and additional surgery was required (15%; 95% CI 8–23).

The study highlights the need for a trauma team approach and the need for support of radiological report in the ED.