Duration and predictors of emergency surgical operations-basis for medical management of mass casualty incidents

Background: Hospitals have a critically important role in the management of mass causality incidents (MCI), yet there is little information to assist emergency planners. A significantly limiting factor of a hospital's capability to treat those affected is its surgical capacity. We therefore intended to provide data about the duration and predictors of life saving operations. Methods: The data of 20,815 predominandy blunt trauma patients recorded in the Trauma Registry of the German-Trauma-Society was retrospectively analyzed to calculate the duration of life-saving operations as well as their predictors. Inclusion criteria were an ISS≥16 and the performance of relevant ICPM-coded procedures within 6h of admission. Results: From 1,228 patients fulfilling the inclusion criteria 1,793 operations could be identified as life-saving operations. Acute injuries to the abdomen accounted for 54.1% followed by head injuries (26.3%), pelvic injuries (11.5%), thoracic injuries (5.0%) and major amputations (3.1%). The mean cut to suture time was 130min (IQR 65-165min). Logistic regression revealed 8 variables associated with an emergency operation: AIS of abdomen ≥3 (OR 4,00), ISS ≥35 (OR 2,94), hemoglobin level ≤8 mg/dL (OR 1,40), pulse rate on hospital admission <40 or >120/min (OR 1,39), blood pressure on hospital admission<90 mmHg (OR 1,35), prehospital infusion volume ≥2000 ml (OR 1,34), GCS ≤8 (OR 1,32) and anisocoria (OR 1,28) on-scene. Conclusions: The mean operation time of 130min calculated for emergency life-saving surgical operations provides a realistic guideline for the prospective treatment capacity which can be estimated and projected into an actual incident admission capacity. Knowledge of predictive factors for life-saving emergency operations helps to identify those patients that need most urgent operative treatment in case of blunt MCI.