Dados do Trabalho

Título

SAPS 3 as a mortality predictor for Trauma patients in northeast Brazil: is it a good surrogate for outcomes?

Objetivo

To compare SAPS 3 score mortality prediction to real data in trauma patients admitted to a Intensive Care Unit.

Métodos

Cohort conducted in a Trauma reference hospital which followed patients until hospital discharge or death. We collected data on age, reason for Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admission, length of hospital and ICU stay and variables needed to calculate SAPS 3 score. We recorded patient outcomes and compared real with predicted mortality. Statistical analysis of the collected data was carried out using descriptive statistics with categorical variables being reported as counts and percentages, and continuous variables as means with standard deviations or medians with interquartile ranges.

Resultados

We included 210 patients. Mean age was 45.6 (SD ±3.33) years, with a predominance of males (n=172; 82%). Non-surgical head trauma accounted for 40% of admissions, followed by spinal trauma 17% and neurosurgical emergencies 18%. Mean SAPS 3 score was 62 (SD ±2.43) and the predicted score mortality was 40.3% in general and 50.7% when adjusted for Latin America population. Our cohort real absolute mortality was 35%.

Conclusão

SAPS 3 absolute mortality prediction overestimated our cohort actual mortality. This may have happened due to a younger mean age of our cohort, together with the fact that our center is a reference facility in trauma care, with established and validated protocols of care. The findings of this study do not support SAPS 3 as a good surrogate for mortality prediction in our sample and speaks in favor of trauma specific scores for our population.