Mortality of civilian patients with suspected traumatic hemorrhage receiving pre-hospital transfusion of packed red blood cells compared to pre-hospital crystalloid

sjtrem.biomedcentral.com November 21, 2018

mortality-of-civilian-patients-with-suspected-traumatic-haemorrhage-receiving-pre-hospital-transfusion-of-packed-red-blood-cells-compared-to-pre-hospital-crystalloid

In a single centre UK HEMS study, in patients with suspected traumatic hemorrhage who received a PRBC transfusion there was an observed, but non-significant, reduction in mortality at 6 h and 28 days, also reflected in a massive transfusion subgroup. Patients receiving pre-hospital PRBC were significantly less likely to require an in-hospital major transfusion. Further adequately powered multi-centre prospective research is required to establish the optimum strategy for pre-hospital volume replacement in patients with traumatic hemorrhage. The crystalloid (n = 103) and PRBC (n = 92) group were comparable for demographics, Injury Severity Score (p = 0.67) and mechanism of injury (p = 0.73). Observed 6 h mortality was smaller in the PRBC group (n = 10, 10%) compared to crystalloid group (n = 19, 18%). A single centre retrospective observational cohort study between 1 January 2010 and 1 February 2015. Patients triggering a pre-hospital Code Red activation were eligible.