Abstract
Background: Systolic blood pressure is used extensively to triage trauma patients as stable or unstable, contrary to Advanced Trauma Life Support recommendations. We hypothesized that systemic hypotension is a late marker of shock. Methods: The National Trauma Data Bank was queried (n = 115,830). Base deficit was used as a measure of circulatory shock. Systolic blood pressure was correlated with the presence and the severity of base-deficit derangement. Results: Systolic blood pressure correlated poorly with base deficit (r = .28). There was wide variation in systolic blood pressure within each base-deficit group. The mean and median systolic blood pressure did not decrease to less than 90 mm Hg until the base deficit was worse than -20, with mortality reaching 65%. Conclusions: We validated the Advanced Trauma Life Support principle that systemic hypotension is a late marker of shock. A normal blood pressure should not deter aggressive evaluation and resuscitation of trauma patients.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 727-731 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | American journal of surgery |
Volume | 192 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 1 2006 |
Keywords
- Advanced Trauma Life Support
- Blood pressure
- Hemorrhagic shock
- Hypotension
- Injuries
- Metabolic acidosis
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Surgery