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Published in: European Journal of Trauma and Emergency Surgery 2/2023

Open Access 06-11-2022 | Original Article

Those who speak survive: the value of the verbal component of GCS in trauma

Authors: Arif Alper Cevik, David Olukolade Alao, Eman Alyafei, Fikri Abu-Zidan

Published in: European Journal of Trauma and Emergency Surgery | Issue 2/2023

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Abstract

Aim

To evaluate the value of the individual components of GCS in predicting the survival of trauma patients in the Emergency Department.

Methods

Trauma patients who were admitted for more than 24 h or died after arrival at Al-Ain Hospital from January 2014 to December 2017 were studied. Children < 16 years, elderly > 80 years, patients with facial injuries, those intubated in the ER, and those with missing primary outcomes were excluded. Demography, vital signs, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), GCS components, Injury Severity Score (ISS), head AIS, and death were compared between those who died and those who survived. Factors with a p value of < 0.1 were entered into a backward likelihood logistic regression model to define factors that predict death.

Results

A total of 2548 patients were studied, out of whom 11 (0.4%) died. The verbal component of GCS (p < 0.001) and the ISS (p = 0.047) were the only significant predictors for death in the logistic regression model. The AUC (95% CI) of the GCS-VR was 0.763 (0.58–0.95), p = 0.003. The best point of GCS-VR that predicted survival was 5, having a sensitivity of 97%, a specificity of 54.5%, positive predictive value of 99. 8%, negative predictive value of 7.3%, and likelihood ratio of 2.13.

Conclusion

In general trauma patients, acute trauma care professionals can use GCS-VR to predict survival when clinical condition permits instead of the total GCS score or ISS.
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Metadata
Title
Those who speak survive: the value of the verbal component of GCS in trauma
Authors
Arif Alper Cevik
David Olukolade Alao
Eman Alyafei
Fikri Abu-Zidan
Publication date
06-11-2022
Publisher
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in
European Journal of Trauma and Emergency Surgery / Issue 2/2023
Print ISSN: 1863-9933
Electronic ISSN: 1863-9941
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00068-022-02153-0

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