Criteria of MacKenzie et al for Triage of a Patient to a Trauma Center Based on the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS)

Description

MacKenzie et used several clinical parameters including age, Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) and type of injury to determine if a patient should be triaged to a trauma center or treated at the local community hospital. The authors are from the University of Maryland and the Johns Hopkins University.

Regions for the AIS:

(1) external

(2) head

(3) neck

(4) thorax

(5) abdominal or pelvic contents

(6) spine

(7) extremities

Injury Severity	Abbreviated Injury Score
minor injury	1
moderate injury	2
severe but not life-threatening	3
potentially life-threatening but survival likely	4
critical with uncertain survival	5
unsurvivable injury	6
severity unknown	9

Triage rules:

Maximum AIS	Age	Other	Triage To
<= 2 in <= 2 regions	any		non-trauma
>= 2 in >= 3 regions	any		trauma
>=3 in >= 1 region	< 5 years		trauma
>=3 in >= 1 region	>= 55 years	not closed hip fracture; fall from height	trauma
3 in 1 body region	>= 55	closed hip fracture; not fall from height	non-trauma
3 in 1 or 2 body regions	5 - 54 years	not excluded	non-trauma
3 in 1 or 2 body regions	5 - 54 years	excluded	trauma
>= 4 in >= 1 region	any		trauma
>=5 burn			burn center
>=4 burn and >=5 in other regions			trauma then burn

where:

• Vassar et al modified the table by (1) using AIS >= 3 in >= 3 body regions for second entry (not used) and (2) fall from height data (used).

• I modified the burn criteria in the implementation, changing from >= 5 to >= 4.

Excluded for AIS 3 in 1 body region:

(1) AIS 3 to head, spine, or thorax

(2) AIS 3 to abdomen with hemorrhage (hypovolemia producing)

(3) AIS 3 pelvic fracture

(4) AIS 3 crush injury in extremity

(5) AIS 3 extremity injury with major vascular involvement

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Description

Specialty

ICD-10