Citation

Hong ZJ, Chen CJ, Chan DC, Chen TW, Yu JC, Hsu SD. Surg. Today 2019; 49(3): 261-267.

Affiliation

Department of Surgery, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, 325, Sec 2, Chen-Kung Rd, Neihu 114, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC. f1233j@yahoo.com.tw.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s00595-018-1723-y

PMID

30302552

Abstract

The trauma team leader is a professional who receives and treats trauma patients. We aimed to evaluate whether or not the seniority of a qualified trauma team leader was a prognostic factor for multiple-trauma patients managed by a trauma team. This was a retrospective cohort study conducted at a Level I Trauma Center in North Taiwan. From January 2009 to December 2013, 284 patients were randomly assigned to one of two trauma team leaders (junior and senior leaders) on duty, irrespective of the seniority of the qualified trauma team leader. All parameters were collected and compared between these two groups. In the subgroup of multiple-trauma patients with Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) ≤ 8, there were significant differences in the injury severity score, revised trauma score, and seniority of the leader between the alive and dead groups. A multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the seniority of the trauma team leader was an important mortality risk factor [odds ratio (OR): 14.529, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.683-125.429, p = 0.015] in patients with GCS ≤ 8. However, in patients with GCS > 8, age was the only independent risk factor [OR: 1.055, 95% CI 1.023-1.087, p = 0.001]. The seniority of the qualified trauma leader is important for teamwork, organization, and efficiency, all of which play an important role in improving the survival outcome of patients with GCS ≤ 8.

Language: en

Keywords

Leadership; Multiple-trauma; Seniority; Trauma team leader