Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness

May 26, 2021

COVID-19 in Trauma: A Propensity-Matched Analysis of COVID and Non-COVID Trauma Patients

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  • Patients admitted after trauma who were found to have COVID had higher rates of mortality (9% vs. 2%) and pneumonia (8% vs. 0), and a longer mean length of stay (7.5 days vs. 3 days) compared to patients without COVID-19, according to a retrospective, propensity-matched cohort study (n = 159) of patients presenting to 11 Level-I and II trauma centers in California. The two groups had similar rates of mechanical ventilation, ventilator days, complications, and discharge disposition. However, only two of 53 patients with COVID-19 died of respiratory failure, suggesting that other physiologic pathways may increase mortality risk. The authors call for additional studies to confirm these results and identification of predisposing factors associated with higher mortality in trauma patients with COVID-19.

Yeates et al. (May 25, 2021). COVID-19 in Trauma: A Propensity-Matched Analysis of COVID and Non-COVID Trauma Patients. European Journal of Trauma and Emergency Surgery. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00068-021-01699-9