Comparison of outcomes before and after establishing a regional trauma center and following a protocol to treat blunt splenic injury in South Korea: A retrospective study

摘要

Nonoperative management for hemodynamically stable splenic injury has been accepted as appropriate treatment. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the changes in management and clinical outcomes of splenic injury by introducing a protocol for splenic injury at a newly established regional trauma center. From January 2005 to December 2016, we reviewed the outcomes of all 257 patients who sustained blunt trauma to the spleen at the first regional trauma center in South Korea. This 11-year period was divided into two intervals, before 1 January 2014 (period I, n?=?189 patients) and after 1 January 2014 (period II, n?=?68 patients), when the trauma center was established and a formal management protocol was followed for patients with blunt traumatic splenic injuries. The proportion of emergency operations performed for patients with more serious (grades 3–5) splenic injuries was lower in period II than in period I (29% vs 22%, respectively, p?