Purpose: Hypovolemic shock is the leading cause of death in multiple trauma patients with pelvic bone fracures. The purpose of this study was to develop a simple prediction method for injury severity and amount of hemorrhage via an analysis of the correlation between the type of pelvic bone fracture and the amount of transfusion and to verify the usefulness of the such a simple scoring system.
Methods: We analyzed retrospectively the medical records and radiologic examination of 102 patients who had been diagnosed as having a pelvic bone fracture and who had visited the Emergency Department between January 2007 and December 2011. Fracture sites in the pelvis were confirmed and re-classified anatomically as pubis, ilium or sacrum. A multiple linear regression analysis was performed on the amount of transfusion, and a simplified scoring system was developed. The predictive value of the amount of transfusion for the scoring system as verified by using the receiver operating characteristics (ROC). The area under the curve of the ROC was compared with the injury severity score (ISS).
Results: From among the 102 patients, 97 patients (M:F=68:29, mean age=46.7±16.6 years) were enrolled for analysis. The average ISS of the patients was 16.2±7.9, and the average amount of packed RBC transfusion for 24 hr was 3.9±4.6 units. The regression equation resulting from the multiple linear regression analysis was ''packed RBC units = 1.40×(sacrum fracture.)+1.72×(pubis fracture.)+1.67×(ilium fracture.)+0.36'' and was found to be suitable (p=0.005). We simplified the regression equation to ''Pelvic Bleeding Score = sacrum + pubis + ilium.'' Each fractured site was scored as 0 (no fracture) point, 1 (right or left) point, or 2 (both) points. Sacrum had only 0 or 1 point. The score ranged from 0 to 5. The area under the curve (AUC) of the ROC was 0.718 (95% CI: 0.588-0.848, p=0.009). For an upper Pelvis Bleeding Score of 3 points, the sensitivity of the prediction for a massive transfusion was 71.4%, and the specificity was 69.9%.
Conclusions: We developed a simplified scoring system for the anatomical fracture sites in the pelvis to predict the requirement for a transfusion (Pelvis Bleeding Score (PBS)). The PBS, compared with the ISS, is considered a useful predictor of the need for a transfusion during initial management.