The association of radiologic body composition parameters with clinical outcomes in level-1 trauma patients

PURPOSE: The present study aims to assess whether CT-derived muscle mass, muscle density, and visceral fat mass are associated with in-hospital complications and clinical outcome in level-1 trauma patients. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted on adult patients admitted to the University Medical Center Utrecht following a trauma between January 1 and December 31, 2017. Trauma patients aged 16 years or older without severe neurological injuries, who underwent a CT that included the abdomen within 7 days of admission, were included. An artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm was used to retrieve muscle areas to calculate the psoas muscle index and to retrieve psoas muscle radiation attenuation and visceral fat (VF) area from axial CT images. Multivariable logistic and linear regression analyses were performed to assess associations between body composition parameters and outcomes. RESULTS: A total of 404 patients were included for analysis. The median age was 49 years (interquartile range [IQR] 30–64), and 66.6% were male. Severe comorbidities (ASA 3–4) were seen in 10.9%, and the median ISS was 9 (IQR 5–14). Psoas muscle index was not independently associated with complications, but it was associated with ICU admission (odds ratio [OR] 0.79, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.65–0.95), and an unfavorable Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) score at discharge (OR 0.62, 95% CI 0.45–0.85). Psoas muscle radiation attenuation was independently associated with the development of any complication (OR 0.60, 95% CI 0.42–0.85), pneumonia (OR 0.63, 95% CI 0.41–0.96), and delirium (OR 0.49, 95% CI 0.28–0.87). VF was associated with developing a delirium (OR 1.95, 95% CI 1.12–3.41). CONCLUSION: In level-1 trauma patients without severe neurological injuries, automatically derived body composition parameters are able to independently predict an increased risk of specific complications and other poor outcomes. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00068-023-02252-6.