Can Early Aggressive Administration of Fresh Frozen Plasma Improve Outcomes in Patients with Severe Blunt Trauma?—a Report by the Japanese Association for the Surgery of Trauma

BACKGROUND: This study investigated the effect of a high ratio of fresh frozen plasma (FFP) to red blood cells (RBCs) within the first 6 and 24 h after admission on mortality in patients with severe, blunt trauma. METHODS: This retrospective observational study included 189 blunt trauma patients with an Injury Severity Score (ISS) ≥16 requiring RBC transfusions within the first 24 h. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to calculate cut-off values of the FFP/RBC ratio for outcome. The patients were then divided into two groups according to the cut-off value. Patient survival was compared between groups using propensity score matching (PSM). RESULTS: The area under the ROC curve was 0.57, and the FFP/RBC ratio was 1.0 at maximum sensitivity (0.57) and specificity (0.67). All patients were then divided into two groups (FFP/RBC ratio ≥1 or <1) and analyzed using PSM and inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW). The unadjusted hazard ratio (HR) was 0.44, and the adjusted HR was 0.29. The HR was 0.38 by PSM and 0.41 by IPTW. The survival rate was significantly higher in patients with an FFP/RBC ratio ≥1 within the first 6 h. CONCLUSIONS: Severe blunt trauma patients transfused with an FFP/RBC ratio ≥1 within the first 6 h had an HR of about 0.4. The transfusion of an FFP/RBC ratio ≥1 within the first 6 h was associated with the outcomes of blunt trauma patients with ISS ≥16 who need a transfusion within 24 h.