Association of Serum Biomarkers with the Mortality of Trauma Victims in a Level -1 Trauma Care Centre of Eastern India

OBJECTIVE: To determine correlation of important biochemical laboratory investigations in different trauma patients and their degree of injury severity and overall mortality association. METHODS: In this hospital based retrospective observational study, 238 trauma patients were divided into two groups. Group I with injury severity score (ISS)<16 and group II with ISS>16. Haemoglobin (Hb), international normalized ratio, serum creatinine, blood urea nitogen (BUN), serum electrolyte, serum uric acid and liver function parameters were recorded and statistically analyzed. RESULTS: Group II had statistically significant (p<0.0001) elevated levels for referral pulse rate, creatinine, BUN, liver enzymes and decreased level in Hb% and potassium level compared to Group I. Strong positive correlation only exists between BUN and severity score, moderate positive correlation exists between creatinine, aspartate transaminase, and alanine transaminase, alkaline phosphatase and severity score and negative correlation between potassium and severity score. In this study, higher odds of high BUN and creatinine and lower potassium to normal values are associated with bad outcome such as higher mortality in the population of high ISS (>16). CONCLUSION: The study establishes the absolute need of doing three laboratory parameters (serum creatinine, serum blood urea nitrogen and serum potassium) instead of doing laboratory tests battery at the time of trauma victims admission and predicting survival among injured patients in trauma population from Indian settings.