Outcome Comparison of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) in Patients with Trauma-Associated and Non-Trauma-Associated ARDS: A Retrospective 11-Year Period Analysis

(1) Background: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a rare complication in multiply injured patients. Due to the rarity of ARDS development after trauma, little is known about outcomes of patients with trauma-associated ARDS compared to patients with non-trauma-associated ARDS. (2) Methods: This retrospective analysis included n = 1038 ARDS patients admitted to the ARDS center of Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin between 2007 and 2018. Patients with trauma-associated ARDS (n = 62) were compared to patients with non-trauma-associated ARDS (n = 976). In a secondary analysis, patients from the group with non-trauma-associated ARDS were 1:1 nearest neighbor matched to patients with trauma-associated ARDS. The primary outcomes were 28-day in-hospital mortality, 60-day in-hospital mortality, and overall in-hospital mortality. (3) Results: Overall in-hospital mortality in trauma-associated ARDS was 29.0% compared to 40.5% in all patients with non-trauma-associated ARDS (p = 0.074). The in-hospital mortality rate in matched patients with non-trauma-associated ARDS (33.9%) was comparable to the trauma-associated ARDS cohort (p = 0.701). Kaplan–Meier curves indicated time-sensitive variations in 28-day and 60-day in-hospital survival. (4) Conclusion: Mortality was not different in patients with trauma-associated ARDS compared to patients with non-trauma-associated ARDS. Survival rate in the Kaplan–Meier curves stabilized after the critical initial phase and throughout the further 60-day period in patients with trauma-associated ARDS compared to patients with non-trauma-associated ARDS. Since this divergence was less pronounced in the matched cohort, it may be related to the younger age, fewer comorbidities, and lower ARDS severity in patients with trauma-associated ARDS. Patients with trauma-associated ARDS remain a very different cohort compared to patients with non-trauma-associated ARDS. Therefore, the outcome comparison is limited, even after matching.