• Vincent A Gemma, Kristina M Chapple, Pamela W Goslar, Sharjeel Israr, Scott R Petersen, and Jordan A Weinberg.
• From the Department of Surgery, Dignity Health-St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, Phoenix, Arizona.
• J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2018 Nov 1; 85 (5): 953-959.

IntroductionTrauma centers reported illicit amphetamine use in approximately 10% of trauma admissions in the previous decade. From experience at a trauma center located in a southwestern metropolis, our perception is that illicit amphetamine use is on the rise and that these patients utilize in-hospital resources beyond what would be expected for their injuries. The purposes of this study were to document the incidence of illicit amphetamine use among our trauma patients and to evaluate its impact on resource utilization.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective cohort study using 7 consecutive years of data (starting July 2010) from our institution's trauma registry. Toxicology screenings were used to categorize patients into one of three groups: illicit amphetamine, other drugs, or drug-free. Adjusted linear and logistic regression models were used to predict hospital cost, length of stay, intensive care unit admission, and ventilation between drug groups. Models were conducted with combined injury severity (Injury Severity Score [ISS]) and then repeated for ISS of less than 9, ISS 9 to 15, and ISS 16 or greater.ResultsEight thousand five hundred eighty-nine patients were categorized into the following three toxicology groups: 1,255 (14.6%) illicit amphetamine, 2,214 (25.8%) other drugs, and 5,120 (59.6%) drug-free. Illicit amphetamine use increased threefold over the course of the study (from 7.85% to 25.0% of annual trauma admissions). Adjusted linear models demonstrated that illicit amphetamine among patients with ISS of less than 9 was associated with 4.6% increase in hospital cost (p = 0.019) and 7.4% increase in length of stay (p = 0.043). Logistic models revealed significantly increased odds of ventilation across all ISS groups and increased odds of intensive care unit admission when all ISS groups were combined (p = 0.001) and within the group with ISS of less than 9 (p = 0.002).ConclusionsHospital resource utilization of amphetamine patients with minor injuries is significant. Trauma centers with similar epidemic growth in proportion of amphetamine patients face a potentially significant resource strain relative to other centers.Level Of EvidencePrognostic/Epidemiological, level II; Therapeutic, level III.

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