• Utkarsh Anil, R Jonathan Robitsek, Matthew T Kingery, Charles C Lin, Katherine McKenzie, Sanjit R Konda, and Kenneth A Egol.
• Department of Orthopedic Surgery, NYU Langone Health, NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital, 301 East 17th Street, 14th Floor, New York, NY 10003, United States.
• Injury. 2024 Nov 1; 55 (11): 111843111843.

BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to compare the ICU length of stay (LOS), overall hospital LOS, in-hospital complications, and mortality rate between trauma ICU patients with orthopedic injuries versus those without.MethodsThis was a retrospective cohort study in which the trauma registry of a single level 1 trauma center was queried over a 6-year period for patients admitted to the ICU during hospitalization. Patients were stratified based on the presence/absence of an orthopedic fracture. Negative binomial regression was used to evaluate the effect of orthopedic injury on overall hospital and ICU LOS while controlling for confounding factors. Secondary outcomes included group differences with respect to in-hospital complications, mortality, and discharge disposition.ResultsA total of 1,785 trauma patients were admitted to the ICU and included. Among all trauma ICU patients, 61.1 % (n = 1,091) had no associated orthopedic injuries whereas 38.9 % (n = 694) had at least one. Patients with orthopedic injuries had higher odds of being severely injured (ISS ≥ 16: OR [CI] =1.47 [1.2-1.8]; p < 0.001) despite presenting with a higher level of consciousness than those without orthopedic injuries (mean GCS: 13.3 ± 3.5 vs 12.5 ± 4.1, p < 0.001). Multivariable models demonstrated having an orthopedic injury did not moderate ICU LOS (IRR [CI] = 0.93 [0.9-1.0]; p = 0.110) but did contribute significantly to increasing hospital LOS (IRR [CI] = 1.23 [1.1-1.3]; p < 0.001). There was no evidence to suggest that orthopedic injury increases the risk of in-hospital complication or in-hospital mortality. Orthopedically injured trauma ICU patients were less likely to be discharged home than those without orthopedic injuries.ConclusionsTrauma ICU patients with an associated orthopedic injury have significantly longer hospital stays compared to those without an orthopedic injury, despite no evidence to suggest that the orthopedic injury affects the duration of ICU stay or in-hospital complications.Level Of EvidenceIII, Retrospective cohort study.Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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