Time from injury to arrival at the trauma centre in patients undergoing interhospital transfer.

INTRODUCTION: Trauma patients may require interhospital transfer to definitive care following initial assessment at a primary facility. A prolonged time to transfer may be associated with a poor outcome. The aim of this study was to determine the time from injury to arrival in patients undergoing interhospital transfer to the Trauma Centre at Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. METHODS: Data were obtained from our local trauma registry for the period from 1 November 2016 to 31 October 2019. We included patients who underwent interhospital transfer to our trauma centre. Patients were compared according to a 360-minute time interval between injury and arrival. RESULTS: In the study period, 250 patients underwent interhospital transfer to our trauma centre. The median age was 47 years (interquartile range (IQR) 26-65), the majority were male (68.4%) and a total of 113 patients (46.9%) had an Injury Severity Score (ISS) > 15. The 30-day mortality was 6% (95% confidence interval (CI) 3.6-9.7). The median time from injury to arrival at our trauma centre was 255 minutes (IQR 192-371). We found that 67 patients (27%; 95% CI 21.7-32.6) arrived at our trauma centre more than 360 minutes after time of injury. The patients arriving later than 360 minutes were significantly older (p = 0.004) than the remaining patients. There was no significant difference in the unadjusted 30-day mortality (odds ratio (OR) 1.01, 95% CI 0.3-3.3). CONCLUSIONS: Time from injury to arrival at our trauma centre exceeded 360 minutes for 67 patients (27%) who were significantly older than the remaining patients transferred. FUNDING: departmental funding. TRIAL REGISTRATION: not relevant.