Every minute counts: time to delivery of initial massive transfusion cooler and its impact on mortality

University of Texas Health Sciences Center and McGovern School of Medicine, Houston, TX The Center for Translational Injury Research, Houston, TX The Center for Translational Injury Research, Houston, TX University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, AZ The Keck School of Medicine and Los Angeles County Hospital, Los Angeles, CA The University of Washington Medical School and Harborview Medical Center, Seattle, WA University of Texas Health Sciences Center and McGovern School of Medicine and The Center for Translational Injury Research, Houston, TX University of Texas Health Sciences Center and McGovern School of Medicine and The Center for Translational Injury Research, Houston, TX.

The Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery. 2017;83((1):):19-24
Abstract
BACKGROUND ACS-TQIP Best Practices recommends initial massive transfusion (MT) cooler delivery within 15 minutes of protocol activation, with a goal of 10 minutes. The current study sought to examine the impact of timing of first cooler delivery on patient outcomes. METHODS Patients predicted to receive MT at 12 level-1 trauma centers were randomized to two separate transfusion ratios as described in the PROPPR trial. ABC score or clinician gestalt prediction of MT was used to randomize patients and call for initial study cooler. In this planned sub-analysis, the time to MT protocol activation and time to delivery of the initial cooler were evaluated. The impact of these times on mortality and time to hemostasis were examined using both Wilcoxon rank sum and linear and logistic regression. RESULTS Among 680 patients, the median time from patient arrival to MT protocol activation was 9 minutes with a median time from MT activation call to delivery of first cooler of 8 minutes. An increase in both time to MT activation and time to arrival of first cooler were associated with prolonged time to achieving hemostasis (coef 1.09, p=0.001 and coef. 1.16, p < 0.001, respectively). Increased time to MT activation and time to arrival of first cooler were associated with increased mortality (OR 1.02, p=0.009 and OR 1.02, p = 0.012, respectively). Controlling for injury severity, physiology, resuscitation intensity, and treatment arm (1:1:1 vs. 1:1:2), increased time to arrival of first cooler was associated with an increased mortality at 24-hours (OR 1.05, p = 0.035) and 30-days (OR 1.05, p = 0.016). CONCLUSIONS Delays in MT protocol activation and delays in initial cooler arrival were associated with prolonged time to achieve hemostasis and an increase in mortality. Independent of products ratios, every minute from time of MT protocol activation to time of initial cooler arrival increases odds of mortality by 5%. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Level II, Prognostic.
Study details
Language : English
Credits : Bibliographic data from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine