A disciplined approach to implementation of evidence-based practices decreases ICU and hospital length of stay in traumatically injured patients.
Evidence-based medicine has gained wide acceptance in practice of medicine since the 1990s. The objective of our study was to demonstrate the effect of evidence-based critical care practices on ICU and hospital length of stay in mechanically ventilated trauma patients. Retrospective cohort using historic controls. During 2004, several different evidence-based practices were implemented, including low tidal volume ventilation, protocol driven trauma resuscitation, and a sepsis bundle. Outcomes in critically ill, mechanically ventilated patients who were ≥ 18 y old were compared between a historic control group (2000-2003) and the study group after implementation (2005-2008). Patients were identified using the institutional trauma registry (NATIONAL TRACS). Gender, age, ISS, mechanism of injury, and mortality were also examined to identify trends in epidemiology. From 2000 to 2003. there were 6920 trauma admissions and during 2005-2008 there were 8911 (increase of 28.8%). These included 217 and 337 (increase of 55.3%) admissions to the ICU of mechanically ventilated patients, respectively. The mean age was 43.9 y versus 45.9 y (P = 0.258). Males were 66.4% versus 71.8% (P = 0.610). The mean ISS was 29 versus 27 (P = 0.25). Blunt mechanism was 87% versus 89% (P = 0.913). Mortality rate was 36.4% versus 36.5% (P = 0.944). The mean number of ICU days and hospital days decreased from 7.6 versus 5.5 (P = 0.02) and 13.2 versus 9.7 (P = 0.03), respectively. The application of evidence-based critical care practices decreases length of ICU and hospital stay, but not mortality, in critically ill, mechanically ventilated trauma patients. Our trauma volume, including critically ill patients, increased during the study periods.