Abstract
Hypothesis: Methamphetamine use affects length of hospital stay in the minimally injured patient. Design: Case series. Setting: The only tertiary trauma center serving Hawaii. Patients: Trauma patients examined during a 12-month period with an Injury Severity Score of 1 to 5 and an age of 18 to 55 years undergoing urine toxicology screen for suspected suicide attempt or altered sensorium. Main Outcome Measures: Presence or absence of amphetamine or methamphetamine on urine toxicology screen, intention of injury, hospital admission rate, length of stay, and hospital charges. Results: During the study period, 1650 trauma patients were examined, with 544 meeting study criteria. Urine toxicology screens were performed in 212 patients, with 57 positive and 155 negative for amphetamine or methamphetamine. There was no difference in sex (77% vs 73% male; P = .53), Injury Severity Score (3.2 for both groups), or total number of computed tomographic scans performed (mean ± SEM, 3.0 ± 0.3 vs 4.0 ± 0.3; P = .07). Patients in the positive group were more likely to have intentional self-inflicted injury or intentional assaults than patients in the negative group (37% vs 22%; P = .04). The positive group was older than the negative group (33.6 ± 1.3 vs 29.9 ± 0.8 years; P = .02), had a significantly longer hospital stay (2.7 ± 0.4 vs 1.7 ± 0.1 days; P = .003), had significantly higher hospital charges ($15617 ± $1866 vs $11600 ± $648; P = .01), and was more likely admitted to the hospital (91% vs 70%; P = .001) despite the low Injury Severity Score. Conclusion: Methamphetamine use results in trauma center resource utilization out of proportion to injury severity.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 844-847 |
| Number of pages | 4 |
| Journal | Archives of Surgery |
| Volume | 139 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Aug 2004 |
| Externally published | Yes |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Surgery
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Toll of methamphetamine on the trauma system. / Tominaga, Gail T.; Garcia, George; Dzierba, Alex; Wong, Jan.
In: Archives of Surgery, Vol. 139, No. 8, 08.2004, p. 844-847.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Toll of methamphetamine on the trauma system
AU - Tominaga, Gail T.
AU - Garcia, George
AU - Dzierba, Alex
AU - Wong, Jan
PY - 2004/8
Y1 - 2004/8
N2 - Hypothesis: Methamphetamine use affects length of hospital stay in the minimally injured patient. Design: Case series. Setting: The only tertiary trauma center serving Hawaii. Patients: Trauma patients examined during a 12-month period with an Injury Severity Score of 1 to 5 and an age of 18 to 55 years undergoing urine toxicology screen for suspected suicide attempt or altered sensorium. Main Outcome Measures: Presence or absence of amphetamine or methamphetamine on urine toxicology screen, intention of injury, hospital admission rate, length of stay, and hospital charges. Results: During the study period, 1650 trauma patients were examined, with 544 meeting study criteria. Urine toxicology screens were performed in 212 patients, with 57 positive and 155 negative for amphetamine or methamphetamine. There was no difference in sex (77% vs 73% male; P = .53), Injury Severity Score (3.2 for both groups), or total number of computed tomographic scans performed (mean ± SEM, 3.0 ± 0.3 vs 4.0 ± 0.3; P = .07). Patients in the positive group were more likely to have intentional self-inflicted injury or intentional assaults than patients in the negative group (37% vs 22%; P = .04). The positive group was older than the negative group (33.6 ± 1.3 vs 29.9 ± 0.8 years; P = .02), had a significantly longer hospital stay (2.7 ± 0.4 vs 1.7 ± 0.1 days; P = .003), had significantly higher hospital charges ($15617 ± $1866 vs $11600 ± $648; P = .01), and was more likely admitted to the hospital (91% vs 70%; P = .001) despite the low Injury Severity Score. Conclusion: Methamphetamine use results in trauma center resource utilization out of proportion to injury severity.
AB - Hypothesis: Methamphetamine use affects length of hospital stay in the minimally injured patient. Design: Case series. Setting: The only tertiary trauma center serving Hawaii. Patients: Trauma patients examined during a 12-month period with an Injury Severity Score of 1 to 5 and an age of 18 to 55 years undergoing urine toxicology screen for suspected suicide attempt or altered sensorium. Main Outcome Measures: Presence or absence of amphetamine or methamphetamine on urine toxicology screen, intention of injury, hospital admission rate, length of stay, and hospital charges. Results: During the study period, 1650 trauma patients were examined, with 544 meeting study criteria. Urine toxicology screens were performed in 212 patients, with 57 positive and 155 negative for amphetamine or methamphetamine. There was no difference in sex (77% vs 73% male; P = .53), Injury Severity Score (3.2 for both groups), or total number of computed tomographic scans performed (mean ± SEM, 3.0 ± 0.3 vs 4.0 ± 0.3; P = .07). Patients in the positive group were more likely to have intentional self-inflicted injury or intentional assaults than patients in the negative group (37% vs 22%; P = .04). The positive group was older than the negative group (33.6 ± 1.3 vs 29.9 ± 0.8 years; P = .02), had a significantly longer hospital stay (2.7 ± 0.4 vs 1.7 ± 0.1 days; P = .003), had significantly higher hospital charges ($15617 ± $1866 vs $11600 ± $648; P = .01), and was more likely admitted to the hospital (91% vs 70%; P = .001) despite the low Injury Severity Score. Conclusion: Methamphetamine use results in trauma center resource utilization out of proportion to injury severity.
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=3843075251&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1001/archsurg.139.8.844
DO - 10.1001/archsurg.139.8.844
M3 - Article
C2 - 15302693
AN - SCOPUS:3843075251
VL - 139
SP - 844
EP - 847
JO - JAMA Surgery
JF - JAMA Surgery
SN - 2168-6254
IS - 8
ER -