Table 1.
Patient characteristics and outcomes comparison between triage levels
| Overall | Triage level I | Triage level II | Triage level III | p value for | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N = 48 | N = 14 | N = 19 | N = 15 | Difference | |||||
| Gender, N (%) | 0.623 | ||||||||
| Female | 27 | (56.3) | 9 | (64.3) | 11 | (57.9) | 7 | (46.7) | |
| Male | 21 | (43.7) | 5 | (35.7) | 8 | (72.7) | 8 | (53.3) | |
| Age in years, mean (SD) | 24.9 | (8.8) | 26.6 | (11.6) | 25 | (9.0) | 23.1 | (3.5) | 0.588 |
| TBSA of 2nd to 3rd-degree of burn (%), mean (SD) | 35.6 | (23.8) | 57.9 | (15.4) | 40.5 | (15.9) | 8.7 | (7.8) | < 0.001 |
| ED intervention, N (%) | |||||||||
| Endotracheal intubation | 17 | (35.4) | 13 | (92.9) | 3 | (15.8) | 1 | (6.7) | < 0.001 |
| CVC | 22 | (45.8) | 10 | (71.4) | 11 | (57.9) | 1 | (6.7) | < 0.001 |
| Surgery, N (%) | < 0.001 | ||||||||
| Escharotomy | 22 | (45.8) | 12 | (85.7) | 9 | (47.4) | 1 | (6.7) | |
| Tangential excision of necrotic skin | 17 | (35.4) | 2 | (14.3) | 10 | (52.6) | 5 | (33.3) | |
| No surgery | 9 | (18.8) | 0 | (0) | 0 | (0) | 9 | (60.0) | |
| Overall procedures, N (%) | 4.3 | (3.6) | 6.2 | (2.3) | 5.3 | (3.9) | 1.0 | (1.4) | < 0.001 |
| ED disposition, N (%) | < 0.001 | ||||||||
| ICU | 34 | (70.8) | 14 | (100) | 17 | (89.5) | 3 | (20.0) | |
| Ward | 5 | (10.4) | 0 | (0) | 2 | (10.5) | 3 | (20.0) | |
| Discharge | 8 | (16.7) | 0 | (0) | 0 | (0) | 8 | (53.3) | |
| Transfer | 1 | (2.1) | 0 | (0) | 0 | (0) | 1 | (6.7) | |
| ABSI, mean (SD) | 7.3 | (2.9) | 10.3 | (1.6) | 7.6 | (1.7) | 4.1 | (1.1) | < 0.001 |
| ISS, mean (SD) | 16.5 | (13.2) | 27.3 | (14.1) | 19.4 | (6.8) | 2.7 | (2.8) | < 0.001 |
| LOS in days, mean (SD) | |||||||||
| ICU | 32.2 | (30.9) | 57.9 | (16.6) | 39.9 | (30.9) | 2.5 | (6.6) | < 0.001 |
| Hospital | 48.6 | (37.0) | 73.9 | (15.3) | 62.2 | (36.4) | 12.0 | (17.1) | < 0.001 |
| Mortality, N (%) | 2 | (4.2) | 2 | (14.3) | 0 | (0) | 0 | (0) | 0.081 |
Abbreviations: SD standard deviation, TBSA total body surface area, ICU intensive care unit, ED emergency department, CVC central venous catheterization, ABSI abbreviated burn severity index, ISS injury severity score, LOS length of stay