Table 2.
Characteristics of Wounded Military Personnel by Presence or Absence of Infection Related to Traumatic Injury After Discharge From Initial Trauma Hospitalization
| Characteristic | Total (N = 337) | Infection Following Discharge (N = 127) | No Infection Following Discharge (N = 210) | P Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operational theater, no. (%) | .989 | |||
| Iraq | 45 (13.3) | 17 (13.3) | 28 (13.3) | … |
| Afghanistan | 292 (86.6) | 110 (86.6) | 182 (86.6) | … |
| Male, no. (%) | 333 (98.8) | 125 (98.4) | 208 (99.0) | .630 |
| Age at time of injury, median (IQR) | 24 (22, 29) | 24 (22, 29) | 24 (22, 28) | .106 |
| Branch of service, no. (%) | .608 | |||
| Army | 215 (63.7) | 85 (66.9) | 130 (61.9) | … |
| Marine | 104 (30.8) | 35 (27.5) | 69 (32.8) | … |
| Air Force/Navy | 18 (5.3) | 7 (5.5) | 11 (5.2) | … |
| Blast mechanism of injury, no. (%) | 247 (73.2) | 97 (76.3) | 150 (71.4) | .320 |
| Dismounted at time of injury, no. (%)a | 106 (31.4) | 45 (35.4) | 61 (29.0) | .412 |
| Injury severity score,b no. (%) | .002 | |||
| 0–9 (minor) | 97 (28.7) | 21 (16.5) | 76 (36.1) | … |
| 10–15 (moderate) | 54 (16.0) | 23 (18.1) | 31 (14.7) | … |
| 16–25 (severe) | 74 (21.9) | 31 (24.4) | 43 (20.4) | … |
| ≥26 (critical) | 112 (33.2) | 52 (40.9) | 60 (28.5) | … |
| ICU admission, no. (%)c | .540 | |||
| LRMC only | 43 (12.7) | 15 (11.8) | 28 (13.3) | … |
| US hospital ± LRMC | 115 (34.1) | 48 (37.7) | 67 (31.9) | … |
| Non-ICU | 179 (53.1) | 64 (50.3) | 115 (54.7) | … |
| Blood transfusion within 24 hours (units) | .004 | |||
| Zero or missing unitsd | 187 (55.5) | 56 (44.1) | 131 (62.4) | … |
| 1–9 | 84 (24.9) | 36 (28.3) | 48 (22.8) | … |
| 10–20 | 47 (13.9) | 23 (18.1) | 24 (11.4) | … |
| >20 | 19 (5.6) | 12 (9.4) | 7 (3.3) | … |
| Received prophylactic antimicrobial therapy DOI/ DOI + 1 | 267 (79.2) | 109 (85.8) | 158 (75.2) | .020 |
| Had an inpatient infection | 111 (32.9) | 60 (47.2) | 51 (24.2) | <.001 |
| Total hospitalization, median days (IQR) | 23 (13, 43) | 30 (19, 55) | 18 (11, 35) | <.001 |
Abbreviations: DOI/DOI + 1, day of injury or day of injury plus 1 day; ICU, intensive care unit; IQR, interquartile range; LRMC, Landstuhl Regional Medical Center.
aMounted status data are missing/unknown for 130 patients.
bInjury severity score provides an overall score of injury severity based on anatomic regional values [9].
cAdmission is recorded within the first week of care at each facility.
dEight patients had zero units and 179 had missing data. Missing blood transfusion data are not randomly distributed. Patients with missing blood data are characterized by lower injury severity scores and shock indices. In addition, the majority of patients with missing blood data did not sustain a traumatic amputation and were not admitted to the LRMC ICU.