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Background There is no evidence supporting intubation for a Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) of 8. We investigated the effect of intubation in trauma patients with a GCS 6-8, with the hypothesis that intubation would increase mortality and length of stay. Methods We studied adult patients with GCS 6-8 from the 2016 National Trauma Data Bank. Intubated and non-intubated patients were compared using inverse probability weighted regression adjustment (IPWRA) to control for injury severity and patient characteristics. Outcomes were mortality, intensive care unit length of stay (ICU LOS), and total LOS. Stratified analysis was performed to investigate the effect in patients with and without head injuries. Results Among 6676 patients with a GCS between 6 and 84,078 were intubated within 1 h of arrival to the emergency department. The overall mortality rate was 15.1%. IPWRA revealed an increase in mortality associated with intubation (OR 1.05, 95% CI 1.03, 1.06). The results were similar in patients with head injuries (OR 1.04, 95% CI 1.02, 1.06) and without (OR 1.06, 95% CI 1.03, 1.10). Among the 5,742 patients admitted to the ICU, intubation was associated with a 14% increase in ICU LOS (95% CI 8-20%; 5.5 vs. 4.8 days; p < 0.001). The overall length of stay was 27% longer (95% CI 19.8-34.3%) among intubated patients (mean 7.7 vs 6.0 days; p < 0.001). Conclusion Among patients with GCS of 6 to 8, intubation on arrival was associated with an increase in mortality and with longer ICU and overall length of stay. The use of a strict threshold GCS to mandate intubation should be revisited.

Therapeutic, level III.

Introduction: Trauma video review (TVR) for quality improvement and education in the United States has been described for nearly three decades. The most recent information on this practice indicated a declining prevalence. We hypothesized that TVR utilization has increased since most recent estimates. Methods: We conducted a survey of TVR practices at level I and level II US trauma centers. We distributed an electronic survey covering past, current, and future TVR utilization to the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma membership. Results: 45.0% of US level I and level II trauma centers completed surveys. 71/249 centers (28.5%) had active TVR programs. The use of TVR did not differ between level I and level II centers (28.8% vs. 27.8%, p ¼ 0.87). Respondents using TVR were overwhelmingly positive about its perception (median score 8, [IQR 6e9]; 10 ¼ 'best') at their institutions. Conclusions: TVR use at Level I centers has increased over the past decade. Increased TVR utilization may form the basis for multicenter studies comparing processes of care during trauma resuscitation.