Review of military and civilian trauma registries

Abstract

Well-established and reliable trauma registries and databases are fundamental in (military) trauma care. We recommend implementation of a (concurrent) UN/NATO wide registry system with a track and follow-up system to further improve the quality of care and registration of casualties. Further research should focus on real time aids available on the battlefield and direct storage/upload in trauma databases in theater. Ultimately, sound and valid data support medical decision process and evaluation necessary to save lives on the battlefield.

Advanced bleeding control in combat casualty care: An international, expert-based Delphi consensus

“…The expert panel agreed that there should be an international collaboration to record these data, both for patient case history and for process improvement, and to capture lessons learned. This supports the previous recommendation of Van Dongen et al 21 to implement a United Nations/NATO wide registry system for further improvement of CCC and the registration of casualties. The concept of an international registry has already been proven feasible in a civilian setting 27 .…”

“…Hence, essential information might be missing from current analyses. Furthermore, as the current study demonstrates, specific data on bleeding control measures for truncal and junctional hemorrhage is often not extensively captured in present registries 20,21 . The JTS does have a process to collect comprehensive REBOA data for process improvement, but data on other ABC modalities are not registered in such detail 4,26 .…”

“…Several nations have developed a trauma registry to describe, evaluate, and improve casualty care 20,21 . The value of these trauma registries on battlefield outcomes has previously been described 20,22,23 .…”

“…Several nations have developed a trauma registry to describe, evaluate, and improve casualty care. 20 , 21 The value of these trauma registries on battlefield outcomes has previously been described. 20 , 22 , 23 However, prehospital data are often not fully documented, while the majority of fatalities occur in this domain.…”

War trauma in Homer’s Iliad: a trauma registry perspective

“…Further obvious differences exist also between civilian and military registries, making comparison difficult if not impossible. Van Dongen et al identified 203 key variables fundamental for the implementation of an effective military trauma registry [11]. Expectedly, data available from the Iliad-both direct and extrapolated-are nowhere near those needed for a modern trauma registry; other than the names and the affiliation of the opponents, only five variables could be collected for the majority of cases (type of weapon, mechanism of injury, body area, NISS and outcome), but the overall methodology can be applied.…”