Association between prehospital oxygen saturation and 30-day mortality in patients with isolated traumatic brain injury

ABSTRACT

Objective@#The present study analyzes the prognostic performance of prehospital oxygen saturation (SpO2) for 30-day mortality in patients with isolated traumatic brain injury (TBI). @*Methods@#This retrospective observational study included patients with severe isolated TBI admitted through the prehospital emergency medical services system between January 2019 and December 2020. Multivariate analysis was performed using logistic regression of relevant covariates, including prehospital SpO2, for predicting 30-day mortality. Receiver operating characteristics analysis examined the prognostic performance of prehospital SpO2. The primary outcome was 30-day mortality. @*Results@#A total of 189 patients were included in the study. The 30-day mortality rate was determined to be 16.9% (n=32). Prehospital SpO2 of survivors was higher than that of non-survivors—98% (95%-98%) vs. 89% (81%-97%). Results of multivariate analysis revealed that prehospital SpO2 (odds ratio, 0.868; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.789-0.954) is independently associated with 30-day mortality. The area under the curve of prehospital SpO2 was 0.768 (95% CI, 0.701-0.826; P<0.001). @*Conclusion@#Results of the present study indicate that prehospital SpO2 is associated with 30-day mortality in patients with severe isolated TBI. Therefore, determining the prehospital SpO2 will help to rapidly classify and transport patients with TBI to the appropriate hospital.