Trauma scoring systems explained

Objective: To list, describe and classify the extant trauma scoring systems found in the English language literature from the vantage of utility to emergency medicine. Each system is illustrated by a table and a hypothetical case study. Data Sources: Medline citations provided the data. The systems are classified as physiological, anatomical and combined trauma scoring systems. Results: We reviewed the Glasgow Coma Scale, the Paediatric Glasgow Coma Scale, the Trauma Score and Revised Trauma Score, the Circulation, Respiration, Abdominal/Thoracic, Motor and Speech Scale, the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation System, Abbreviated Injury Scale, the Injury Severity Score, the Anatomical Profile, A Severity Characterization of Trauma, Revised Trauma Score and Injury Severity Score and its revisions, the Paediatric Trauma Score and the Drug-Rock Injury Severity Score. Conclusions: This compendium should help emergency physicians become familiar with trauma scoring systems which evaluate the extent and severity of injuries, facilitate interinstitutional comparisons and facilitate trauma research.