title: Feature mining and predictive model construction from severe trauma patient's data.
abstract: In management of severe trauma patients, trauma surgeons need to decide which patients are eligible for damage control. Such decision may be supported by utilizing models that predict the patient's outcome. The study described in this paper investigates the possibility to construct patient outcome prediction models from retrospective patient's data at the end of initial damage control surgery by using feature mining and machine learning techniques. As the data used comprises rather excessive number of features, special attention was paid to the problem of selecting only the most relevant features. We show that a small subset of features may carry enough information to construct reasonably accurate prognostic models. Furthermore, the techniques used in our study identified two factors, namely the pH value when admitted to ICU and the worst partial active thromboplastin time, to be of highest importance for prediction. This finding is pathophysiologically reasonable and represents two of three major problems with severe trauma patients, metabolic acidosis, hypothermia, and coagulopathy.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Computer and Information Sciences, University of Ljubljana, Tr.aska 25, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia. janez.demsar@fri.uni-lj.si
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Demsar
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zupan
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Aoki
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Wall
authors.forename: T H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Granchi
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Robert Beck
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D003661:Decision Support Techniques; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D006801:Humans; D016247:Information Storage and Retrieval; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011379:Prognosis; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis*