title: Initial hematocrit predicts the use of blood transfusion in the pediatric trauma patient.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Initial hematocrit (Hct) is generally not considered a marker of acute blood loss because it is assumed that physiologic response of fluid conservation to hemorrhage is delayed. We challenged this idea by theorizing that admission Hct correlates with conventional signs of shock and predicts the use of blood transfusion during resuscitation of pediatric trauma patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data from 1928 pediatric admissions (<18 years) at a Level I trauma center (2000-2012) were compared using standard statistical analyses and logistic regression modeling to identify factors associated with blood transfusion during initial trauma resuscitation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall mortality rate was 3.5%, with a transfusion rate of 10.7%. Factors significantly associated with transfusion were initial Hct, Glasgow Coma Score, base deficit, and injury severity score (all p<0.001). Initial Hct is a stronger predictor for transfusion (area under receiver operator curve (AUC: 0.728) compared to age-specific tachycardia (AUC: 0.689), age-specific hypotension (AUC: 0.673), and altered mental status (AUC: 0.654)). On multivariate analysis, initial Hct was an independent predictor (OR [95% CI]: 2.94 [1.56, 5.52]) along with hypotension (6.37 [2.95, 13.8]), base deficit (4.14 [1.38, 12.4]), and tachycardia (3.07 [1.62, 5.81]).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Initial Hct correlates significantly with conventional signs of shock and is a strong independent predictor for blood transfusion with better predictability than other clinical factors.
authors.affiliation: Division of Trauma Surgery, DeWitt Daughtry Family Department of Surgery, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Casey J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Allen
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Surgery, DeWitt Daughtry Family Department of Surgery, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tashiro
authors.affiliation: Division of Trauma Surgery, DeWitt Daughtry Family Department of Surgery, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Evan J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Valle
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Surgery, DeWitt Daughtry Family Department of Surgery, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Chad M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Thorson
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology, DeWitt Daughtry Family Department of Surgery, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Sherry
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shariatmadar
authors.affiliation: Division of Trauma Surgery, DeWitt Daughtry Family Department of Surgery, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Carl I
authors.initials: CI
authors.lastname: Schulman
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Surgery, DeWitt Daughtry Family Department of Surgery, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Holly L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Neville
authors.affiliation: Division of Trauma Surgery, DeWitt Daughtry Family Department of Surgery, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Kenneth G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Proctor
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Surgery, DeWitt Daughtry Family Department of Surgery, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA. Electronic address: jsola@med.miami.edu.
authors.forename: Juan E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Sola
mesh_terms: D001803:Blood Transfusion / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006400:Hematocrit; D006470:Hemorrhage / Q000097:blood / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D015601:Injury Severity Score; D008297:Male; D012151:Resuscitation / Q000379:methods*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014193:Trauma Centers; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000150:complications* / Q000628:therapy
keywords: Adolescents; Children; Hematocrit; Kids; Transfusion