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The OPALS Major Trauma Study: impact of advanced life-support on survival and morbidity

Canadian Medical Association JournalPublished 21 April 2008Open access
Ian G. Stiell, Lisa Nesbitt, William Pickett, Douglas P Munkley, Daniel W. Spaite, Jane Banek
Citations266
SJR quartileQ1
SJR score0.92
SNIP1.00
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TL;DR

The OPALS Major Trauma Study showed that systemwide implementation of full advanced life-support programs did not decrease mortality or morbidity for major trauma patients, and it was found that during the advancedlife-support phase, mortality was greater among patients with Glasgow Coma Scale scores less than 9.

Abstract

The OPALS Major Trauma Study showed that systemwide implementation of full advanced life-support programs did not decrease mortality or morbidity for major trauma patients. We also found that during the advanced life-support phase, mortality was greater among patients with Glasgow Coma Scale scores less than 9. We believe that emergency medical services should carefully re-evaluate the indications for and application of prehospital advanced life-support measures for patients who have experienced major trauma.

Keywords

Medicine