Background: Laparoscopic colectomy following traumatic injury has been increasingly utilized, but open resection remains the standard of care. Therefore, identifying appropriate candidates for laparoscopy is critically important. This study's purpose was to identify predictors of clinical outcomes in patients undergoing laparoscopic colectomy following traumatic injury.
Methods: The National Trauma Databank was queried for patients undergoing laparoscopic colectomy within 48 hours of admission between 2007 and 2015. Patient, injury, and management characteristics were abstracted. Multivariable regression analyses adjusted for baseline characteristics and identified significant predictors of clinical outcomes.
Results: A total of 581 patients satisfied inclusion criteria. The median age was 31 years, 465 (80%) were male, and 321 (55%) sustained penetrating injuries. An ostomy was created in 143 (25%) cases. Multivariable logistic regression showed that significant predictors of mortality included a falling mechanism (odds ratio [OR] 104.917, P = .002), admission tachycardia (OR 5.823, P = .001), admission hypotension (OR 26.089, P < .001), and multi-system injuries like head (OR 1.587, P = .008) and thoracic (OR 1.627, P = .001) injuries. Significant predictors of unplanned reoperation included transverse (OR 7.657, P = .033) and left (OR 17.155, P = .014) colon resections, obesity (OR 24.407, P = .016), and chronic respiratory disease (OR 32.963, P = .018). Ostomy creation was significantly associated with neither mortality nor unplanned reoperation.
Conclusion: These data suggest that readily identifiable preoperative characteristics are significantly associated with differences in clinical outcomes. Additional research is required to determine if varying treatment based on these qualities can improve outcomes.
Keywords: colon injuries; colon resection; laparoscopy in trauma; ostomy.