Does time to angiography affect the survival of trauma patients with embolization to the pelvis? A retrospective study across trauma centers in the United States

Introduction: Traumatic pelvic injuries can result in rapid exsanguination. Bleeding control interventions include stabilization, angiography, and possible embolization. Previous studies yielded conflicting results regarding the benefit of a shorter time to embolization. Objectives: The aim of this study is to examine the impact of the time to angioembolization on the survival of patients presenting with pelvic injuries using a national database. Materials and Methods: This was an observational retrospective study that used the National Trauma Data Bank 2017 dataset. Adult patients with pelvic injuries and who received angiography with embolization to the pelvis were included. Univariate and bivariate analyses (survival to hospital discharge yes/no) were done. This was followed by a multivariable logistic regression analysis to assess the impact of time to angiography on survival to hospital discharge after adjusting for potential confounders. Results: A total of 1,057 patients were included. They were predominantly of male gender (69.3 %) with a median age of 50 years (IQR = [31-64]). The mean time to pelvic angiography was 264.0 +/- 204.4 min. The overall survival rate at hospital discharge was 72.0 %. Time to angiography was not significantly associated with survival to hospital discharge before and after adjusting for clinically and statistically significant confounders (aOR = 1.000; 95 %CI=[0.999 - 1.001]; p = 0.866). Conclusion: Time to angiography was not associated with survival to hospital discharge of patients with pelvic injuries who required embolization. Further research examining specific patterns of injuries and assessing the impact of early angioembolization is needed.