A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Comparing Outcome of Severely Injured Patients Treated in Trauma Centers Following the Establishment of Trauma Systems

The establishment of trauma systems was anticipated to improve overall survival for the severely injured patient. We systematically reviewed the published literature to assess if outcome from severe traumatic injury is improved for patients following the establishment of a trauma system.

A systematic literature review of all population-based studies that evaluated trauma system performance was conducted. A qualitative analysis of each study's design and methodology and a meta-analysis was performed to evaluate the evidence to date of trauma system effectiveness.