The value of trauma patients' centralization: an analysis of a regional Italian Trauma System performance with TMPM-ICD-9.

Present analysis proved the validity of TMPM-ICD-9 in predicting mortality of trauma patients in an Italian region. Furthermore, the usefulness of data extracted from an administrative database to assess the performance of a TS and the importance of an adequate centralization process have emerged. Even with a higher TMPM-POD and with the same mortality rate, HUB showed a higher spleen salvage rate compared to SPOKE + PST. However, thanks to this model, an improvable centralization process in SIAT Romagna was found in the study period. Probably, an enhanced centralization would have improved the spleen salvage rate, which is an important quality indicator in the evaluation of the performance of the TS.