Relationship between Acute Gastric Dilation and Loss of Consciousness in Trauma Patients

Trauma is one of the most common causes of death in the world. Acute gastric dilation (AGD) and its associated complications in trauma patients have been relatively less studied. The aim of this retrospective study was to find out more about the prevalence of AGD in high-energy trauma patients and its potential relationship with loss of consciousness.

177 high-energy trauma patients, who were eventually managed in ICU, were selected and AGD was evaluated in these cases. Age, gender, consciousness level using Glasgow coma scale (GCS), and AGD presence were analyzed to test the hypotheses.

The studied sample included 157 (88.7%) male and 20 (11.3 %) female patients making a total of 177 out of which 22 expired in the hospital. Age range was between 3 month to 88 years(Mean = 34.4). Prevalence of AGD was 62.1% and a moderate negative relationship was found between GCS and acute gastric dilation (n = 153, P = 0.000).

Results of the analyses show that there is a negative relationship between AGD and GCS meaning that patients with lower GCS experience a higher risk of AGD. The highest incidence rate of AGD was found in patients with a GCS score of 13 and 14 and it was only observed in 17 out of 51 patients with a GCS of 15. Thus we concluded that a mild decrease in GCS can potentially lead to AGD. Furthermore, there was a mild negative relationship between age and AGD meaning that older patients have a higher chance of developing AGD.