Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Sep 8;12(9):e060902.
doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-060902.

Scoping review of the literature to ascertain how follow-up care is provided to major trauma patients post discharge from acute care

Elizabeth Wake  1   2 , Jamie Ranse  3   4 , Andrea P Marshall  4   5
Affiliations

Scoping review of the literature to ascertain how follow-up care is provided to major trauma patients post discharge from acute care

Elizabeth Wake et al. BMJ Open. .

Abstract

Objectives: Survival following traumatic injury has increased, requiring ongoing patient follow-up. While longitudinal outcomes of trauma patients are reported, little is known about optimal delivery of follow-up service for this group. The aim of this scoping review was to identify and describe the structure, process and outcomes of postdischarge follow-up services for patients who sustained major trauma.

Evidence review: This scoping review was conducted by searching CINAHL, MEDLINE and EMBASE databases. Articles were screened by three independent reviewers. The data of selected articles were organised in the categories of the Donabedian quality framework: structure, processes and outcomes.

Results: Twenty-six articles were included after screening by title/abstract then full text against the inclusion/exclusion criteria; 92% (n=24) were from the USA.Follow-up services were provided by designated trauma centres and delivered by a mixture of health disciplines. Delivery of follow-up was multimodal (in person/telehealth). Protocols and guidelines helped to deliver follow-up care for non-physician led services.Ongoing health issues including missed injuries, pain and infection were identified. No standardised criteria were established to determine recipients, the timing or frequency of follow-up was identified. Patients who engaged with follow-up services were more likely to participate in other health services. Patients reported satisfaction with follow-up care.

Conclusion: There are wide variations in how follow-up services for major trauma patients are provided. Further evaluation should focus on patient, family and organisational outcomes. Identifying who is most likely to benefit, when and how follow-up care is delivered are important next steps in improving outcomes.

Keywords: ORTHOPAEDIC & TRAUMA SURGERY; Organisation of health services; TRAUMA MANAGEMENT; Trauma management.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Donabedian model.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses diagram.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. World_Health_Organization . Injuries and violence; 2021. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/injuries-and-violence [Accessed 19 Mar 2021].
    1. Cameron PA, Gabbe BJ, McNeil JJ. The importance of quality of survival as an outcome measure for an integrated trauma system. Injury 2006;37:1178–84. 10.1016/j.injury.2006.07.015 - DOI - PubMed
    1. MacKenzie EJ, Rivara FP, Jurkovich GJ, et al. A national evaluation of the effect of trauma-center care on mortality. N Engl J Med 2006;354:366–78. 10.1056/NEJMsa052049 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Herrera-Escobar JP, Castillo-Angeles MA, Osman SY, et al. Long-term patient-reported outcome measures after injury: National trauma research action plan (NTRAP) scoping review protocol. Trauma Surg Acute Care Open 2020;5:e000512. 10.1136/tsaco-2020-000512 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kaske S, Lefering R, Trentzsch H, et al. Quality of life two years after severe trauma: a single-centre evaluation. Injury 2014;45 Suppl 3:S100–5. 10.1016/j.injury.2014.08.028 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types