American Journal of Surgery · Nov 14, 2018

Development of the Burn Frailty Index: A prognostication index for elderly patients sustaining burn injuries

By Maxwell D, Rhee P, Drake M et al.

BACKGROUND: Frailty has demonstrated enhanced prognostic ability for elderly patient morbidity. The aim was to create a burn-specific frailty index for elderly patients and compare it to commonly used scoring systems in burn management. METHODS: From 2013 to 2017, we prospectively surveyed a randomized cohort of patients ≥65-years-old previously admitted to our burn unit. Prognostic comparisons with 6 commonly used indices and multivariate risk analyses were performed. RESULTS: Of 100 included patients, n = 32 were classified as frail. The mean patient age was 73.0 ± 6.8-years with a median follow up of 20.9 months. There were 13 moralities in total, 12 occurred in the frail group including 5 in-house mortalities. Patients classified as frail had significantly more complications (p < 0.001), non-home discharges (p < 0.001), ICU admissions, and longer hospital and ICU lengths of stay (p < 0.001), decreased 1 and 3-year survival (p = 0.001). The BFI was identified as an independent predictor of mortality (p = 0.001) and course-altering diagnoses including sepsis/septic shock, ARDS/ALI, and AKI. CONCLUSIONS: The Burn Frailty Index accurately predicts morbidity and mortality in elderly frail patients suffering burn injuries.

doi.org/10.1016/j.amjsurg.2018.11.012PubMed 30477759Biomarkers