Twenty-four-hour packed red blood cell requirement is the strongest independent prognostic marker of mortality in ED trauma patients.

Background: Injury severity score, serum lactate, and shock index help the physician determine the severity of injuries present and have been shown to relate to mortality. We sought to determine if an increasing amount of packed red blood cells (PRBCs) given in the first 24hours of admission is an independent predictor of mortality and how it compares to other validated markers.

Methods: A 6-year retrospective, observational study of adult trauma patients was conducted at a level 1 trauma center.