Effect of American College of Surgeons Trauma Center Designation on Outcomes: Measurable Benefit at the Extremes of Age and Injury.

Background: American College of Surgeons (ACS) verification is believed to provide benefits for trauma patients, but is associated with direct costs.

Study Design: We performed a 1-year retrospective review of the National Trauma Data Bank (NTDB) for 2012. Patients were separated into 3 age groups; Pediatric (PEDS), 0 to 14 years; adult, 15 to 65 years; and elderly (ELD), older than 65 years.