Trends in trauma surgery: analysis of the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma program 1939-2012.

Background: Major trauma-related clinical and basic science innovations have been presented at American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST) annual meetings since its establishment in 1938. Thus, an analysis of all podium presentations was performed to identify historical and current trends in trauma surgery.

Methods: All abstract books of the annual meetings of the AAST from 1939 (first meeting) to 2012 were identified except for 1943 and 1945 (no meeting because of World War II) and 1946 (not found). A master list of abstracts (n = 3,637) was generated in Excel. Abstracts were assigned to 14 different categories, and the percentage of each category was tabulated per year. Trend lines were then generated using a mean of 10 zones. In addition, the year in which major clinical and basic science advancements were first presented was recorded.

Results: Overall, most (20%) AAST presentations have been related to the resuscitation, shock, infection, inflammation, immunology, endocrinology, and metabolism category. This has been followed by the orthopedic (18%) and the torso (chest and abdomen) trauma categories (15%). The trend for each category over time was identified. Prominent trends included a bell-shaped curve for torso, vascular, and genitourinary injuries; a progressive decrease in orthopedic topics; and an increase in critical care topics since the 1970s and in resuscitation/infection/shock and trauma system presentations since the 1980s. First presentations of key topics were identified (n = 163) and tabulated in a chronological order.

Conclusion: Analysis of all oral AAST presentations identified trends and significant milestones in trauma care and research. In its 75 years of existence, the AAST annual meeting remains the forum in which major developments in trauma care and scientific knowledge are presented and disseminated.