A comparison of the trauma score, the revised trauma score, and the pediatric trauma score.

We compared the abilities of the Trauma Score (TS), the Revised Trauma Score (RTS), and the Pediatric Trauma Score (PTS) to retrospectively identify severely injured children. TS, RTS, and PTS were computed on admission for 1,334 consecutive blunt and penetrating trauma victims 0 to 14 years old. Injury Severity Score values of more than 15 and 20 or more were used as the criteria indicating severe injury. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values were computed. Threshold values were determined for each scale to maximize sensitivity and specificity. No significant differences were found between the TS and the PTS. After adjusting for rapid respirations among children 0 to 3 years old, no differences existed between the RTS and the other scores. TS of less than 15, RTS of less than 12, and PTS of less than 9 are equally sensitive and specific indicators for pediatric prehospital triage. Because of the similarity of the instruments tested, their performances in other areas, such as quality assurance, should be considered when selecting a pediatric triage tool.