Development and validation of a pancreatic injury mortality score (PIMS) based on 473 consecutive patients treated at a level 1 trauma center

Abstract Background This study sought to develop a pancreatic injury mortality score (PIMS) to identify patients at greatest risk of in-hospital mortality after a major pancreatic injury. Methods The study used data from a prospective database of 473 patients treated for pancreatic injuries between January 1990 and December 2015. Two thirds of the patients were assigned to the derivation cohort and one third to the validation cohort. Clinical correlates of in-hospital death were identified and considered in stepwise logistic regression analyses that identified the factors included in the risk index. Results Five variables, age >55, shock on admission, a vascular injury, number of associated injuries and American Association for the Study of Trauma (AAST) pancreatic injury scale correlated with in-hospital death and were used to calculate PIMS. The final score ROC in the derivation dataset was 0.84 (95% CI 0.79–0.89) and in the validation dataset was 0.91 (95% CI 0.84–0.97), which were comparable (p = 0.1). Finally, cut-off scores were used to generate three risk groups and the rate of mortality within the low (PIMS 0–4), medium (PIMS 5–9), and high risk (PIMS 10–20) groups were not significantly different. The scoring system was tested in a validation cohort and showed good calibration and discrimination for in-hospital mortality. Conclusions We have derived and validated the PIMS, a novel organ-specific risk prediction score calculated from five variables for in-hospital mortality following major pancreatic trauma. PIMS is simple, quick and easily understandable, increases clinical risk prediction for patients with complex pancreatic and can be used as a benchmark for survival.