Back to basics: validation of the admission systemic inflammatory response syndrome score in predicting outcome in trauma

We have previously documented that the admission systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) score, calculated with four variables—temperature, heart rate, neutrophil count, and respiratory rate—is a significant predictor of outcome in trauma (n = 4,887). The objective of this current study was to validate our previous findings in a larger trauma patient population, to analyze the predictive accuracy of the four individual components of the SIRS score (temperature, heart rate, neutrophil count, and respiratory rate), and to assess whether the admission SIRS score is an accurate predictor of intensive care unit (ICU) resource use in trauma.