The influence of sex on outcomes in trauma patients: a meta-analysis

• Sex dimorphism in outcomes after trauma has been widely investigated but conflicting conclusions are drawn.
• No quantitative meta-analysis has been performed in this issue.
• Pooled data from 19 studies in our meta-analysis revealed the favorable results of female trauma patients in mortality, hospital length of stay, and higher incidence of complications, while no difference was found in injury severity.

BackgroundThis study aims to assess the influence of sex on outcomes among trauma patients, including injury severity, medical resource utility, complications, and mortality.MethodsA systematic review of the literature was conducted by internet search. Data were extracted from selected studies and analyzed using Stata to compare outcomes between male and female injured patients.ResultsEventually, 19 studies met our inclusion criteria with 100,566 men and 39,762 women. Pooled data revealed that male sex was associated with increased risk of mortality, hospital length of stay, and higher incidence of complications. No difference was detected in injury severity between male and female patients.ConclusionEvidence of this meta-analysis strongly supports the sex dimorphism in the prognosis of trauma patients and further work should be done to decipher potential mechanism.