Injury Severity Score

Injury Severity Score (ISS) is a medical scoring system that provides an overall score for patients with multiple injuries. Each injury is assigned a score of 1 to 6, with 1 being minor, 5 severe but not life-threatening, and 6 unsurvivable. The scores of the three most severe injuries are squared and added together to produce the ISS score.

History[edit | edit source]

The Injury Severity Score was developed in 1971 by Baker SP, O'Neill B, Haddon W Jr, and Long WB. It was designed to assess the overall injury severity in patients with multiple traumas. The ISS has been widely used in trauma research and is a standard tool in trauma care.

Calculation[edit | edit source]

The ISS is calculated by taking the sum of the squares of the highest Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) score in each of the three most severely injured body regions. The body is divided into six regions: head or neck, face, chest, abdomen or pelvic contents, extremities or pelvic girdle, and external. The ISS score can range from 0 (no injury) to 75 (unsurvivable injury).

Usage[edit | edit source]

The ISS is used in both clinical and research settings. Clinically, it is used to assess the severity of a patient's injuries and to predict outcomes such as mortality, length of hospital stay, and the need for intensive care. In research, the ISS is used to compare the outcomes of trauma patients in different hospitals and regions, and to evaluate the effectiveness of new treatments and interventions.

Limitations[edit | edit source]

While the ISS is a valuable tool, it has some limitations. It does not take into account multiple injuries in the same body region, the age of the patient, or pre-existing medical conditions. It also assumes that the severity of injuries is the same within each AIS score, which is not always the case.