Background In the age of COVID-19 and enforced social distancing, changes in patterns of trauma were observed but poorly understood. Our aim was to characterize traumatic injury mechanisms and acuities in 2020 and compare to years prior at our Level 1 trauma center. Materials and Methods Trauma patients triaged in 2016 through 2020 from January to May were reviewed. Patient demographics, level of activation (1 vs. 2), ISS, and mechanism of injury were collected. Data from 2016 through 2019 was combined, averaged by month, and compared to data from 2020 using Chi-squared analysis. Results During the months of interest, 992 trauma patients were triaged in 2020 and 4,311 in 2016-2019. The numbers of penetrating and Level 1 trauma activations in January – March of 2020 were similar to average numbers for the same months during 2016 through 2019. In April 2020, there was a significant increase in incidence of penetrating trauma compared to the prior four-year average (27% vs. 16%, p
Full Text via ClinicalKey