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Admission hypocalcaemia predicts trauma mortality

Prognostic value of admission ionized calcium and acidosis in severely injured trauma patients
Scandinavian Journal of Trauma, Resuscitation and Emergency Medicine · Added 8 September 2026

Multicentre trauma-registry cohort of 977 severely injured patients — admission hypocalcaemia was independently associated with hospital mortality and trauma-induced coagulopathy, while apparently elevated ionised calcium mostly reflected profound acidosis.

Study type

Registry

Design

Retrospective multicentre trauma registry cohort

Participants

977 adult trauma patients with admission ionised calcium (median ISS 25)

Main finding

Hypocalcaemia (iCa²⁺ <1.10 mmol/L) in 291 (30%); independently associated with hospital mortality (OR 1.70, 95% CI 1.02-2.85) and trauma-induced coagulopathy (OR 2.24, 95% CI 1.58-3.18); apparent hypercalcaemia (8%) largely attributable to profound acidosis

Caveat

Retrospective design; single level-1 trauma centre dataset despite multicentre registry

Bottom line

Context only

Learning goal

Recognise hypocalcaemia as a marker of trauma-induced coagulopathy and mortality risk in major haemorrhage.

More

• Topic: Trauma
• Daily scan: 8 September 2026

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