About

Kristan Staudenmayer is an Associate Professor of Surgery (General Surgery) at Stanford University and is affiliated with the Center for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine & Imaging (AIMI). His work focuses on the integration of artificial intelligence into medical imaging and healthcare, contributing to the advancement of AI applications in medicine. As a faculty member at Stanford, he is involved in research initiatives aimed at improving medical diagnostics and treatment through innovative AI solutions, supporting the center's mission to enhance healthcare through technological innovation.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Engineering
• Medical emergency
• Pathology
• Internal medicine
• General surgery
• Physical therapy
• Operations management
• Surgery

Selected publications

• Pediatric Readiness in the Emergency Department: Policy Statement

  PEDIATRICS · 2026-01-20 · 2 citations

  article

  This is a revision of the previous joint policy statement titled "Pediatric Readiness in the Emergency Department." This is a joint policy statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Emergency Physicians, the American College of Surgeons, and the Emergency Nurses Association. These updated recommendations are intended to serve as a resource for clinical and administrative leadership of emergency departments as they strive to improve their readiness for the emergency care of children of all ages.

  PublisherDOI

• Estimating the National Burden of Potentially Avoidable Interfacility Transfer Among Patients with Isolated Facial Injury in the US

  Journal of the American College of Surgeons · 2026-03-02 · 1 citations

  article

  BACKGROUND: Interfacility transfers for facial trauma are common but often avoidable. However, the magnitude of these potentially avoidable interfacility transfers (PAITs), which can strain trauma systems and incur avoidable costs to the patients, remains unknown. This study aimed to quantify the burden of PAITs for isolated facial trauma in the US. STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective analysis using the 2022 Nationwide Emergency Department Sample was performed. Patients aged 16 years and older with isolated facial injuries were identified using ICD-10-CM codes and the Abbreviated Injury Scale. A multiple logistic regression model was developed from level I trauma center (TC) data to predict emergency department home discharge, internally validated, and applied to transfers from level III or non-TCs to identify PAITs based on high predicted discharge probabilities. RESULTS: Among 856,197 patients with isolated facial trauma, 661,149 were initially treated at level III or non-TCs, of whom 2.4% were transferred to higher-level facilities. Using a Youden Index-derived predicted home discharge probability of greater than or equal to 0.946, 43.2% (95% CI 40.9% to 45.4%) of these transfers were classified as potentially avoidable. These transfers were more common among younger, male individuals, White race, those with private insurance, urban residence and those injured by being struck, treated in Southern hospitals, or private not-for-profit facilities. CONCLUSIONS: A substantial proportion of interfacility transfers for isolated facial trauma may be avoidable when benchmarked against discharge practices at level I TCs. These findings highlight a critical opportunity to optimize secondary triage decision-making, possibly in conjunction with telehealth consultations, before patient transfer.

  PublisherDOI

• Pediatric Readiness in the Emergency Department: Technical Report

  PEDIATRICS · 2026-01-20 · 2 citations

  article

  This is a revision of the previous 2018 joint technical report titled "Pediatric Readiness in the Emergency Department." Children have unique physical and psychosocial needs that are heightened in the setting of serious or life-threatening emergencies. Most ill and injured children and those with mental health emergencies are brought to community hospital emergency departments (EDs) by virtue of proximity. Therefore, all EDs must have the appropriate resources (medications, equipment, policies, and education) and staff to provide effective emergency care for children. This technical report outlines the evidence and rationale supporting resources necessary for EDs to stand ready to care for children of all ages. Although resources within emergency and trauma care systems vary locally, regionally, and nationally, ED staff, administrators, and medical directors can ensure high-quality emergency care is available for all children. The updated recommendations in the accompanying policy statement of the same title are intended to serve as a resource for clinical and administrative leadership of EDs as they strive to improve their readiness for children of all ages.

  PublisherDOI

• Bed Capacity and Utilization at Hospitals With Trauma Centers

  JAMA Surgery · 2026-02-04

  articleOpen access

  Importance: As trauma care-related demand continues to rise, the US trauma system's current utilization and ability to accommodate surges from mass casualty events or disasters remain uncertain. Understanding existing trauma bed occupancy and reserve capacity is essential for national preparedness. Objective: To assess the current occupancy and distribution of adult trauma-designated beds across US hospitals and evaluate the system's ability to absorb a sudden and sustained surge in trauma volume. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cross-sectional study analyzed 121 weeks (January 2022-April 2024) of facility-level bed availability and occupancy data from the US Department of Health and Human Services for 2027 hospitals with trauma center designation. Simulation modeling was conducted to evaluate bed capacity under various casualty influx scenarios, assuming a 10% allocation (n = 3610) of the 36 101 adult-trauma designated beds in level I/II centers nationwide. Exposures: Various casualty influx scenarios. Main Outcomes and Measures: Primary outcomes included mean weekly occupancy rates for adult inpatient and intensive care unit (ICU) beds by trauma center level and region, percentage of centers exceeding 80% occupancy for prolonged durations, and simulated bed deficits under sustained patient influx scenarios. Results: Level I and II trauma centers consistently operated at high occupancy, exceeding 80% for inpatient beds and 75% for ICU beds across most regions. Nearly 80% of level I/II centers in the South and West exceeded 80% inpatient occupancy for 75 weeks or longer. In contrast, level III and lower-level centers showed lower occupancy but notable regional variation. Simulation modeling revealed that at sustained influx rates of 1500 to 2000 patients per day, national trauma bed deficits exceeded 20 000 beds within 45 days. Even modest influxes of 241 patients per day saturated all designated trauma beds within 90 days under dynamic length-of-stay assumptions. Conclusions and Relevance: The US trauma system, particularly its tertiary centers (level I/II) are operating under sustained high occupancy with limited reserve capacity for patient surges. These findings highlight the urgent need for national trauma capacity planning, regional load-balancing mechanisms, and scalable infrastructure to enhance trauma system resilience.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Abstract No. 24 AIS-Adjusted Comparative Effectiveness of Embolization Versus Surgery in Traumatic Pelvic Injuries

  Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology · 2026-03-23

  article
  PublisherDOI

• 101 US Capacity for Burn Care in a Mass Causality Incident

  Journal of Burn Care & Research · 2025-03-01

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Introduction Preparedness for a Mass Causality Incident (MCI) involving burns is important to ensure national safety. Burn care is particularly vulnerable to becoming overwhelmed given the intensity of resources required to care for a severely injured burn patient juxtaposed to a limited number of burn centers in the US. We aimed to characterize capacity for severely injured burn patients across the US and simulate preparedness for an MCI across Core Base Statistical Areas (CBSA). Methods The COVID-19 pandemic prompted the Department of Health and Human Service to record bed occupancy and capacity for all US hospitals on a weekly basis from January 1st, 2020 to May 1, 2024. Hospitals were grouped into their CBSA according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Hospitals were characterized based on burn center status (defined by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Provider of Service file) and level-1 trauma center status (American College of Surgeons), given many mechanisms of burn-related MCI would require trauma care. MCI scenarios were considered with 10, 25, and 50 critically injured burn patients requiring intensive care unit (ICU) beds. Population level estimates for preparedness were based upon number of lives in each CBSA in 2023. Results There were 150 burn centers across 104 CBSAs. Of CBSAs with burn centers, 57 (55%) had combined burn/trauma centers. Post-pandemic (2022 onward), median ICU bed occupancy at hospitals with burn centers was 81.0% (IQR 64.8%, 89.0%). Occupancy was higher if a burn center was also a level-1 trauma center (86.1% vs 72.3%, p< 0.001). Post-pandemic by CBSA, the median number of open ICU beds per million residents at hospitals with burn centers was 14.0 (IQR 4.6, 36.3); at combined burn/trauma centers it was 15.4 (IQR 4.9, 40.0). 29% of CBSAs did not have sufficient ICU beds to manage >10 severely burned patients. 75% of CBSAs did not have sufficient ICU beds to manage >25 or more severely burn patients. Only 4% of CBSA had enough open ICU beds to manage 50 severely burned patients. Per capita, the bottom quartile of CBSAs for open ICU beds at hospitals with burn centers represented 35% of the entire US population, indicating constrained capacity in regions at high risk for MCI. Conclusions 45% of CBSAs with burn centers were not equipped to care for polytrauma burn patients. The most vulnerable regions of the US for a burn MCI were also the more densely populated. Applicability of Research to Practice These real-world data show a mismatch between need and capacity of burn and combined burn/trauma ICU beds across the US in event of a burn MCI. Funding for the Study N/A

  PublisherDOI

• Making the case for value of acute care surgery: American Association for the Surgery of Trauma panel on overcoming local challenges

  The Journal of Trauma: Injury, Infection, and Critical Care · 2025-08-13

  articleSenior author

  ABSTRACT: Acute care surgery (ACS) provides critical functions for hospitals through the provision of a diverse array of services including trauma, critical care, emergency and elective general surgery, burn, and surgical rescue. Health care facilities with established ACS programs have shorter hospitalizations, fewer adverse events, and optimized resource allocation compared with conventional models. Because of ACS's expansive clinical scope, diverse service offerings, and behind-the-scenes role in supporting the success of other departments, hospital leadership often struggles to fully appreciate the service's complete value. An important skill for the ACS leader is to effectively advocate for the ACS service and the patients served by the service to hospital leadership, armed with a data-driven understanding of the value of the service. A panel session at the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma 2024 annual meeting sponsored by the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma Healthcare Economics Committee was held to discuss how to make the case for the value of ACS locally and how to effectively communicate the value to hospital leadership. Experiences, perspectives, and propositions for new research needed were discussed.

  PublisherDOI

• Detecting artificially impaired balance in human locomotion: metrics, perturbation effects and detection thresholds

  Journal of Experimental Biology · 2025-05-15 · 6 citations

  articleOpen access

  Measuring balance is important for detecting impairments and developing interventions to prevent falls, but there is no consensus on which method is most effective. Many balance metrics derived from steady-state walking data have been proposed, such as step-width variability, step-time variability, foot placement predictability, maximum Lyapunov exponent and margin of stability. Recently, perturbation-based metrics such as center of mass displacement have also been explored. Perturbations typically involve unexpected disturbances applied to the subject. In this study we collected walking data from 10 healthy human subjects while walking normally and while impairing balance with ankle braces, eye-blocking masks and pneumatic jets on their legs. In some walking trials we also applied mechanical perturbations to the pelvis. We obtained a comprehensive biomechanics dataset and compared the ability of various metrics to detect impaired balance using steady-state walking and perturbation recovery data. We also compared metric performance using thresholds informed by data from multiple subjects versus subject-specific thresholds. We found that step-width variability, step-time variability and foot placement predictability, using steady-state data and subject-specific thresholds, detected impaired balance with the highest accuracy (≥86%), whereas other metrics were less effective (≤68%). Incorporating perturbation data did not improve accuracy of these metrics, although this comparison was limited by the small amount of perturbation data included and analyzed. Subject-specific baseline measurements improved the detection of changes in balance ability. Thus, in clinical practice, taking baseline measurements might improve the detection of impairment due to aging or disease progression.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Beyond capacity: an EAST multicenter mixed-methods study exploring surgeon perceptions on patient ratios in acute care surgery

  Trauma Surgery & Acute Care Open · 2025-10-01 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  Background: Optimal provider-to-patient (PtP) ratios in acute care surgery (ACS) remain undefined despite their importance for care quality and provider sustainability. This study aimed to understand surgeon perspectives on maximum ideal ratios across trauma, emergency general surgery (EGS) and surgical intensive care unit (SICU) services. Methods: This multicenter mixed-methods study combined quantitative surveys and semistructured interviews with ACS surgeons at level I/II trauma centers across the USA (1 August 2023-19 April 2024). Service line census data were also collected. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and qualitative analysis performed; surveys were analyzed with descriptive statistics. Results: Fifty-two interviews were completed. Survey response rate was 50.3% (212/421 eligible division leadership and faculty) from 40 centers across 24 states. The perceived maximum safe patient load for trauma and EGS was <20 patients when working independently, and up to 40 patients with full team support. SICU ratios were lower with most reporting ≤10 patients for independent coverage and ≤20 with team support. Regarding appropriate patient loads for junior residents and advanced practice providers, most respondents recommended ≤10 patients for trauma/EGS and ≤7 for SICU. For senior residents, most recommended ≤13 patients for trauma/EGS and ≤7 for SICU. Notably, 72% of centers exceeded their own leadership-recommended maximums for at least one service line. Qualitative analysis revealed patient acuity, team experience and competing demands as key workload modulators, with concerns about care quality degradation and burnout at higher ratios. Conclusions: This study establishes potential upper threshold benchmarks for ACS PtP ratios with strong agreement across institutions. Division leadership should consider developing staffing models that account for patient acuity and service complexity while implementing escalation protocols for sustained high workloads. Current practices frequently exceed maximum ideal ratios, highlighting the need for evidence-based staffing guidelines that balance financial constraints with mounting evidence linking workload intensity and density to adverse outcomes. Level of evidence: IV.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Trauma care and its financing around the world: Response to Letter to the Editor

  The Journal of Trauma: Injury, Infection, and Critical Care · 2025-07-09

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Marie Crandall

  University of North Florida

  998 shared

• Garth H. Utter

  University of California Davis Medical Center

  676 shared

• Chris Cribari

  627 shared

• Jason L. Sperry

  University of Pittsburgh

  625 shared

• Patrick M. Reilly

  625 shared

• Therèse M. Duane

  Plano Cancer Institute

  625 shared

• Michael H. Metzler

  Universitätsklinikum Erlangen

  625 shared

• Paul E. Bankey

  Los Angeles Medical Center

  625 shared