Predicting length of stay for trauma and emergency general surgery patients

•Length of stay (LOS) was correctly predicted for 31% of patients by team members.•Years of clinical experience did not lead to a higher rate of correct predictions.•NSQIP was able to predict the LOS for 33% of surgically managed patients.•Sicker patients undergoing more complex surgeries were more difficult to predict.•Frailty rather than age lead to inaccurate predictions in the geriatric population.