Original Scientific ArticlesLethal Injuries and Time to Death in a Level I Trauma Center 1
Section snippets
Methods
A retrospective autopsy review was performed on all trauma deaths at The University of California San Diego (UCSD) Medical Center from January 1985 to December 1995. Patients were included in this study if they met criteria for transport to a level I trauma center. All patients who died as a consequence of traumatic injuries underwent autopsy by the Coroner’s Office. Information collected included demographic data, mechanism of trauma, description of all anatomic injuries, and cause of death as
Results
During the study period 12,320 trauma patients were admitted to The UCSD Medical Center Trauma Service, 900 (7.3%) of whom died. Mortality for victims of penetrating trauma was 11% (363 of 3,125) and of blunt mechanism was 5.8% (537 of 9,195) (p < 0.0001). The average age for all patients who died was 36.5 ± 19.5 years. The average age for patients dying from blunt trauma was 40.2 ± 21 years and for penetrating trauma was 31 ± 15.3 years (p < 0.001). The male to female ratio was 8.55:1 in the
Discussion
Review of the causes of trauma deaths has been suggested as necessary for the evaluation of care and for future planning of trauma centers.[1]This group of patients needs close scrutiny because it has been shown that the clinical impression of the cause of death is incorrect in up to 30% of cases.[1]The present study reviews the autopsies of patients who died at a level I trauma center during an 11-year period, focusing on causes and time to death. Although other retrospective studies of trauma
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