Epidemiology of Trauma with Analysis of 138.352 Patients: Trends of a Single Center

Özet

Introduction: The analysis of the epidemiology of trauma is important to determine the needs of hospitals and develop treatment strategies. This study aimed to investigate the epidemiology of trauma in a hospital sample that accepts a large number of trauma patients. Methods: Between 2009 and 2015, trauma patients admitted to the hospital emergency department were retrospectively screened according to the ICD-10 system. The trauma mechanisms were grouped as falls on the level/from height, injury by object, pedestrian/cyclist injuries, vehicle collisions, penetrating stab injuries, gunshot wounds, and assault. Age, gender distribution of patients, and death information were recorded. In the analysis of the data, t-test and chi-square test were used for the comparison with descriptive statistics. P<0.05 was accepted as significant. Results: In the study, 138.352 patients (mean age 25.7±19.8 years, age range 0–113, male/female ratio: 1.81) were analyzed. Falls on the level/from height was the most prominent cause of trauma (n=76.636, 55.4%). Male gender was predominant in all injury mechanisms and in all age group except over 60 years (p<0.001). The most common injury mechanisms that resulted in death were falls on the level/from height, vehicle collision, and pedestrian/cyclist injury with mortality rates of 0.09, 0.08, and 0.07, respectively (p<0.001). Discussion and Conclusion: Our study found that in emergency service trauma applications, fall-crash and traffic accidents were the two most common mechanisms. The frequency of trauma mechanisms should be considered in the emergency service continuous training programs. Social measures for trauma mechanisms leading to more deaths and trainings of people based on age-gender, where trauma mechanisms are more common, will reduce the morbidity and mortality rates caused by trauma.