Epidemiology and management of trauma patients in a Greek multispecialty hospital in the absence of a dedicated trauma center.

PURPOSE: In the absence of dedicated trauma centers, surgical emergency departments in hospitals assigned as trauma centers accept a huge load of trauma patients. In this audit, we aim to document and assess the epidemiologic data of trauma patients and their injuries in order to give a picture of the impact of trauma in the workload of a surgical department in the Greek healthcare system.

METHODS

During a period of 2 years, we managed 6,041 trauma patients in the accident and emergency (A&E) department based on the Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) protocols. We retrospectively reviewed the emergency department registry and the admissions.

RESULTS

47.56 % of the patients seen in the A&E department were trauma patients. The mean age of the trauma patients was 44.52 years (range 15-106 years). The majority were men (60.4 %). The leading cause of trauma was motor and vehicle accidents, followed by slip and fall accidents, physical assault, fall from height, and vehicle pedestrian accidents. The majority of the patients were discharged from the hospital. Only 29 (4.6 %) out of 624 patients who were admitted to the general surgery department underwent an operation, while the rest were admitted for observation. On the other hand, patients were admitted to other departments only when surgical treatment was necessary.

CONCLUSIONS

In the absence of level one trauma centers, in multispecialty urban hospitals, the coordination of trauma burdens the general surgery team. This has financial and administrative implications. The collection of important epidemiologic data from these hospitals is mandatory in order to develop national prevention measures against injuries.