RT Book, Section
A1 Hemmila, Mark R.
A2 Doherty, Gerard M.
SR Print(0)
ID 1171275378
T1 Management of the Injured Patient
T2 Current Diagnosis & Treatment: Surgery, 15e
YR 2020
FD 2020
PB McGraw Hill LLC
PP New York, NY
SN 9781260122213
LK accesssurgery.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1171275378
RD 2024/04/18
AB As  a  “disease,”  trauma  is  a  major  public  health  problem.  In  the  United  States,  it  is  the  leading  cause  of  death  among  people  aged  1-45.  For  younger  persons,  trauma  is  responsible  for  more  deaths  than  all  other  diseases  combined,  and  results  in  the  loss  of  more  working  years  than  all  other  causes  of  death.  The  prevalence  of  injury  in  the  elderly  population  is  also  significant;  6%  of  Medicare  inpatient  admissions  have  traumatic  injury  as  their  primary  diagnosis.  The  presence  of  alcohol  is  a  significant  contributor  to  trauma  fatalities,  and  one-third  of  all  traffic  deaths  are  alcohol  related.  The  financial  costs  of  injury  are  substantial,  exceeding  $671  billion  annually  (fatal  inquiries,  $214  billion;  nonfatal  injuries,  $457  billion).  Regrettably,  nearly  40%  of  all  trauma  deaths  could  be  avoided  by  injury-prevention  measures,  alcohol  cessation,  and  by  the  establishment  of  regional  trauma  systems  that  would  expedite  the  evaluation  and  treatment  of  seriously  injured  patients.