gms | German Medical Science

Joint German Congress of Orthopaedics and Trauma Surgery

02. - 06.10.2006, Berlin

Two cohorts of severely injured trauma patients, twenty years apart: unchanged mortality but improved quality of life despite higher age

Meeting Abstract

  • J.M.M. Nijboer - University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
  • C. K. van der Sluis - University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
  • J. van der Naalt - University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
  • M.W.N. Nijsten - University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
  • H.J. ten Duis - University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands

Deutscher Kongress für Orthopädie und Unfallchirurgie. 70. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Unfallchirurgie, 92. Tagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Orthopädie und Orthopädische Chirurgie und 47. Tagung des Berufsverbandes der Fachärzte für Orthopädie. Berlin, 02.-06.10.2006. Düsseldorf, Köln: German Medical Science; 2006. DocW.3.5.1-1009

The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.egms.de/en/meetings/dgu2006/06dgu0504.shtml

Published: September 28, 2006

© 2006 Nijboer et al.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/deed.en). You are free: to Share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work, provided the original author and source are credited.


Outline

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Background: The care for trauma patients has undergone major changes during the last decades. Additionally, many injury prevention measures have been established. The objective of these efforts was to reduce the number of accidents and to reduce mortality and morbidity in injured patients. The aim of our study was to assess how these measures and improved care have altered trauma mechanisms, occurrence of injuries, treatment, and outcome.

Methods: Two cohorts of trauma patients with an Injury Severity Score > 15, treated at the University Medical Center Groningen were compared. The first cohort was treated from 1985 to 1990, the second cohort from September 2002 to January 2005.

Results: The mean number of severely injured patients increased with 76%. Fourteen percent more patients had sustained an accident at home. The mean age increased from 33 ± 22 years to 41 ± 23 years. The presence of severe head and neck injuries increased from 62% to 73% of the patients. The in-hospital mortality remained unchanged at 25%. The outcome of survivors improved; 67% of patients made a moderate or good recovery, versus 40% almost twenty years ago.

Conclusions: Striking are the consequences of the ageing of the Dutch population: an almost ten year increase in mean age and a rise in severe head and neck injuries. The unchanged mortality and improved outcome of survivors represented the enhanced trauma care. It appears that trauma care in the twenty-first century will be dominated by the aged patient with severe head and neck injuries.