Mortality due to septicemia at a level 1 Indian trauma care centre: an epidemiological analysis

Trauma contributes to a significant proportion of mortality and morbidity in the economically productive age group of 15-45 years. Infections are the second most important cause of death in trauma patients after head injury. Despite advances in trauma care, deaths due to septicemia are increasing. An epidemiological study of septicemia-related deaths were conducted at a level 1 Trauma Centre from January 2011 to December 2011. A total of 201 patients died due to suspected septicemia. The average age of the deceased trauma victims was 35.9 years and the median length of stay in hospital before death was 27 days. In our study, a high proportion of patients had grown pathogens in significant counts from respiratory specimens (36%) and blood (23%) during ante-mortem period, which may have contributed to their fatal outcome. Infections are one of the most common and fatal complications following trauma and complicate the recovery of a significant number of injured patients.