Trauma in pregnancy. A 10-year perspective

Trauma is the most common cause of nonobstetric death in pregnant women. Fortunately, the incidence of trauma in the pregnant population is low, and individual surgeons are unlikely to see many cases in their practice. This report reviews the Charity Hospital of Louisiana at New Orleans experience with trauma in pregnancy over a recent 10-year period. Our results, with an 8 per cent incidence of maternal death and 28 per cent incidence of fetal death, support the concept of an aggressive approach to resuscitation and evaluation of traumatized pregnant women to achieve optimal results.